Summary

Abrams begins this chapter by introducing something he has observed throughout the week as a central factor of the men’s personalities, humor. Often, “their first response to any subject, no matter how seemingly painful, was to laugh” (215). The Dalai Lama offers a simple yet eloquent answer for cultivating joy through humor by stating that laughter naturally makes us more relaxed, and the more relaxed we are, the easier it is for us to control our train of thought.

Immediately, Abrams draws the connection between humility and humor, the second and third pillars to joy. They act interchangeably, as Abrams points out by saying, “we have to have a sense of humility to be able to laugh at ourselves and … to laugh at ourselves reminds us of our shared humanity” (216). People who turn to humor, Archbishop Tutu suggests, “have...