Happiness Quote by Wilson Mizner

Laughter, in Mizner's hands, isn’t a release valve; it’s a tell. “I can usually judge a fellow by what he laughs at” turns humor into a moral fingerprint, a quick-read social litmus test that feels tailor-made for a dramatist who made a career out of watching people perform themselves. The line works because it’s both casual and predatory: “usually” softens the claim just enough to sound like worldly common sense, while “judge” admits the real business is assessment, not amusement.

Mizner came up in an America where wit was currency in saloons, courtrooms, newsrooms, and backstage corridors - places where a well-timed laugh could buy you entry or brand you as a mark. In that world, jokes weren’t neutral. Laughing at the pompous might signal independence; laughing at the vulnerable might signal cruelty; laughing at nothing at all might signal fear of being seen. Mizner isn’t asking whether someone has a sense of humor. He’s asking where their sympathies land when the mask slips.

The subtext is a little mean, which is part of its charm. It implies the speaker is above the crowd, fluent in the coded language of punchlines and reaction shots. It also hints at a grim truth about comedy: humor doesn’t just bond; it sorts. What you laugh at reveals which hierarchies you accept, which taboos you want to break, and which people you’re willing to turn into props. Mizner makes judgment sound effortless, because he knows it often is.