Happiness Quote by Peter Ustinov

Irrevocably betrothed is a sly piece of self-mythmaking: Ustinov frames laughter not as a mood but as a marriage vow, binding himself to comedy the way other people bind themselves to duty, faith, or tragedy. For an actor whose public identity was equal parts raconteur, satirist, and charming shape-shifter, the phrasing turns humor into destiny. It quietly argues that levity isn’t an escape from seriousness; it’s a chosen discipline.

The real coup is calling laughter “the most civilised music in the world.” Ustinov doesn’t romanticize art as high culture; he elevates a human sound that can’t be owned, archived, or performed without an audience. Music is usually coded as refined, curated, and elite. Laughter is messy, contagious, and democratic. By equating them, he smuggles in a cultural critique: a society’s sophistication isn’t measured by its museums or symphonies, but by its capacity to recognize absurdity without turning cruel.

There’s also a performer’s subtext: laughter is proof of contact. Applause can be polite; laughter is involuntary, the body voting yes. For an actor who lived through the 20th century’s ideological theatrics and real catastrophes, laughter becomes a kind of civilizing counter-signal - not naive cheer, but a refusal to let solemnity become a weapon. The line flatters comedy while protecting it: if laughter is music, then the comedian isn’t a court jester. He’s a musician of social sanity.