"Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly"
About this Quote
Hobbes doesn’t flatter laughter as balm or social glue. He drags it into the harsh daylight of status, calling it “sudden glory”: a spike of self-congratulation triggered by catching someone else slipping, or noticing how far you’ve climbed from your own past incompetence. The line is built like a trap. The repetition of “sudden” mimics the snap of a joke landing, then he names the mechanism underneath it: comparison. Not shared joy, but an instant ranking.
The intent is diagnostic and a little prosecutorial. Hobbes is trying to demystify a human reflex the way he demystifies politics in Leviathan: beneath civility sits appetite, fear, and the will to dominate. Laughter, in this view, is a micro-version of the state of nature - a tiny conquest. Even when the target is “our own formerly,” the ego still wins by splitting the self into superior and inferior parts.
The subtext is bracingly anti-sentimental: humor can be cruelty with good timing. That doesn’t mean Hobbes thinks every laugh is malicious, but he’s suspicious of anything that feels effortless and righteous. He wants you to notice how often comedy depends on humiliation, misrecognition, or a quick hit of superiority.
Context matters: a 17th-century England of civil war, fragile order, and anxious hierarchy. Hobbes is writing in an age obsessed with reputation and “eminency.” His theory makes laughter a social barometer: who’s up, who’s down, and how fast the room can decide. If you’ve ever watched a meme pile-on metastasize in minutes, Hobbes feels less like a scold and more like an early analyst of viral schadenfreude.
The intent is diagnostic and a little prosecutorial. Hobbes is trying to demystify a human reflex the way he demystifies politics in Leviathan: beneath civility sits appetite, fear, and the will to dominate. Laughter, in this view, is a micro-version of the state of nature - a tiny conquest. Even when the target is “our own formerly,” the ego still wins by splitting the self into superior and inferior parts.
The subtext is bracingly anti-sentimental: humor can be cruelty with good timing. That doesn’t mean Hobbes thinks every laugh is malicious, but he’s suspicious of anything that feels effortless and righteous. He wants you to notice how often comedy depends on humiliation, misrecognition, or a quick hit of superiority.
Context matters: a 17th-century England of civil war, fragile order, and anxious hierarchy. Hobbes is writing in an age obsessed with reputation and “eminency.” His theory makes laughter a social barometer: who’s up, who’s down, and how fast the room can decide. If you’ve ever watched a meme pile-on metastasize in minutes, Hobbes feels less like a scold and more like an early analyst of viral schadenfreude.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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