Definitions HQ

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠always a sign of maturity and a vitally necessary legitimation for anyone who is to be regarded as authorized in the world of spirit in our day.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the same as the tragic inasmuch as both are contradiction, but the tragic is suffering contradiction, and the comic is painless contradiction.

The Comic (n.) lies ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in the ideal's supernatural size: let the Middle Ages give a hero eyes a foot apart, but let an ordinary man walk on stage claiming the same and the comic is in full swing.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠always implied in the category of contradiction.

The Comic (n.) lies ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not in saying the insignificant has no significance, but in saying it has the utmost significance.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠commanded with authority only by the deepest suffering — an authority like the policeman's stick that turns the protesting citizen around to show his other side: "Hold your tongue, keep moving."

The Comic (n.) ought ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to be employed to police the religious field: delusion should be called not hypocrisy but stupidity, for calling a man a hypocrite flatters him with a God-relationship.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠feared by narrow-minded seriousness, and rightly; true seriousness invents the comic — otherwise stupidity would be the privileged caste of seriousness.

The Comic (n.) appears ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠when a misunderstanding empties both parties of substance: the laughter that falls on them is the judgment by which existence is appeased.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the disproportion between an imaginary possibility and reality — Dietrich Menschenschreck's courage; but man's possibility of the highest, planned by God, is real: tragic that he is not it, comic that he is it nevertheless.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠passion denied the means of its satisfaction — portray a gambling addict, then give him five dollars to bet with.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the isolated individual stressing his accidental self against necessary development — most deeply comic, an accidental person who gets the idea of being the saviour of the world.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the man whose life sinks into the commonplace while he believes he is accomplishing the extraordinary.

The Comic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the natural enemy of a false mood, as dialectics is the enemy of a false thought: every error begets its own enemy.

The Comic (n.) belongs ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to the temporal, where contradiction lives; in eternity all contradiction is cancelled, and there is no trace of the comical.

The Comic (n.) and ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠tragic touch at the absolute point of infinity — as when a parson damns a man for doing exactly what he preached on Sunday.