“A sense of humor makes up for all of our imperfections. Most of humor is in the area between where we are and where we think we ought to be. Harvard followed a group of executives for about 30 years, studying their basic traits. Four points came up consistently, and one of them was a sense of humor—that they were able to laugh at themselves.
“I do think we can be terribly serious about things that we should laugh about. The things we worry about today, we laugh about tomorrow. When you go back to a school reunion, what do you laugh about? The times you almost got in trouble. And I think if we just simply say, ‘Is this something I’ll laugh about a year from now, two years, five years from now?’ and just maintain a sense of humor, particularly about ourselves, then we will be okay.
“You know, pious people or pompous people, they dread a sense of humor. They’re afraid of it.” – Fred Smith, Sr. (Leadership Wired)