格物致知

Great comic art is never otherworldly, it does not seek to mystify us, and it does not deny ambiguity by branding as evil whatever differs from good. Great comic artists assume that truth may bear all lights, and thus they seek to accentuate contradictions in social actions, not gloss over or transcend them by appeals to extrasocial symbols of divine ends, cosmic purpose, or laws of nature. The moment of transcendence in great comic art is a social moment, born out of the conviction that we are human, even though we try to be gods. The comic community to which artists address themselves is a community of reasoning, loving, joyful, compassionate beings, who are willing to assume the human risks of acting rationally. Without invoking gods or demons, great comic art arouses courage in reason, courage which grows out of trust in what human beings can do as humans.

戏剧论：论伟大的喜剧艺术

伟大的喜剧艺术从来不是超世俗的。它不追求神秘化，并不把凡是跟善不同的东西统统扣上恶的帽子，来拒绝对事物作多种解释。伟大的喜剧艺术家认为真理可以包容全部事实，因此他们追求强调社会活动中的矛盾，而不是用求助于神的目的、宇宙目标或自然法则这些超社会的信条来掩盖或超越这些矛盾。在伟大的喜剧艺术中，超越的时刻就是由这样信心所产生的社会时刻：即我们是人，即使我们想成为神。艺术家所着力描述的喜剧社会是一个有理性、有爱心、充满欢乐和同情心的人的社会。这种人乐于承担由于理性地行动而引起的风险。伟大的喜剧艺术不乞灵于神仙或精灵就能激起理性的勇气，这种勇气产生于相信人是能够像人那样行动的。