Mark Twain’s “Assault of Laughter”: Reflections on the Perplexing History of an Appealing Idea

Abstract:“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand,” one of Mark Twain’s most famous quotes, propounds the idea that humor can serve as a social corrective in American political life. Mark Twain scholars and the general public have tended to regard these words as a condensed version of the writer’s credo as a humorist. By retracing the history of the phrase, which first appeared in The Mysterious Stranger, six years after Mark Twain’s death, and by placing it in the context of nineteenth-century American political humor, this article draws attention to the tensions between the original meaning and its popular interpretation. At the same time, it illustrates the difficulties and complexities involved in the attempt to portray Mark Twain’s concept of humor.