The love of truth lies at the root of much humor.

Davies suggests that humor is not merely frivolity or mockery but often springs from a serious impulse: a clear-eyed regard for how things really are. Jokes, satire, and comic storytelling work because they expose contradictions between what people claim, what they intend, and what actually happens. In this view, the funniest observations are anchored in accuracy—social, psychological, or moral truth—rather than in random absurdity. The line also implies an ethical dimension: humor can be a way of telling the truth when direct statement would be too blunt, too preachy, or too painful, allowing insight to arrive through laughter.