The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

"Long live joy! Down with sorrow!"

Humor, according to Laurence Sterne, is the beginning of all beginnings, as it helps a person to express themselves as an individual and find the right perspective on life.

The entire book "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" is a grand and ironic joke-story describing several years of the Shandy family's life. Sterne proclaims "shandyism" ("eccentricity") as a way of life and embraces it himself – as well as offering it to readers – as a magic pill against life's hardships.