The basis of tragedy is man's helplessness against disease, war and death; the basis of comedy is man's helplessness against vanity (the vanity of love, greed, lust, power).
Bio: Alexandre V. Borovik is a Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, where he has been working for the past 20 years. He was born in Russia and graduated from Novosibirsk State University in 1978.
