To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs; Heine was nearer the mark when he found in Him the divine Aristophanes. God's laughter is sometimes very coarse and unfit for polite ears; He is not satisfied with being Molière, He must needs also be Aristophanes and Rabelais.
Bio: Franz Friedrich Richard Genée was a Prussian born Austrian librettist, playwright, and composer. He is most famous for the libretto of Die Fledermaus, Johann Strauss II's most famous operetta.
