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: Walter A. Zettl was a German dressage rider and Olympic-level dressage horse trainer. He was born in 1929 in Alt-Rohlau, Bohemia, which is now Stará Role in the Karlovy Vary region of the Czech Republic.