I grew up in a bookless house - my parents didn't read poetry so if I hadn't had the chance to experience it at school I'd never have experienced it. But I loved English and I was very lucky in that I had inspirational English teachers Miss Scriven and Mr. Walker and they liked us to learn poems by heart which I found I loved doing.
In prehistoric times mankind often had only two choices in crisis situations: fight or flee. In modern times humor offers us a third alternative fight flee - or laugh.