An aphorism is nothing else but the slightest
QUOTES AND APHORISMS ON LAUGHTER
If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. He has a heart capable of mirth, and naturally disposed to it.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719, British essayist, poet, statesman)
One should take good care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life as laughter.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719, British essayist, poet, statesman)
The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.
Margery Allingham
We learn the inner secret of happiness when we learn to direct our inner drives, our interest, and our attention to something besides ourselves.
Ethel Percy Andrus (American educator, founder of The National Retired Teachers)
To promote laughter without joining in it greatly heightens the effect.
Honore De Balzac (1799-1850, French novelist)
You grow up on the day you have your first real laugh at, yourself.
Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959, American actress)
Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.
Karl Barth (1886-1968, Swiss theologian)
Laughter on American television has taken the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy. In other countries, the business of laughing is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone with your consternation.
Jean Baudrillard (French postmodern philosopher, writer)
I hasten to laugh at everything for fear of being obliged to weep.
Pierre De Beaumarchais (1732-1799, French dramatist)
I quickly laugh at everything for fear of having to cry.
Pierre De Beaumarchais (1732-1799, French dramatist)
Laughter is day, and sobriety is night; a smile is the twilight that hovers gently between both, more bewitching than either.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887, American preacher, orator, writer)
Nobody ever died of laughter.
Max Beerbohm (1872-1956, British actor)
Laughter -- An interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises. It is infectious and, though intermittent, incurable.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914, American author, editor, journalist, "The Devil's Dictionary")
The difference between an optimist and a pessimist? An optimist laughs to forget, but a pessimist forgets to laugh.
Tom Bodett (American author, TV host)
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Victor Borge (1909-2000, Danish entertainer, pianist)
Some knowledge and some song and some beauty must be kept for those days before the world again plunges into darkness.
Marion Zimmer Bradley
That is the saving grace of humor, if you fail no one is laughing at you.
A. Whitney Brown
If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.
Jimmy Buffet (1946-, American songwriter, singer)
I want someone to laugh with me, someone to be grave with me, someone to please me and help my discrimination with his or her own remark, and at times, no doubt, to admire my acuteness and penetration.
Robert Burns (1759-1796, Scottish poet)
Nothing can confound a wise man more than laughter from a dunce.
Lord Byron (1788-1824, British poet)
Let there be more joy and laughter in your living.
Eileen Caddy (American spiritual writer)
Laughter does not seem to be a sin, but it leads to sin.
St. John Chrysostom (345-407, Patriarch of Constantinople)
Laughter is the cipher key wherewith we decipher the whole man
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881, Scottish philosopher, author)
No man who has once heartily and wholly laughed can be altogether irreclaimably bad.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881, Scottish philosopher, author)
The person who cannot laugh is not only ready for treason, and deceptions, their whole life is already a treason and deception.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881, Scottish philosopher, author)
The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed.
Sebastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741-1794, French writer, journalist, playwright)
Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.
Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977, British comic actor, filmmaker)
Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the mind, weakens the faculties and causes a kind of remissness and dissolution in all the powers of the soul; and thus it may be looked on as weakness in the composition of human nature. But if we consider the frequent relieves we receive from it and how often it breaks the gloom which is apt to depress the mind and damp our spirits, with transient, unexpected gleams of joy, one would take care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life.
Malcolm De Chazal (1902-1981, French writer)
The flower in the vase smiles, but no longer laughs.
Malcolm De Chazal (1902-1981, French writer)
We sometimes laugh from ear to ear, but it would be impossible for a smile to be wider than the distance between our eyes.
Malcolm De Chazal (1902-1981, French writer)
Frequent and loud laughter is the characteristic of folly and ill manners.
Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield (1694-1773, British statesman, author)
In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal, and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.
Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield (1694-1773, British statesman, author)
Observe it, the vulgar often laugh, but never smile, whereas well-bred people often smile, and seldom or never laugh. A witty thing never excited laughter, it pleases only the mind and never distorts the countenance.
Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield (1694-1773, British statesman, author)
Tears mess up your makeup.
Julia Child (1912-2004, American gourmet cook, author, and television personality)
Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith. For without fear of the devil there is no need for God.
Sean Connery (1930-, Scottish-born American actor)
Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith. For without fear of the devil there is no need for God.
Sean Connery (1930-, Scottish-born American actor)
Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors.
Norman Cousins (1915-1990, American editor, humanitarian, author)
Laughter is inner jogging.
Norman Cousins (1915-1990, American editor, humanitarian, author)
The earth laughs in flowers.
EE Cummings (1894-1962, American poet)
A sneer is like a flame; it may occasionally be curative because it cauterizes, but it leaves a bitter scar.
Margaret Deland
There comes a time when suddenly you realize that laughter is something you remember and that you were the one laughing.
Marlene Dietrich (1904-1992, German-born American film actor)
If you like a man's laugh before you know anything of him, you may say with confidence that he is a good man.
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881, Russian novelist)
One loses many laughs by not laughing at oneself.
Sara Jeannette Duncan
The most useless day is that in which we have not laughed.
Charles Field
She laughs at everything you say. Why? Because she has fine teeth.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790, American scientist, publisher, diplomat)
The more laws, the more offenders.
Thomas Fuller (1608-1661, British clergyman, author)
Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist)
There exists a kind of laughter which is worthy to be ranked with the higher lyric emotions and is infinitely different from the twitching of a mean merrymaker.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-1852, Russian author, dramatist)
The best way to make your audience laugh is to start laughing yourself.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774, Anglo-Irish author, poet, playwright)
The loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774, Anglo-Irish author, poet, playwright)
The malicious sneer is improperly called laughter.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774, Anglo-Irish author, poet, playwright)
Every new time will give its law.
Maxim Gorky (1868-1936, Russian novelist)
Laughter is the only tranquilizer with no side effects.
Graffiti
Laughter is taken as a sign of strength, freedom, health, beauty, youth, and happiness.
Martin Grotjabn
High above hate I dwell, 0 storms! Farewell.
Louise Imogen Guiney
A man isn't poor if he can still laugh.
Raymond Hitchcock
Laughter is a highly addictive positive contagion: if somebody starts, it's very difficult to stop.
Robert Holden
If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you grow old.
Edgar Watson Howe (1853-1937, American journalist, author)
Laughter is higher than all pain.
Elbert Hubbard (1859-1915, American author, publisher)
Laughter is the most healthful exertion.
Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland
Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
Victor Hugo (1802-1885, French poet, dramatist, novelist)
We don't laugh because we're happy -- we're happy because we laugh.
William James (1842-1910, American psychologist, professor, author)
What provokes your risibility, Sir? Have I said anything that you understand? Then I ask pardon of the rest of the company.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784, British author)
Learn to laugh at your troubles and you'll never run out of things to laugh at.
Lyn Karol
The sound of laughter is like the vaulted dome of a temple of happiness.
Milan Kundera (1929-, Czech author, critic)
We must laugh before we are happy, for fear we die before we laugh at all.
Jean De La Bruyere (1645-1696, French classical writer)
A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market.
Charles Lamb (1775-1834, British essayist, critic)
Hate is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored as well as destroy the object on which it is poured.
Ann Landers (1918-, American advice columnist)
Beware of him who hates the laugh of a child.
Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801, Swiss theologian, mystic)
My advice to people today is as follows: If you take the game of life seriously, if you take your nervous system seriously, if you take your sense organs seriously, if you take the energy process seriously, you must turn on, tune in, and drop out.
Timothy Leary (1921-1996, American actor)
Laughter is by definition healthy.
Doris Lessing (1919-, British novelist)
You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965, British novelist, playwright)
Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can.
Elsa Maxwell
The sense of humor has other things to do than to make itself conspicuous in the act of laughter.
Alice Meynell (1847-1922, British poet, essayist)
I can usually judge a fellow by what he laughs at.
Wilson Mizner (1876-1933, American author)
Not by wrath does one kill, but by laughter.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900, German philosopher)
That laughter costs too much which is purchased by the sacrifice of decency.
John Quinton
I always knew I would look back at the times I'd cried and laugh, but I never knew that I'd look back at the times I'd laughed and cry.
Shaun Prowdzik
There is a form of laughter that springs from the heart, heard every day in the merry voice of childhood, the expression of a laughter -- loving spirit that defies analysis by the philosopher, which has nothing rigid or mechanical in it, and totally without social significance. Bubbling spontaneously from the heart of child or man. Without egotism and full of feeling, laughter is the music of life.
Sir William Osler (1849-1919, Canadian physician)
She knew what all smart women knew: Laughter made you live better and longer.
Gail Parent
There is a kind of laughter that sickens the soul. Laughter when it is out of control: when it screams and stamps its feet, and sets the bells jangling in the next town. Laughter in all its ignorance and cruelty. Laughter with the seed of Satan in it. It tramples upon shrines; the belly-roarer. It roars, it yells, it is delirious: and yet it is as cold as ice. It has no humor. It is naked noise and naked malice.
Mervyn Peake (1911-1968, British author, artist)
The laughter of a child is the light of a house.
African Proverb (Sayings of African origin)
Laughing is not always the proof of a mind at ease.
French Proverb (Sayings of French origin)
Time spent laughing is time spent with the Gods.
Japanese Proverb (Sayings of Japanese origin)
We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh.
Agnes Repplier (1858-1950, American author, social critic)
The truth is, laughter always sounds more perfect than weeping. Laughter flows in a violent riff and is effortlessly melodic. Weeping is often fought, choked, half strangled, or surrendered to with humiliation.
Anne Rice (1941-, American author, "Interview with the Vampire")
No one is more profoundly sad as one who laughs too much.
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825, German novelist)
Laughter can be more satisfying than honor; more precious than money; more heart-cleansing than prayer.
Harriet Rochlin
Good laws lead to the making of better ones; bad ones bring about worse.
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778, Swiss political philosopher, educationist, essayist)
To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others.
Anne Sophie Swetchine (1782-1857, Russian author)
Taking joy in life is a woman's best cosmetic.
Rosalind Russell
Laughter is a great soul cleanser.
Virginia Sale
A chuckle a day may not keep the doctor away, but it sure does make those times in life's waiting room a little more bearable.
Anne W. Schaef
It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.
Marcus Annaeus Seneca (BC 3-65 AD, Roman philosopher, dramatist, statesman)
No one is laughable who laughs at himself.
Marcus Annaeus Seneca (BC 3-65 AD, Roman philosopher, dramatist, statesman)
Present mirth hath present laughter. What's to come is still unsure.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616, British poet, playwright, actor)
Most of the appearance of mirth in the world is not mirth, it is art. The wounded spirit is not seen, but walks under a disguise.
Bishop Robert South (1634-1716, British clergyman)
I am sure that since I have had the full use of my reason, nobody has heard me laugh.
Philip Dormer Stanhope
I am persuaded that every time a man smiles, but much more so when he laughs, it adds something to this fragment of life.
Laurence Sterne (1713-1768, British author)
The burden of the self is lightened with I laugh at myself.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941, Indian poet, philosopher)
Suffering is not a prerequisite for happiness.
Judy Tatelbaum
A good laugh is sunshine in the house.
William M. Thackeray (1811-1863, Indian-born British novelist)
A hearty laugh gives one a dry cleaning, while a good cry is a wet wash.
Puzant Kevork Thomajan
The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms -- hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal.
James Thurber (1894-1961, American humorist, illustrator)
We are a nation that has always gone in for the loud laugh, the wow, the yak, the belly laugh, and the dozen other labels for the roll-em-in-the-aisles gagerissimo. This is the kind of laugh that delights actors, directors, and producers, but dismays writers of comedy because it is the laugh that often dies in the lobby. The appreciative smile, the chuckle, the soundless mirth, so important to the success of comedy, cannot be understood unless one sits among the audience and feels the warmth created by the quality of laughter that the audience takes home with it.
James Thurber (1894-1961, American humorist, illustrator)
Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.
Mark Twain (1835-1910, American humorist, writer)
Laughter is the greatest weapon we have and we, as humans, use it the least.
Mark Twain (1835-1910, American humorist, writer)
The human race has but one really affective weapon, and that is laughter.
Mark Twain (1835-1910, American humorist, writer)
If you can laugh at it then you can live with it
Author Unknown
It is easier to make people cry than to make them laugh.
Author Unknown
They laugh well who laugh last.
Author Unknown
When you laugh, be sure to laugh at what people do and not at what people are.
Author Unknown
You can judge a man by what he laughs at.
Author Unknown
You enjoy it more if you can laugh at it.
Author Unknown
People who laugh actually live longer than those who don't laugh. Few persons realize that health actually varies according to the amount of laughter.
Dr. James Walsh
A good laugh makes any interview, or any conversation, so much better.
Barbara Walters (1931-, American TV personality)
It ain't sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you don't break any.
Mae West (1892-1980, American actress)
Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone; For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, But has trouble enough of its own.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1855-1919, American poet, journalist)
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