One should take good care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life as laughter.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Genuine and innocent wit is surely the flavor of the mind. Man could not direct his way by plain reason, and support his life by tasteless food; but God has given us wit, and flavor, and brightness, and laughter, and perfumes, to enliven the days of man’s pilgrimage, and to charm his pained steps over the burning marl.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Search not a Wound too deep, lest thou make a new one.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
The loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
The sound of laughter is like the vaulted dome of a temple of happiness.
—Milan Kundera (b.1929) Czech Novelist
You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
The beauty of the world, which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English Novelist
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 (1941–2021) American Author
He who laughs, lasts.
—Mary Pettibone Poole American Aphorist
He who laughs best today, will also laughs last.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Frequent and loud laughing is the characteristic of folly and ill-manners.—True wit never made a man laugh.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
I am sure that since I have had the full use of my reason, nobody has heard me laugh.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
The laughter of girls is, and ever was, among the delightful sounds of earth.
—Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859) English Essayist, Critic
Laughter is a form of internal jogging. It moves your internal organs around. It enhances respiration. It is an igniter of great expectations.
—Norman Cousins (1912–1990) American Political Journalist
Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I’ve had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.
—Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) American Actor, TV Personality
Frequent and loud laughter is the characteristic of folly and ill manners; it is the manner in which the mob express their silly joy at silly things, and which they call being merry.—In my mind there is nothing so ill-bred as audible laughter.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
They laugh well who laugh last.
—Common Proverb
The best way to make your audience laugh is to start laughing yourself.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
When people are laughing, they’re generally not killing each other.
—Alan Alda (b.1936) American Actor, TV Personality, Screenwriter
Laughing cheerfulness throws the light of day on all the paths of life; the evil fog of gloom hovers in the distance; sorrow is more confusing and distracting than so-called giddiness.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
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.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
The flower in the vase smiles, but no longer laughs.
—Malcolm de Chazal (1902–81) Mauritian Writer, Painter, Visionary
The nightmare always becomes laughter, once it’s understood.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
I have always felt that laughter in the face of reality is probably the finest sound there is and will last until the day when the game is called on account of darkness. In this world, a good time to laugh is any time you can.
—Linda Ellerbee (b.1944) American Journalist
Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.
—Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) British Actor
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.
—William Osler (1849–1919) Canadian Physician
He who laughs at everything is as big a fool as he who weeps at everything.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Pain is deeper than all thought; laughter is higher than all pain.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh.
—The Holy Quran Sacred Scripture of Islam
Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective that seemingly terrible defeat and worry with laughter at your predicaments, thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution that is certain to come. Never take yourself too seriously.
—Og Mandino (1923–96) American Self-Help Author