quotations about laughter
On the other hand, the pleasure caused by laughter, even on the stage, is not an unadulterated enjoyment; it is not a pleasure that is exclusively esthetic or altogether disinterested. It always implies a secret or unconscious intent, if not of each one of us, at all events of society as a whole. In laughter we always find an unavowed intention to humiliate, and consequently to correct our neighbour, if not in his will, at least in his deed.
HENRI BERGSON
Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic
Social laughter is momentary, soon burns itself out and passes away like the fire and smokes of straw, but genius shakes the very skies with its lasting, inextinguishable laughter.
BORIS SIDIS
Psychology of Laughter
Laughing is part of communication. Machines don't do that -- if they did, it would be unbelievably creepy.
ALAN BLACK
"What will it take to make AI sound human?", InfoWorld, April 4, 2016
To my knowledge, there is no place in the gospels where it says Jesus laughed about something. But I think he must have. Think about it. Jesus, walking around with 12 guys, sitting in a boat in the Sea of Galilee. There had to be laughter. Laughing is so human and so cleansing. If you assume that God created us in His image, then laughter is natural. Laughter and humor are a part of God's good creation.
CHARLIE BRUMBAUGH
"Laughter from a hard place", Cincinnati, March 27, 2016
I'd rather write about laughing than crying, For laughter makes men human, and courageous.
FRANCOIS RABELAIS
introduction, Gargantua and Pantagruel
Laughing directly involves a minimum of 15 muscles, and functions as a sort of an "internal jogging" workout.... One straight minute of heavy laughing (which is honestly very hard to maintain, it hurts so good!) is roughly equivalent to 10 minutes on a rowing machine.
MADDY FOLEY
"6 Weird Things That Happen To Your Body When You Laugh", Bustle, March 22, 2016
Laughter is a natural medicine. It lifts our spirits and makes us feel happy.
EVAN GORDON
"Just for the Smiles: A new philanthropic endeavor that is ever-so-L.A.", Jewish Journal, April 5, 2016
Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either.
GOLDA MEIR
attributed, Help! I'm Laughing and I Can't Get Up
Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell.
WILLIAM SAROYAN
preface, The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze
This much we do know: laughter is found in all human societies, and in chimpanzees and other apes. We first laugh as babies. These facts suggest it is evolved rather than learnt behaviour. Giggles tend to arrive unbidden, are hard to fake, and can be even harder to control. They can leave us breathless. Laughter is also infectious: perhaps the most famous epidemic occurred in 1962 in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) among teenage schoolgirls and resulted in the temporary closure of 14 schools.
ANJANA AHUJA
"Laughter is a condition with a mystery punchline", Financial Times, November 13, 2015
I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh.
MAYA ANGELOU
Maya Angelou: 365 Quotes and Sayings of Phenomenal Woman
To laugh, if but for an instant only, has never been granted to man before the fortieth day from his birth, and then it is looked upon as a miracle of precocity.
PLINY THE ELDER
Natural History
It was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials.
JOHN STEINBECK
The Grapes of Wrath
Laughter is often loudest in the least expected places.
MICHAELA GIBSON MORRIS
"Is your funny bone the key to better health?", Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, April 1, 2016
How much lies in Laughter: the cipher-key, wherewith we decipher the whole man.
THOMAS CARLYLE
Sartor Resartus
Laughter is a response that engages your frontal lobe (which processes emotion), the left side of your brain (which interprets information), the right side of your brain (determining something as "humorous"), your limbic system (which releases basic emotions, like fear), and your motor function (which produces the actual "ha ha"). And that's just neurological side of things.
MADDY FOLEY
"6 Weird Things That Happen To Your Body When You Laugh", Bustle, March 22, 2016
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The Merchant of Venice
If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.
OSCAR WILDE
The Nightingale and the Rose