Quotations on Laughter

about 15% of the quotes on laughter from my personal database.

JOY, FACE, SADNESS, GRIEF
In joy the face expands, in grief it lengthens.
Charles Darwin, Expression of The Emotions In Man And Animals

FACES, EMOTIONS, LAUGHING, CRYING, ART
"Between the expressions of laughter and weeping there is no difference in the motion of the features, either in the eyes, mouth or cheeks; only in the ruffling of the brows, which is added when weeping, but more elevated and extended when laughing.
...Those who weep, raise the brows, and bring them close together above the nose, forming many wrinkles on the forehead, and the corners of the mouth are turned down-wards. Those who laugh have them turned upwards, and the brows open and extended."
DaVinci, Leonardo, A TREATISE ON PAINTING

LAUGHTER, FUN, HAPPINESS
'Tis a good thing to laugh at any rate; and if a straw can tickle a man, it is an instrument of happiness.
Dryden

Laughter is, indeed, akin to weeping; and true humor is as closely allied to pity as it is abhorrent to derision.
Henry Giles

Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.
Goethe

The loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.
Goldsmith

The character and temperament of an age as well as its common sense are reflected in its laughter.
J.C. Gregory, Sense of Humor

The way men laugh and the things they laugh at reflect their tastes, thoughts, and sympathies... Society offers its
pulse in the nature of its laughter.
J.C. Gregory, Sense of Humor

LAUGHTER
Man is the only creature endowed with the power of laughter.
Greville

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
Victor Hugo

CHEERFULNESS
I like the laughter that opens the lips and heart,- that shows at the same time pearls and the soul.
Victor Hugo

LAUGHTER
"A laughing mouth doth all of its teeth display."
Hugo, Victor

FORGIVE, PEACE, TRUCE
"One hearty laugh together will bring enemies into a closer communion of heart than hours spent on both sides in inward
wrestling with the mental demon of uncharitable feeling.
Wm. James

LAUGHTER
O, glorious laughter! thou man-loving spirit, that for a time
doth take the burden from the weary back, that doth lay salve
to the weary feet, bruised and cut by flints and shards.
Douglas Jerrold

LAUGHTER
We must laugh before we are happy lest we die without having laughed.
LaBruyere

LAUGHTER
A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market
Lamb, Charles (Elia.)

One who has the courage to laugh is almost as much the master of the world as he who is ready to die.
Giacamo Leopardi

Laugh if you are wise.
Martial

SMILE, LAUGH
"Then let us laugh. It is the cheapest luxury man enjoys, and, as Charles Lamb says, ''is worth a hundred groans in any state of the market.'' It stirs up the blood, expands the chest, electrifies the nerves, clears away the cobwebs
from the brain, and gives the whole system a shock to which the voltaic- pile is as nothing. Nay, its delicious alchemy
converts even tears into the quintessence of merriment, and makes wrinkles themselves expressive of youth and frolic."
Matthews, Wm.

Man alone suffers so excruciatingly in the world that he was compelled to invent laughter.
Nietzsche, The Will To Power

You must laugh ten times during the day, and be cheerful; otherwise your stomach, the father of affliction, will disturb
you in the night.
Nietzsche

SMILE, LAUGH
"Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt; And every grin so merry, draws one out."
Pindar, Peter

DENIAL, MASK, HIDE, EMOTION, FEELINGS
"So, to keep tongues from wagging,
I laugh when I'm crying, bitterly
And gaily sing when my heart is sad."
De Pisan, Christine, Rondeau XI

"One inch of joy surmounts of grief a span;
Because to laugh is proper to the man."
Rabelais