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Laughter

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“Colin did not laugh. Instead he thought, Tampons have strings? Why? Of all the major human mysteries—God, the nature of the universe, etc.—he knew the least about tampons. To Colin, tampons were a little bit like grizzly bears: he was aware of their existence, but he'd never seen one in the wild, and didn't really care to.”
John Green (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never started to plow in my life That some one did not stop in the road And take me away to a dance or picnic. I ended up with forty acres; I ended up with a broken fiddle — And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, And not a single regret.”
Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think comedy is the most difficult thing in the world, I really do. One can always lament, you know — but to laugh in the face of life, that's very hard. And for me the great tragedian should also be a great comedian.”
Martha Graham (1894–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wot cher! all the neighbours cried, Who yer gonna meet, Bill, Have yer bought the street, Bill? Laugh! I thought I should've died, Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road.”
Albert Chevalier (1861–1923) said by 1923 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everything that’s difficult you should be able to laugh about.”
Louis C.K. (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s been a very old thing for people to gather together and laugh at stuff. The first comedian in America really was Abraham Lincoln … He used to go to a pub near where he lived and stand in front of the fire and he packed the place every night and he would just talk and bust everybody in their guts. He was just a hilarious speaker and that’s what he did.”
Louis C.K. (born 1967) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43834 (2010)
“The children eat and wriggle and laugh, The two old ladies stroke their silk; But the cat is grown small and thin with desire, Transformed to a creeping lust for milk.”
Harold Monro (1879–1932) said by 1932 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Milk for the Cat", line 17, from Alida Monro (ed.) Collected Poems (London: Duckworth, [1933] 1970) p. 163.
“The English can laugh and at the same time strike you down, without the least compunction. It is the secret of their success as a nation.”
Peter Ackroyd (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you can get someone to laugh with you, they will be more willing to identify with you, listen to you. It parts the waters.”
Robert Orben (1928–2023) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Susan Feeney (March 24, 1990) "It's no joke: politicians pay to get those laughs", The Dallas Morning News, p. 1C.
“Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably … And never regret anything that made you smile.”
Ruslana Korshunova (1987–2008) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Model's Web rants pined for love" in Daily News (New York, 29 June 2008)
“When this old world gets me down and there's no love to be found I close my eyes and soon I find I'm in a playground in my mind Where the children laugh and the children play And we sing a song all day.”
Paul Vance (1929–2022) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Song "Playground In My Mind" (1973)
“You have been a very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontelliere's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, 'here Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both”
Kate Chopin (1850–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I heard one cry in the night, and I heard one laugh afterwards. If I cannot forget that, I shall not be able to sleep again.”
M. R. James (1862–1936) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Count Magnus", from Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904); The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James (London: Edward Arnold, 1947) p. 111.
“It was hard not to laugh. Determination like that in a ten-year-old is something to see. He was like a pit bull." "If pit bulls wore glasses and were allergic to ragweed.”
Cassandra Clare (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You don't know my father. He'll laugh in your face and offer you some money to mail my body back to Idris." "Don't be absurd-" "You're right. Coming to think of it, he'll probably make you pay for the shipping charges yourself.”
Cassandra Clare (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's odd. Fifty percent of me feels it's the right time to be closing this. The other 50 percent of me is saying it's more than a show. It's a group of people that love each other. It's a group of people that come together every day trying to make America laugh, and what better thing is there to do than that?”
Matthew Perry (1969–2023) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the end of the television program Friends – Susan Young (May 6, 2004) "Adios, amigos: ' Friends ' signs off after a decade of good times", Alameda Times-Star
“It's been more than a show. It's been a wonderful support group. It's a group of people that love each other, that come together every day to try to make America laugh. What better thing is there to do than that?”
Matthew Perry (1969–2023) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gail Pennington (May 2, 2004) "Farewell, "Friends": Sitcom's Finale on Thursday Night May Draw Up to 85 Million Viewers", The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. F1
“Even as a child, I had that sort of defense mechanism. If something was awkward, I would try to lighten it up by making people laugh. But like Chandler, I've grown up a little bit in the last eight years and become a lot more comfortable with my serious side. I feel the need to fill the silences a lot less with jokes.”
Matthew Perry (1969–2023) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frazier Moore, Associated Press (August 22, 2002) "Perry pondering life after 'Friends'", Deseret Morning News, Deseret News Publishing Co., p. C04
“Sanya, Knight of the Cross: Laugh whenever you can. Keeps you from killing yourself when things are bad. That and vodka.”
Jim Butcher (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Honestly, it's the greatest show on television. It's live. It's topical. It makes you laugh. It's just a great vibe.”
Jimmy Fallon (born 1974) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No byline (2004-10-08), "Jimmy Fallon's pleasant tomorrow". USA Today, Section: Life, Pg. 01e
“Blake would not laugh at my fantasies if he saw them [in contrary to the public in New York, as Hartley realized well, before]”
Marsden Hartley (1877–1943) first seen 1932 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hartley to Kuntz, April 4, 1932; as quoted in Marsden Hartley, by Gail R. Scott, Abbeville Publishers, Cross River Press, 1988, New York p. 99
“I do think, in spite of the considerable evidence to the contrary, that theology can and should be, in some of its modes, funny. Theology done right should make you laugh.”
Stanley Hauerwas (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My answer to the question "Why do we philosophize?" is as follows. We philosophize for the same reason that we move and speak and laugh and eat and love. In other words, we philosophize because man is a philosophical animal.… We may be as sceptical as we please. Our very scepticism is the confession of an implicit philosophy.”
John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ron's funnier than Robin Williams. The hard thing is not to laugh when the camera is rolling.”
Daniel Radcliffe (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I went to see this picture [Raphael's painting 'Madonna della Sedia' which Renoir saw in Florence in 1882] just to have a good laugh – and I found myself in front of the most wonderfully free, solid, simple, alive painting it is possible to imagine – arms and legs of real flesh, and what a touching expression of maternal tenderness.”
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) first seen 1882 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 161-162 : (1882), in a letter to Vollard
“Goss and Bennett…trained him to make Europe yawn; and he took advantage of their training to make London and New York laugh and whistle.”
Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) first seen 1890 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: George Bernard Shaw, in The Scots Observer, September 6, 1890; cited from Dan H. Laurence (ed.) Shaw's Music (London: The Bodley Head, 1989) vol. 2, p. 174.
“Why, when no honest man will deny in private that every ultimate problem is wrapped in the profoundest mystery, do honest men proclaim in pulpits that unhesitating certainty is the duty of the most foolish and ignorant? Is it not a spectacle to make the angels laugh?”
Leslie Stephen (1832–1904) first seen 1876 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Fortnightly Review, vol. 25 (1876) p. 859
“As anyone who has the slightest knowledge of my work knows, I have little in common with Larkin, who was tall, taciturn and thin-on-top, and unlike him I laugh, nay, sneer, in the face of death. I will concede one point: we are both lesbian poets.”
Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interviewed in The Guardian, August 31, 2002.
“Methinks, I see the wanton houres flee, And as they passe, turne back and laugh at me.”
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1627–1687) said by 1687 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Encyclopædia Britannica (1910)
“Our Poets make us laugh at Tragœdy, And with their Comoedies they make us cry.”
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1627–1687) said by 1687 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I always knew I wanted a great man of God, someone who was going to be an inspiration for people and also be a lovely husband and father, We're at different places in our lives, but we can still grow together. He's thought-provoking, articulate, a real advocate. I also definitely wanted to have a laugh. I have all that in him.”
Katy Perry (born 1984) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Katy Perry: The Interview BAZAAR (November 3, 2010).
“It should be noted that vegetarianism is still a source of ridicule for those who do not know the truth; How easily we laughed at our ancestors, the day will come when future generations will laugh at our superstitions.”
Sadegh Hedayat (1902–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you are a piano, You will laugh on ev'ry string, And if you are a girl or boy, You'll sing.”
Malvina Reynolds (1900–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you laugh at that, you lower the bar, and I will limbo under it because I am a f*cked-up guy!”
Bob Saget (1956–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The suggestion that the prime minister had been flirting with one of the senior women cabinet ministers made me laugh every time I saw it, and I thought, "if you only knew!" Perhaps they should have pushed it a bit harder.”
Edwina Currie (born 1946) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Best Ever Spitting Image TV documentary (2006).
“I don't believe there is any finer mission on earth than just to make people laugh.”
Roscoe Arbuckle (1887–1933) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview (1916)
“No price is too high to pay for a good laugh.”
Roscoe Arbuckle (1887–1933) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Cost of a Laugh, Motion Picture Magazine, March 1918.
“Looking back now toward the start You said you thought I'd lost my path And I asked if you still considered love an art And you said "No, I think it's more a craft" And I just turned and laughed I just had to turn and laugh.”
Dan Fogelberg (1951–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She made me laugh. I will miss her. Baba Wawa.”
Barbara Walters (1929–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On my Youtube page there are so many haters. They just say crazy stuff. Like, I'm not mad. I'm 16 years old and I don't have chest hair and I'm not angry about it at the moment. That will come. People are like, "Look at him he puts helium in his voice before he sings." You just have to laugh at yourself. It's funny.”
Justin Bieber (born 1994) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview on The Ellen Show, "Ellen Chats With Justin Bieber", 3 November 2010
“We all laugh and cough with the same language and will die with the same language as well!”
Javad Alizadeh (born 1953) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Humor & Caricature (June 1995), p. 3
“My intellect has been shaped under the sign of Spinoza's words, and it has tried not to be astounded, not to laugh, not to cry, but to understand.”
Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Baruch Spinoza
“We always say, one day we will laugh at this. I always try to make sure that this one day is today…”
Jacob Aagaard (born 1973) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Are chess players intelligent?" Quality Chess Blog (6 October 2010)
“A Wise man knows that much of what he says and does is commonplace and trivial. His thoughts are not all solemn and sacred in his own eyes. He is able to laugh at himself and is not offended when others make him a subject whereon to exercise their wit.”
John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whether it’s that moment in acting when everything is suspended and you’re not yourself, or breaking through the veil of a very long run or swim, or hearing my daughter laugh—they are all pathways to what I think God must be.”
Jennifer Beals (born 1963) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in More Magazine, p. 165 (December 2010).
“I used to hate hip-hop, because the women degraded. But Too Short made me laugh, like a hypocrite I played it; a hypocrite I stated, though I only recited half omitting the word b*tch, cursing I wouldn't say it. Me and dog couldn't relate, until a b*tch I dated.”
Lupe Fiasco (born 1982) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rap records pressured to laugh, at a life not fast.”
Lupe Fiasco (born 1982) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A lot of the things you cry about in the present are the things you will laugh about in the future.”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is there to be no getting away from this loathsome vegetative physicality?.. .Utter contempt for the lewd enticements that always lure us back into life's clutches. And when, half-parched, we seek to quench our thirst, the gods laugh us to scorn.”
Max Beckmann (1884–1950) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Beckmann's Diary-notes, 4 July, 1946, p. 156; as cited in 'Portfolios', Alexander Dückers; in German Expressionist Prints and Drawings - Essays Vol 1.; published by Museum Associates, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, C…
“I know nothing, I am neither woman nor girl; I have been living in a dream and when someone kissed me, it made me want to laugh. Now I am here before you, it seems as though I have just awakened and it is morning.”
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source