#laught

The common denominator of all jokes is a path of expectation that is diverted by an unexpected twist necessitating a complete reinterpretation of all the previous facts — the punch-line…Reinterpretation alone is insufficient. The new model must be inconsequential. For example, a portly gentleman walking toward his car slips on a banana peel and falls. If he breaks his head and blood spills out, obviously you are not going to laugh. You are going to rush to the telephone and call an ambulance. But if he simply wipes off the goo from his face, looks around him, and then gets up, you start laughing. The reason is, I suggest, because now you know it’s inconsequential, no real harm has been done. I would argue that laughter is nature’s way of signaling that "it’s a false alarm." Why is this useful from an evolutionary standpoint? I suggest that the rhythmic staccato sound of laughter evolved to inform our kin who share our genes; don’t waste your precious resources on this situation; it’s a false alarm. Laughter is nature’s OK signal. ↗

— V.S. Ramachandran

#humor #laughter #humor

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. ↗

— William Shakespeare

#laughter #mirth #old #wrinkles

I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh. ↗

— Jane Austen

#laughter #smiles #smile

Laughter is more than just a pleasurable activity...When people laugh together, they tend to talk and touch more and to make eye contact more frequently. ↗

— Gretchen Rubin

#happiness #laughter #pleasure #relationships #fun

I looked at the stained-glass image of the lamb in the window above me, but that only reminded me that lambs are famous for being led to slaughter, or sometimes hanging out with lions in ill-advised relationships. ↗

— Maureen Johnson

#funny #humor #humour #lambs #slaughter

She laughs an honest laugh... one that puts the fakes on edge and makes them dream of being better. ↗

— C. JoyBell C.

#inspirational-life #inspirational-moments #laughter #womens-inspirational #dreams

Sometimes crying or laughing are the only options left, and laughing feels better right now. ↗

— Veronica Roth

#laughter #options #laugh

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane. ↗

— Robert Frost

#laugh

The earth laughs in flowers. ↗

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

#laughter #laugh

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man, don't bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, of seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you will get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man. ↗

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

#goodness #laughter #laugh