Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the mind, weakens the faculties and causes a kind of remissness and dissolution in all the powers of the soul; and thus it may be looked on as weakness in the composition of human nature. But if we consider the frequent relieves we receive from it and how often it breaks the gloom which is apt to depress the mind and damp our spirits, with transient, unexpected gleams of joy, one would take care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life.

The mind gets distracted in all sorts of ways. The heart is its own exclusive concern and diversion.

The glance embroiders in joy, knits in pain, and sews in boredom. When indifferent, the eye takes stills, when interested, movies. Laughter is regional: a smile extends over the whole face.

The ring always believes that the finger lives for it.

In the distance, the gestures of animals look human, the gestures of human beings bestial.

The man who can make others laugh secures more votes for a measure than the man who forces them to think.

We sometimes laugh from ear to ear, but it would be impossible for a smile to be wider than the distance between our eyes.