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Laughter almost ever cometh of things most disproportioned to ourselves and nature: delight hath a joy in it either permanent or present; laughter hath only a scornful tickling.

— Philip Sidney

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More quotes by Philip Sidney

A fair woman shall not only command without authority but persuade without speaking.

The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1580)

They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.

The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1580)

High-erected thoughts seated in the heart of courtesy.

The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1580)

And thou my minde aspire to higher things;
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust.

With a tale forsooth he cometh unto you, with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner.

An Apology of Poetry, or The Defence of Poesy (1595)

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Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

Albert Einstein Essay to Leo Baeck (1953)

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be.

William Hazlitt Lectures on the English Comic Writers (1819)

Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.

Karl Barth The Harper Book of Quotations (1993)

Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt,
And every grin so merry draws one out.

John Wolcot

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Philip Sidney (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.