Smile Quotes

Shakespeare, Byron, Lord Chesterfield, John Cleese and Milton share the top. Because the topic takes in laughter, the sourced material is dry. Bierce, in 1911, defines laughter as an interior convulsion producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises. Mencken, in 1949, defines a creator as a comedian whose audience is afraid to laugh. Einstein, in 1953, warns that whoever sets himself up as a judge of truth is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

Three popular lines are marked misattributed. “A day without laughter is a day wasted” is credited to Charlie Chaplin, and the notes quote an older and longer passage making the same point. “Remember me with smiles and laughter” is credited to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a poem about the thing that goes the farthest toward making life worthwhile, a smile, to Wilbur D. Nesbit.