Respect for the fragility and importance of an individual life is still the mark of an educated man.
Norman CousinsRead
Of all the gifts bestowed by nature on human beings, hearty laughter must be close to the top.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Laughter is one of the greatest natural gifts to humanity, enriching our lives significantly.
In this quote, Norman Cousins emphasizes the importance and value of laughter as a fundamental aspect of human experience. He suggests that among all the blessings that nature provides, the ability to laugh stands out as one of the most precious, enhancing our well-being and connection to life.
Themes
LaughterHappinessNatureGiftEnrichment
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a wellness seminar, one might quote this to highlight the therapeutic benefits of laughter.
More from Norman Cousins
All quotes →Never deny a diagnosis, but do deny the negative verdict that may go with it.
Norman CousinsRead
Although a man may have no jurisdiction over the fact of his existence, he can hold supreme command over the meaning of existence for him.
Norman CousinsRead
People are never more insecure than when they become obsessed with their fears at the expense of their dreams.
Norman CousinsRead
Reverence for life is more than solicitude or sensitivity for life. It is a sense of the whole, a capacity for inspired response, a respect for the intricate universe of individual life. It is the supreme awareness of awareness itself.
Norman CousinsRead
Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.
Norman CousinsRead
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So long as you don't feel life's paltry and a miserable business, the rest doesn't matter, happiness or unhappiness.
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When once a man has made celebrity necessary to his happiness, he has put it in the power of the weakest and most timorous malignity, if not to take away his satisfaction, at least to withhold it. His enemies may indulge their pride by airy negligence and gratify their malice by quiet neutrality.
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