Him, who incessantly laughs in the street, you may commonly hear grumbling in his closet.
Interpretation
People who appear joyful in public may secretly harbor dissatisfaction or sadness in private.
This quote by Johann Kaspar Lavater suggests that outward appearances can often be misleading. It implies that an individual who expresses happiness or laughter in social settings may actually be dealing with internal struggles or negativity when alone, highlighting the complexities of human emotions and the masks we wear in society.
In practice
In a discussion about mental health awareness, you might use this quote to illustrate how people can hide their true feelings.
There are many kinds of smiles, each having a distinct character. Some announce goodness and sweetness, others betray sarcasm, bitterness and pride; some soften the countenance by their languishing tenderness, others brighten by their spiritual vivacity.
If you wish to appear agreeable in society, you must consent to be taught many things which you already know.
He who seldom speaks, and with one calm well-timed word can strike dumb the loquacious, is a genius or a hero.
Where pride begins, love ceases.
Who in the same given time can produce more than others has vigor; who can produce more and better, has talents; who can produce what none else can, has genius.
When you doubt between words, use the plainest, the commonest, the most idiomatic. Eschew fine words as you would rouge; love simple ones as you would the native roses on your cheek.
No, my friend, I am not drunk. I have just been to the dentist, and need not return for another six months! Is it not the most beautiful thought? --Poirot
I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.
Some people think it is difficult to be a Christian and to laugh, but I think it's the other way around. God writes a lot of comedy, its just that he has so many bad actors.
Many old music hall fans were present at the funeral today of Fred 'Chuckles' Jenkins, Britain's oldest and unfunniest comedian. In tribute, the vicar read out one of Fred's jokes, and the congregation had two minutes silence.
So long and take it easy, because if you start taking things seriously, it is the end of you.
After eating, an epicure gives a thin smile of satisfaction; a gastronome, burping into his napkin, praises the food in a magazine; a gourmet, repressing his burp, criticizes the food in the same magazine; a gourmand belches happily and tells everybody where he ate; a glutton empraces the white porcelain alter, or more plainly, he barfs.
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