Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly.
Interpretation
Laughter comes from recognizing our superiority or a shift in perceptions about ourselves compared to others' weaknesses or our past failures.
In this quote, Thomas Hobbes emphasizes that laughter is a response rooted in our sense of superiority. We often find humor when we see ourselves in a better light than others or recall times when we struggled, creating a moment of joy and triumph over those comparisons. It reflects an innate human tendency to derive pleasure from understanding our own strengths in relation to perceived weaknesses.
In practice
In a speech about resilience, one could remind the audience that laughter helps us reflect on our journey and growth.
Baptism is the sacrament of allegiance of them that are to be received into the Kingdom of God, that is to say, into Eternal life, that is to say, to Remission of Sin. For as Eternal life was lost by the committing, so it is recovered by the remitting of men's sins.
Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
For it is not the shape, but their use, that makes them angels.
For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.
Scientia potentia est, sed parva; quia scientia egregia rara est, nec proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus. Scientiae enim ea natura est, ut esse intelligi non possit, nisi ab illis qui sunt scientia praediti.
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
Not everyone is comfortable with the kissing ritual. My husband is one of them. Her refuses to press lips with anyone except his wife, mother, and dog. If someone wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he would refuse until he had been formally introduced.
He'd heard that writers spent all day in their dressing gowns drinking champagne. This is, of course, absolutely true.
The humor is that finally when you have the power to move the mountain, you are the person who placed it there-so there the mountain stays.
If someone ever says youβre weird, say thank you.
The young comedians always ask me, 'What's the secret for staying around?' I tell them, 'There is no secret - just stay around. Longevity is the most important thing.'
There's only one rule in stand-up, which is that you have to be funny. Yet 99 per cent of comics look and talk exactly the same.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.