Non-Medical Opinions
on the Health Benefits of Laughter

Laughter is an instant vacation. - Milton Berle

I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.  -Woody Allen

Always Laugh when you can.  It is cheap medicine.
- Lord Byron

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.  - Jean Houston

I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.  - Frank Clark

Laughter is about relationships, it's not about jokes.  It's a form of communication. - Robert R. Provine

The number one reason for choosing a mate is the ability to laugh together.  - Parade Magazine poll, 1985


Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit.  - Author Unknown


Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.  - Jack Handey, "Deep Thoughts," Saturday Night Live


The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.  - e.e. cummings


What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumbled swiftly into dust before the ringing death-knell of a laugh!  - Agnes Repplier


So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword other than laughter.  - Gordon W. Allport


Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.  - Victor Borge


What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.  - Yiddish Proverb


When people are laughing, they're generally not killing each other.  - Alan Alda


Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion.  I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.  - Kurt Vonnegut


A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.   - Irish Proverb


Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.  - Bob Newhart


I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain't that the truth."  - Quincy Jones


Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks.  - Henri Bergson


Remember, men need laughter sometimes more than food.  - Anna Fellows Johnston


You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants.  - Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis


With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.  ~Abraham Lincoln


A good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified internal massage, performed rapidly and automatically.  It manipulates and revitalizes corners and unexplored crannies of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods.  - Author unknown, from an editorial in New York Tribune, quoted in Quotations for Special Occasions by Maud van Buren


Seven days without laughter makes one weak.  - Mort Walker


A laugh is a smile that bursts.  - Mary H. Waldrip


Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.  - Victor Hugo


Laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.  - Hugh Sidey


Carry laughter with you wherever you go.  - Hugh Sidey


Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.  - Arnold Glasow

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Medical Opinions
on the Health Benefits of Laughter

The latest medical research is finding many health benefits related to laughter.  Here is a list of the health benefits of laughter:

• Laughter may enhance your intake of oxygen-rich air increasing oxygenation of the blood and vascular blood flow.
  
• Laughter stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles.
• Laughter increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
• Laughter releases neuropeptides that help fight stress that can compromise your immune system.
• Laughter increases the response of tumor and disease-killing cells such as Gamma-interferon and T-cells.
  
• Laughter can relieve social stress and help you connect with other people.
• Laughter lowers blood pressure.
• Laughter gives a workout to the diaphragm and abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles.
• Laughter reduces certain stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline.
• Laughter defends the body against respiratory infections-even reducing the frequency of colds-by immunoglobulon in saliva.
• Laughter may increase memory and learning.  In a study done at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, humor during instruction led to increased test scores.
• Humor may improve creativity, alertness, and memory.

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Links on the Healthiness of Laughter

Mayo Clinic Article on Benefits of Laughter to Cut Down on Stress

The Benefits of Laughter in the Workplace

The Science of Laughter

Laughter Therapy

Laughter is the Best Medicine for Your Heart

How to Put a Little More Laughter in Your Life

• Hang around with funny people. Share funny things with your friends.
• Learn to laugh at the things that aggravate and frustrate you and stress you out.  Part of what makes humor so amazing is the liberating realization that everybody gets aggravated and frustrated by the same things. You are NOT alone!
• Keep funny sayings, books, cartoons, pictures, etc. close at hand.  For that matter...see our funny book guaranteed to add all sorts of laughs to your day!