Compiled by: Steven K. Robison
Apologies for the length of this posting; I had put a list of quotes for the above purpose together for an ill individual & thought they might be useful in a situation which is unfortunately all too common–a devastating or terminal illness. Source of most of these is Wooten, “Heart, Humor & Healing,” ISBN 1-881394-43-3 (1994). Steven K. Robison
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There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonics so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow. -O. Swett Marden
A sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the unbearable. -Moshe Waldoks
Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in the long run. -Charles Chaplin
Don’t deny the diagnosis; try to defy the verdict. -Norman Cousins
We are all here for a spell. Get all the good laughs you can. -Will Rogers
The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed. -Sebastian Comfort
The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, & wills. -Richard Needham
Humor can be a way to move from “grin and bear it” to “grin and share it.” -Joel Goodman
Humor is tragedy plus time. -Carol Burnett
A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs-jolted by every pebble in the road. -Henry Ward Beecher
The witch doctor succeeds for the same reason all the rest of us succeed. Each patient carries his own doctor inside him. They come to us not knowing that truth. We are at our best when we give the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to go to work. -Albert Schweitzer, MD
When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. -Helen Keller
Humor is contagious. Laughter is infectious. Both are good for your health. -William Fry, MD
Sometimes you just need to look reality in the eye, and deny it. -Garrison Keillor
We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that goes to that building; and so our health is a long and regular work. But in a minute a cannon batters all, overthrows all, demolishes all; a sickness unprevented for all our diligence, unsuspected for all our curiosity, nay, undeserved, if we consider only disorder, summons us, seizes us, possesses us, destroys us in an instant. -John Donne
When one door closes, another door always opens-but these long hallways are a real drag. -bumper sticker
There ain’t any answer. There ain’t going to be any answer. There never has been an answer . . . That’s the answer. -Gertrude Stein
A sick person needs ” . . . the absence of pain and the presence of family.” -Helen Hayes
Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn’t permanent. -Jean Kerr
Getting well is not the only goal. Even more important is learning to live without fear, to be at peace with life, and ultimately death. -Bernie Siegel, MD
If you can laugh at it, you can live with it. -Anonymous
One of the best things people can have up their sleeve is a funny bone. -Richard L. Weaver, II
Humor reminds us of our fragility, our earthiness, our dustiness, our propensity to mess things up even when we have the best of intentions, our powerlessness apart from God. -Cal Samara
Come, thieving time, take what you must, Quickness to move, to hear, to see, When dust gathers near to dust, Such diminutions need must be, But leave, O leave, exempt from plunder, My sense of humor, curiosity, and wonder. -Anonymous poem, from 93 year-old lady, given to her pastor in Washington church
Laughter is a melody, a concert from the heart, a tickling by angels, creative living art. Laughter heals and comforts, sometimes gentle sometimes bold. Laughter is a freeing dance, performed within the soul. -Serene West
Comedy is the main weapon we have against “The Horror.” With it we can strike a blow at death itself. Or, at least, poke a hole in the pretentious notion that there is something dignified about it. -John Callahan (cartoonist & quadriplegic)
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