An accidental flood (is there any other kind?) created a special need for laughter at our house this weekend. The laughter came, yes, but later…not in the middle of rapidly moving things to high ground.

The experience made me think about the value of laughter…laughing at yourself, laughing with others, laughing at the silliness and ironies of life, sometimes. More on that in the next few days.

For now, a few quotes about the joyous subject of mirth, and laughter:

The more you find out about the world, the more opportunities there are to laugh at it.
- Bill Nye

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

He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh.
Koran

(On that count, I’ve noticed that learning in a group is often higher, and goes in better, if the group is bonded enough to laugh easily as they work, even on serious subjects).

Laughter is inner jogging.
- Norman Cousins

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

And finally, for now:

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
- Mark Twain