QuoteProject
This I conceive to be the chemical function of humor: to change the character of our thought.
Lin Yutang
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Humor serves as a transformative tool for our thinking and perspective.

Lin Yutang suggests that humor plays a critical role in altering how we perceive and process thoughts. By introducing humor into our mindset, we can shift our perspective, rethink our mindset, and potentially even alleviate stress or negativity, showcasing humor's essential function in human psychology.

Themes

HumorThoughtTransformationPerspectivePsychology

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech about mental health, I used this quote to emphasize the role of humor in coping with challenges.

More from Lin Yutang

Reality - Dreams = Animal Being Reality + Dreams = A Heart-Ache (usually called Idealism) Reality + Humor = Realism (also called Conservatism) Dreams - Humor = Fanaticism Dreams + Humor = Fantasy Reality + Dreams + Humor = Wisdom
Lin YutangRead
True peace of mind comes from accepting the worst. Psychologically, I think it means a release of energy.
Lin YutangRead
All women's dresses, in every age and country, are merely variations on the eternal struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress.
Lin YutangRead
If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.
Lin YutangRead
It is that unoccupied space which makes a room habitable, as it is our leisure hours which make life endurable.
Lin YutangRead
The wise man reads both books and life itself.
Lin YutangRead

Similar quotes

You can't be satirical and not be offensive to somebody.
Tom LehrerRead
The truth is, laughter always sounds more perfect than weeping. Laughter flows in a violent riff and is effortlessly melodic. Weeping is often fought, choked, half strangled, or surrendered to with humiliation.
Anne RiceRead
I can resist anything but the temptation to make a clever witticism.
Oscar WildeRead
Nothing spoils a good story like the arrival of an eyewitness.
Mark TwainRead
I'm an actor who they said was wrinkled and balding and everything else when I was in my early 30's. Most of the people who wrote that who thought they were younger than me are now bald and wrinkled.
Jack NicholsonRead
I think a rotisserie is like a really morbid ferris wheel for chickens. It’s a strange piece of machinery . . . We will take the chicken, kill it, impale it, and then rotate it. And I’ll be damned if I’m not hungry! Because spinning chicken carcasses make my mouth water! I like dizzy chicken. With a side of potatoes of some sort.
Mitch HedbergRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.