“Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh
“One should never risk a joke, even of the mildest and most unexceptional charters, except among people of culture and wit
“It is a great misfortune not to possess sufficient wit to speak well, nor sufficient judgment to keep silent
“The teller of a mirthful tale has latitude allowed him. We are content with less than absolute truth
“Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity
“Kind hearts are the gardens, kind thoughts are the roots, kind words are the flowers, kind deeds are the fruits. Take care of your garden and keep out the weeds, fill it with sunshine, kind words and kind deeds
“One hearty laugh together will bring enemies into a closer communion of heart than hours spent on both sides in inward wrestling with the mental demon of uncharitable feeling.