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August  27th

LAUGH,  OR  CRY?

“Heraclitus would   shed    tears   whenever    he  went    out in  public—Democritus   laughed.    One saw the

whole   as  a   parade  of  miseries,   the other   of  follies.    And so, we  should  take    a   lighter view    of

things  and bear    them    with    an  easy    spirit, for it  is  more    human   to  laugh   at  life    than    to  lament  it.”

—SENECA,    ON  TRANQUILITY OF  MIND,   15.2

s this observation the origin of that famous expression about frustrating news: “I don’t know whether to
laugh or cry?” The Stoics saw little purpose in getting angry or sad about things that are indifferent to
our feelings. Especially when those feelings end up making us feel worse.
It’s also another bit of evidence that the Stoics were hardly some depressing, bitter group of old men.
Even when things were really bad, when the world made them want to weep in despair or rage, they
chose to laugh about it.
Like Democritus, we can make that same choice. There is more humor than hate to be found in just
about every situation. And at least humor is productive—making things less heavy, not more so.