as quotes do. So, I was very pleased when, after helping me arrange material for this book, my daughter Sarah remarked, “Just reading these quotes made me feel better.”
Then, I realized that this was no ordinary reference book of collected quotations. It was also a source of inspiration and humor.
You may choose to use this book in several ways:
You could sit and read a section from start to finish as you would an ordinary book. Many quotes may tickle you because of the self-contained humor or because they echo, contradict, or confirm other thoughts nearby.
Thumb through or open the book randomly and read the first quote that pops up. It may be just what you need at that moment.
Find a quote you are especially drawn to and savor it for an hour, a day, or a week. Allow it to provide affirmation to uplift some part of your life.
Also, use this book as you would any reference work. It can serve as a wonderful resource for writers, speakers, editors, clergy, teachers, salespeople, businesspeople, parents, and others who rely on the power of the written or spoken word.
No matter how you use The Lighten Up Book: Affirmations and Insights to Inspire Health and Happiness, I hope it enriches your life.
Allen Klein
San Francisco, CA
a●muse vt to keep pleasantly or enjoyably occupied or interested; entertain
a●mus●ing adj entertaining; diverting
a●muse●ment n the condition or state of being amused
If you would rule the world quietly, you must keep it amused.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The main obligation is to amuse yourself.
S. J. Perelman
I tend to head for what’s amusing because a lot of things aren’t happy. But usually you can find a funny side to practically anything.
Maggie Smith
Kids can amuse themselves with almost anything.
Allen Klein
Wearing underwear on the outside of your clothes can turn a tedious trip to the store for a forgotten carton of milk into an amusement park romp.
Hunter “Patch” Adams
When men are rightly occupied, their amusement grows out of their work, as the color-petals out of a fruitful flower.
John Ruskin
The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.
Voltaire
Be amusing; never tell unkind stories; above all, never tell long ones.
Benjamin Disraeli
You live but once; you might as well be amusing.
Coco Chanel
The whole object of comedy is to be yourself, and the closer you get to that, the funnier you will be.
Jerry Seinfeld
cheer●cheerful●chuckle clown●comedian comedy●comic●comical
cheer n 1. state of mind; feeling; spirit; mood 2. gladness; joy; gaiety; encouragement
cheer vt 1. to make happy or glad 2. To grow or be cheerful
cheer●ful adj gay; joyful; full of cheer cheer●ful●ly adv cheer●ful●ness n
Be of good cheer.
William Shakespeare
While there is a chance of the world getting through its troubles, I hold that a reasonable man has to behave as though he were sure of it. If at the end your cheerfulness is not justified, at any rate you will have been cheerful.
H. G. Wells
Fake feeling good… You’re going to have to learn to fake cheerfulness. Believe it or not, eventually that effort will pay off: you’ll actually start feeling happier.
Jean Bach
I can’t be happy every day, but I can be cheerful.
Beverly Sills
Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.
Joseph Addison
A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance…a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:13–15
Since God has given me a cheerful heart, He will forgive me for serving Him cheerfully.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Nothing is more beautiful than cheerfulness in an old face.
Jean Paul Richter
A happy woman is one who has no cares at all; a cheerful woman is one who has cares but doesn’t let them get her down.
Beverly Sills
Cheerfulness is like money well expended in charity; the more we dispense of it, the greater our possession.
Victor Hugo
The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up.
Mark Twain
chuck●le vi to laugh in mild amusement, softly in a low tone
A chuckle a day may not keep the doctor away, but it sure does make those times in life’s waiting room a little more bearable.
Anne Wilson Schaef
clown n a person who plays the fool, invents jokes or pranks; a buffoon
A clown is like aspirin, only he works twice as fast.
Groucho Marx
Though the clown is often deadpan, he is a connoisseur of laughter.
Mel Gussow
