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

Lin Yutang

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Lin Yutang
Age: 80 †
Born: 1895
Born: October 10
Died: 1976
Died: March 26
Lexicographer
Linguist
Novelist
Philosopher
Translator
Writer
Humor
Literature
Thought
Change
Character
Conceive
Chemical
Chemicals
Function

More quotes by Lin Yutang

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Few men who have liberated themselves from the fear of God and the fear of death are yet able to liberate themselves from the fear of man.
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Simplicity is the outward sign and symbol of depth of thought.
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The most bewildering thing about man is his idea of work and the amount of work he imposes upon himself, or civilization has imposed upon him. All nature loafs, while man alone works for a living.
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An educated man is one who has the loves and hatreds together.
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The Chinese do not draw any distinction between food and medicine.
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The wise man reads both books and life itself.
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In contrast to logic, there is common sense, or still better, the Spirit of Reasonableness.
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Let him cry whoever feels like crying, for we were animals before we became reasoning beings, and the shedding of a tear, whether of forgiveness or of pity or of sheer delight at beauty, will do him a lot of good.
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To glorify the past and paint the future is easy, to survey the present and emerge with some light and understanding is difficult.
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However vague they are, dreams have a way of concealing themselves and leave us no peace until they are translated into reality, like seeds germinating underground, sure to sprout in their search for the sunlight.
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Now it is characteristic of play that one plays without reason and there must be no reason for it. Play is its own good reason.
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The busy man is never wise and the wise man is never busy.
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In the West, the insane are so many that they are put in an asylum, in China the insane are so unusual that we worship them.
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On the whole, the enjoyment of leisure is something which decidedly costs less than the enjoyment of luxury. All it requires is an artistic temperament which is bent on seeking a perfectly useless afternoon spent in a perfectly useless manner.
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A good traveller is one who does not know where he is going to, and a perfect traveller does not know where he came from.
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I do not think that any civilization can be called complete until it has progressed from sophistication to unsophistication, and made a conscious return to simplicity of thinking and living.
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The age calls for simple statements and restatements of simple truths. The prophets of doom are involved, those who would bring light must be clear.
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We should not expect people to be good, but should make it impossible for them to be bad.
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Let us face ourselves bravely as we are. For only a philosophy that recognizes reality can lead us into true happiness, and only that kind of philosophy is sound and healthy.
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I have a hankering to go back to the Orient and discard my necktie. Neckties strangle clear thinking.
Lin Yutang