“Sing, laugh; be happy, be famous;
Each one of you will soon be in the darkness.”
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Victor Hugo 308
French poet, novelist, and dramatist 1802–1885Related quotes
“One does not always sing out of happiness.”
“If you are a piano,
You will laugh on ev'ry string,
And if you are a girl or boy,
You'll sing.”
Song There's Music In The Air
Bel companho, en chantan vos apel!
No dormatz plus, qu'eu auch chantar l'auzel
Que vai queren lo jorn per lo boschatge
Et ai paor que.l gilos vos assatge
Et ades sera l'alba.
"Reis glorios", line 11; translation from Gale Sigal Erotic Dawn-Songs of the Middle Ages (1996) p. 148.
“In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing
About the dark times.”
In den finsteren Zeiten
Wird da auch gesungen werden?
Da wird auch gesungen werden.
Von den finsteren Zeiten.
"Motto to the 'Svendborg Poems' " [Motto der 'Svendborger Gedichte] (1939), trans. John Willett in Poems, 1913-1956, p. 320
Poems, 1913-1956 (1976)
Preface
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934)
Context: The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.
“We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we’re happy because we laugh.”
Variant: I don't sing because I'm happy. I'm happy because I sing.