“Joy, with peace, is the sister of charity. Serve the Lord with laughter.”
Padre Pio (1887–1968) Italian saint, priest, stigmatist and mystic
Related quotes
“Joy is deeper than sorrow, for all joy seeks eternity.”
Julie Taymor (1952) American film and theatre director
Academy of Achievement interview (2006)
Context: In our culture, we think that happy and color is trivial, that black and darkness is deeper. But Nietzsche said — which is a line that I firmly believe — "Joy is deeper than sorrow, for all joy seeks eternity." And if you see Grendel, you'll see, as he's on the edge of the abyss, ready to leap to his death, he sings, "Is it joy I feel? Is it joy I feel?" And it's so, so moving. You can have a lot of different explanations for the ending of that opera, but there is something so palpable that you will feel when he sings those lines.
“Anger kills both laughter and joy;
What greater foe is there than anger?”
Thiruvalluvar book Tirukkuṛaḷ
Verse XXXI.4
Tirukkural
“With your face comes laughter
And with your touch
And with your touch comes joy.”
Happy Rhodes (1965) American singer-songwriter
"Ra Is A Busy God"
Many Worlds Are Born Tonight (1998)
Context: Even the leaves laugh
'cause they have what I have
Reach from the best tree
So he can see me
And with your face
With your face comes laughter
And with your touch
And with your touch comes joy.
“Pain is short, and joy is eternal.”
Friedrich Schiller The Maid of Orleans
The Maid of Orleans (1801), last line
“The only real laughter comes from despair.”
Groucho Marx book The Groucho Letters
Source: The Groucho Letters
“From every joy and pain a hope leaps out eternally to escape this pain and to widen joy.”
Nikos Kazantzakis book The Saviors of God
The Saviors of God (1923)
Context: From every joy and pain a hope leaps out eternally to escape this pain and to widen joy.
And again the ascent begins — which is pain — and joy is reborn and new hope springs up once more. The circle never closes. It is not a circle, but a spiral which ascends eternally, ever widening, enfolding and unfolding the triune struggle.
Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism
Source: Pali Canon, Sutta Pitaka, Khuddaka Nikaya (Minor Collection), Dhammapada