奧裏·馬登/Orison Mardon
William K.Vanderbilt,when he last visited Constantinople,one day i nvited Coquelin the elder,so celebrated for his powers as a mimic,who happened to be in the city at the time,to give a private recital on boa rd his yacht,lying in the Bosphorus.Coquelin spoke three of his monolo gues.A few days afterwards Coquelin received the following memorandum f rom the millionaire:
"You have brought tears to our eyes and laughter to our hearts.Sinc e all philosophers are agreed that laughing is preferable to weeping,you r account with me stands thus:
"For tears,six times:$600
For laughter,twelve times:$2,400
$3,000
Kindly acknowledge receipt of enclosed check."
"I find nonsense singularly refreshing," said Talleyrand.There is g ood philosophy in the saying,"Laugh and grow fat." If everybody knew th e power of laughter as a health tonic and life prolonger,the tinge of s adness which now clouds our face would largely disappear,and many physi cians would find their occupation gone.
The power of laughter was given us to serve a wise purpose in our ec onomy.It is Nature's device for exercising the internal organs and givi ng us pleasure at the same time.
Laughter begins in the lungs and diaphragm,setting the liver,stoma ch,and other internal organs into a quick,jelly-like vibration,which gives a pleasant sensation and exercise,almost aqual to that of horseba ck riding.
During digestion,the movements of the stomach are similar to churni ng.Every time you take a full breath,or when you cachinnate well,the diaphragm descends and gives the stomach an extra squeeze and shakes it.
Frequent laughing sets the stomach to dancing,hurrying up the diges tive process.The heart beats faster,and sends the blood bounding throug h the body."There is not," says Dr.Green,"one remotest corner or litt le inlet of the minute blood-vessels of the human body that does not fee l some wavelet from the convulsions occasioned by a good hearty laugh." In medical terms,it stimulates the vasomotor centers,and the spasmodic contraction of the blood-vessels causes the blood to flow quickly.Laugh ter accelerates the respiration,and gives warmth and glow to the whole system.It brightens the eye,increases the perspiration,expands the ch est,forces the poisoned air from the least-used lung cells,and tends t o restore that exquisite poise or balance which we call health,which re sults from the harmonious action of all the functions of the body.This delicate poise,which may be destroyed by a sleepless night,a piece of bad news,by grief or anxiety,is often wholly restored by a good hearty laugh.
Grief,anxiety,and fear are great enemies of human life.A depressed,sour,melancholy soul,a life which has ceased to believe in its own s acredness,its own power,its own mission,a life which sinks into queru lous egotism or vegetating aimlessness,has become crippled and useless.We should fight against every influence which tends to depress the mind,as we would against a temptation to crime.It is undoubtedly true that,as a rule,the mind has power to lengthen the period of youthful and mat ure strength and beauty,preserving and renewing physical life by a stal wart mental health.
I read the other day of a man in a neighboring city who was given up to die;his relatives were sent for,and they watched at his bedside.Bu t an old acquaintance,who called to see him,assured him smilingly that he was all right and would soon be well.He talked in such a strain that the sick man was forced to laugh;and the effort so roused his system th at he rallied,and he was soon well again.
Was it not Shakespeare who said that "a light heart lives long?"
Physiology tells the story.The great sympathetic nerves are closely allied;and when one set carries bad news to the head,the nerves reachi ng the stomach are affected,indigestion comes on,and one's countenance becomes doleful.Laugh when you can;it is a cheap medicine.
Merriment is a philosophy not well understood.The eminent surgeon C havasse says that we ought to begin with the babies and train children t o habits of mirth:
"Encourage your child to be merry and laugh aloud;a good hearty lau gh expands the chest and makes the blood bound merrily along.Commend me to a good laugh--not to a little snickering laugh,but to one that will sound fight through the house.It will not only do your child good,but will be a benefit to all who hear,and be an important means of driving the blues away from a dwelling.Merriment is very catching,and spreads in a remarkable manner,few being able to resist its contagion.A hearty laugh is delightful harmony;indeed,it is the best of all music."
"Children without hilarity," says an eminent author,"will never amo unt to much.Trees without blossoms will never bear fruit."
在美國巨富威廉·範德比爾特上次遊覽君士坦丁堡期間，以演喜劇而聞名的演員科克蘭恰好也來到了這裏。一天，威廉·範德比爾特去拜訪科克蘭，當時科克蘭正在博斯普魯斯海峽的遊艇上進行私人朗誦，他一共誦讀了三段獨白。幾天後，這位百萬富翁寄給科克蘭一張便箋，內容如下：
你的表演使我們熱淚盈眶，也使我們開心大笑。既然哲學家說笑比哭好，所以我應付給你的款項如下所示：
6次落淚：600美元。
12次歡笑：2400美元。
共計3000美元。
隨信附贈，收到敬請複函告之。
塔列朗認為：“這種做法雖然聽起來有些荒誕，但別具一番心意。”這段話很好地解釋了“心寬體胖”的哲學道理。如果每個人都知道把歡笑的力量當成健康、長壽的催化劑，那麽，我們臉上的哀愁就會煙消雲散，許多醫生也將失業。
歡笑的力量能積極地作用於我們的身體，它是大自然的鬼斧神工，在加強內髒器官活動的同時，也給我們帶來了快樂。
笑是從肺和橫膈膜開始的，使肝、胃等其他內髒器官同時快速地振動，讓人獲得快樂的感覺和體驗，其鍛煉效果與騎馬的效果相差無幾。
在消化時，胃部的活動類似於攪拌，每一次深呼吸或大笑，橫膈膜都會下降，使胃部受到額外的擠壓和振動。
不時地笑一笑，會使胃不斷運動，從而加快消化的過程；心髒這時也會跳得更快，不停地把血液輸送到全身。格林醫生說：“人身體的所有部位，不管多麽細小的血管，每一處都能感覺到放聲大笑所帶來的振動。”用醫學術語闡述就是，笑觸動了血管收縮神經中樞，間歇性地血管收縮導致了血液流動速度加快。笑還能夠促進呼吸，讓全身產生熱量。笑能使雙眼更加明亮，增加排汗量，擴張胸腔，強迫排出肺部細胞中的有害氣體，恢複和諧的生理平衡。所謂生理平衡，也就是我們所說的健康狀態，這種理想的平衡狀態是由身體所有器官的協調運動得來的。失眠、噩耗、悲痛或焦慮的情緒都可能會破壞這種平衡，通常一次放聲大笑就能解決問題。
人類生命的天敵莫過於悲痛、焦慮和恐懼。一個沮喪、尖酸刻薄和憂鬱的人，不會相信自己的信仰、能力和使命，終日自怨自憐，生活毫無目標，那麽這樣的生命便是殘缺、沒有價值的。所以，我們既要擺脫所有導致情緒低落的影響，又要抵製犯罪的**。毋庸置疑，強健的心理才能延長青春，保持健康和美麗，使生活穩定而充滿活力。
前幾天我看到一則消息，說鄰城的一個人生命危在旦夕，於是便叫所有親戚到他的病榻前見最後一麵。可是，來看望的人中，有一個老熟人笑著對他保證，說他根本沒什麽，不久就會沒事的。這個老熟人堅定的語氣使得病人開心地笑了，最終喚醒了他的身體機能，使他再次擁有了活力，不久後便康複了。
這個例子恰好印證了莎士比亞的那句名言——“豁達者長壽”。
根據生理學經理，交感神經都是相互緊密聯結的，當一條傳遞壞消息的神經到達大腦時，抵達胃部的神經也會受到牽連，導致消化不良，他的麵容就會憔悴不已。敞開胸懷，大聲歡笑吧，它才是世界上最便宜的藥物。
快樂是一門深奧的哲學。名醫查瓦希說，我們應該從嬰兒著手，從小就開始培養孩子們歡笑的習慣：
“鼓勵你的孩子享受快樂，放聲歡笑。發自內心的大笑能擴張胸腔，讓血液歡快地跳躍。我所提倡的是會心的歡笑——不是私下裏竊笑，而是那種放聲的大笑。那樣的話，不但有益於你的孩子，聽到笑聲的人也會受益匪淺，這是趕走憂鬱的一劑良方。歡樂極具感染力，它可以快速傳播到周圍，很少有人能阻擋它的魅力。會心的笑聲是一種令人愉悅的和諧，確實，它是最完美的音樂。”
一位著名作家曾經說過：“悶悶不樂的孩子，將來也不會有很大的成就，如同不開花的樹永遠結不出碩果一樣。”