Life, you cant subdue me because I refuse to take your discipline too seriously. When you try to hurt me, I laugh” and the laughter knows no pain.
I appreciate your loys wherever I find them; your sorrows neither frighten nor discourage me, for there Is laughter in my soul. “ Temporary defeat does not make me sad. I simply set music to the words of defeat and turn it into a song. Your tears are not for me, for I like laughter much better, and because I Ilke It, I use It as a substitute for grief and sorrow and pain and disappointment. “ Life, you are a fickle trickster” dont deny It. You slipped the emotion of love Into my heart so that you might use It as a thorn with which to prick my soul ” but I learned to dodge your trap with laughter.
You tried to lure me with the desire for gold, but I have fooled you by following the trail which leads to knowledge Instead. You Induced me to bulld beautiful friendships ” then converted my friends to enemies so you may harden my heart, but I sidestepped your figure on this by laughing off your attempts and selecting new friends In my own way. “ You caused men to cheat me at trade so I will become distrustful, but I won again ecause I possess one precious asset which no man can steal ” it is the power to think my own thoughts and to be myself. You threaten me with death, but to me death is nothing worse than a long peaceful sleep, and sleep is the sweetest of human experiences ” excepting laughter. You build a fire of hope in my heart, then sprinkle water on the flames, but I can go you one better by rekindling the fire ” and I laugh at you once more. “ You have nothing that can lure me away from laughter, and you are powerless to scare me into submission.
To a life of laughter, then, I raise my cup of cheer!
