--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On this hapless earth There 's small…" description: "\"On this hapless earth There 's small sincerity of mirth, And laughter oft is but an art To drown the outcry of the heart.\" — Hartley Coleridge" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/hartley-coleridge-22565_art_on-this-hapless-earth-there-s-small-sinc_1978077.png" --- # On this hapless earth There 's small sincerity of mirth… ![“On this hapless earth There 's small sincerity of mirth, And laughter oft is but an art To drown the outcry of the heart.” quote by Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/hartley-coleridge-22565_art_on-this-hapless-earth-there-s-small-sinc_1978077.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/hartley-coleridge-22565_art_on-this-hapless-earth-there-s-small-sinc_1978077.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/hartley-coleridge-22565_art_on-this-hapless-earth-there-s-small-sinc_1978077.png) > “On this hapless earth There 's small sincerity of mirth, And laughter oft is but an art To drown the outcry of the heart.” [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mirth and laughter serve as coping mechanisms to mask deeper emotional pain. **In simple terms:** Humor hides heartache. Key Takeaway Use humor wisely to cope. Themes emotions coping artistry Mood melancholic thoughtful Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - grief - stress - social interaction - creative expression Key Concepts psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - When do you use humor to avoid pain? - Can laughter become a barrier to genuine feeling? A Different Perspective Humor can also suppress needed emotional processing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) [Mirth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirth/) [Mirth Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirth-laughter-2804281/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Sincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity/) [Sincerity Mirth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity-mirth-3360850/) [Small Sincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-sincerity-3360851/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/with-mirth-and-laughter-let-old-wrinkles-come/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. And let my liver rather heat with wine, than my heart cool with mortifying groans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/with-mirth-and-laughter-let-old-wrinkles-come-and-let-my-liver-rather/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter, sermons and soda water the day after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/let-us-have-wine-and-women-mirth-and-laughter-sermons-and-soda-water/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sangfroid-stalker/with-mirth-and-laughter-let-old-wrinkles-come-william-shakespeare/) [SangFroid Stalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sangfroid-stalker/) > [The suburbs of folly is vain mirth, and profuseness of laughter is the city of fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/the-suburbs-of-folly-is-vain-mirth-and-profuseness-of-laughter-is-the/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/mirth-is-god-s-medicine-everybody-ought-to-bathe-in-it/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [I have observed that in comedies the best actor plays the droll, while some scrub rogue is made the fine gentleman or hero. Thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/i-have-observed-that-in-comedies-the-best-actor-plays-the-droll-while/) [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/) > [Luxury is an enticing pleasure, a bastard mirth, which hath honey in her mouth, gall in her heart, and a sting in her tail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/luxury-is-an-enticing-pleasure-a-bastard-mirth-which-hath-honey-in/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Far from all resort of mirth, / Save the cricket on the hearth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/far-from-all-resort-of-mirth-save-the-cricket-on-the-hearth/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Dance and Provencal song and sunburnt mirth! On for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene! With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/dance-and-provencal-song-and-sunburnt-mirth-on-for-a-beaker-full-of/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Books are never out of humour; never envious or jealous, they answer all questions with readiness; ... they teach us how to live and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holbrook-jackson/books-are-never-out-of-humour-never-envious-or-jealous-they-answer/) [Holbrook Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holbrook-jackson/) > [The common growth of Mother Earth Suffices me,-her tears, her mirth, Her humblest mirth and tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-common-growth-of-mother-earth-suffices-me-her-tears-her-mirth-her/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Mirthfulness is in the mind and you cannot get it out. It is just as good in its place as conscience or veneration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/mirthfulness-is-in-the-mind-and-you-cannot-get-it-out-it-is-just-as/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Looking back through the mists of time, I recall some distinctly religious experiences in my teens--when I was only fourteen years old to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/looking-back-through-the-mists-of-time-i-recall-some-distinctly/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) ## More by Hartley Coleridge > [If we take care of the inches, we will not have to worry about the miles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/if-we-take-care-of-the-inches-we-will-not-have-to-worry-about-the/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Now, we are agreed, I and my destinies. The total world, Above, below, whate'er is seen or known, And all that men, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-we-are-agreed-i-and-my-destinies-the-total-world-above-below/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Her very frowns are fairer far Than smiles of other maidens are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/her-very-frowns-are-fairer-far-than-smiles-of-other-maidens-are/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Commemoration of Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901 Be not afraid to pray... to pray is right. 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Eternal landmark to the tide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-shall-i-become-a-common-tale-a-ruin-d-fragment-of-a-worn-out/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Go your way. Forget Prometheus, And all the woe that he is doom'd to bear; By his own choice this vile estate preferring To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/go-your-way-forget-prometheus-and-all-the-woe-that-he-is-doom-d-to/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Be not afraid to pray--to pray is right. Pray, if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray, Though hope be weak or sick with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/be-not-afraid-to-pray-to-pray-is-right-pray-if-thou-canst-with-hope/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [The soul of man is larger than the sky, Deeper than ocean, or the abysmal dark Of the unfathomed centre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/the-soul-of-man-is-larger-than-the-sky-deeper-than-ocean-or-the-2/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Never till this day Did life disturb the dense eternity Of joyless quiet; never skylark's song, Or storm-bird's prescient scream, or eaglet's cry, Made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/never-till-this-day-did-life-disturb-the-dense-eternity-of-joyless/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [A bard whom there were none to praise, And very few to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/a-bard-whom-there-were-none-to-praise-and-very-few-to-read/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Twere better far That gods should quaff their nectar merrily, And men sing out the day like grasshoppers, So may they haply lull the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/twere-better-far-that-gods-should-quaff-their-nectar-merrily-and-men/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) [Explore all 27 Hartley Coleridge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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