--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I will laugh at the laughable while I…" description: "\"I will laugh at the laughable while I breathe\" — Mary Boykin Chesnut" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/mary-boykin-chesnut-24267_breathe_i-will-laugh-at-the-laughable-while-i-br_2449994.png" --- # I will laugh at the laughable while I breathe ![“I will laugh at the laughable while I breathe” quote by Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/mary-boykin-chesnut-24267_breathe_i-will-laugh-at-the-laughable-while-i-br_2449994.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/mary-boykin-chesnut-24267_breathe_i-will-laugh-at-the-laughable-while-i-br_2449994.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/mary-boykin-chesnut-24267_breathe_i-will-laugh-at-the-laughable-while-i-br_2449994.png) > “I will laugh at the laughable while I breathe” [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She finds humor in absurdity while staying alive, using laughter as a coping mechanism. **In simple terms:** Laugh at absurdity while surviving. Key Takeaway Use humor to endure hardship. Themes resilience humor survival Mood reflective defiant Type personal historical When to use this quote - daily life in conflict - personal reflection - stress relief Key Concepts psychology coping war Questions to Reflect On - What absurdities do you laugh at to survive? - Can humor hinder processing grief? A Different Perspective Humor may mask deeper trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Laugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laugh/) [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) ## Related quotes > [A good laugh is a mighty good thing, a rather too scarce a good thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/a-good-laugh-is-a-mighty-good-thing-a-rather-too-scarce-a-good-thing/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Comedy exists to laugh at things that aren't laughable. But isn't it? That's what separates us from the animals. We laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/comedy-exists-to-laugh-at-things-that-aren-t-laughable-but-isn-t-it/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/laugh-as-much-as-you-breathe-and-love-as-long-as-you-live/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I enjoy mixed audiences, not one particular group. Short, tall, scientists, Jews, gentiles, whatever, as long as they breathe and like to laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-enjoy-mixed-audiences-not-one-particular-group-short-tall/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [This is how it works You're young until you're not You love until you don't You try until you can't You laugh until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-spektor/this-is-how-it-works-you-re-young-until-you-re-not-you-love-until-you-2/) [Regina Spektor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-spektor/) > [Live. Love. Smile. Hug. Laugh. Dream. Do. Create. Have fun. Be intense. Be audacious. Be unreasonable. Act impeccably. Breathe. Be you. Be different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-johnson/live-love-smile-hug-laugh-dream-do-create-have-fun-be-intense-be/) [Brian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-johnson/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [That Newt Gingrich or any mainstream Republican has the nerve to look down from what they perceive as their moral mountaintop at anyone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/that-newt-gingrich-or-any-mainstream-republican-has-the-nerve-to-look/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [The idea that money is corrupting innocent politicians would be laughable if it did not lead to such dangerous legislation...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-idea-that-money-is-corrupting-innocent-politicians-would-be/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/men-show-their-characters-in-nothing-more-clearly-than-in-what-they/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [What's really interesting about that is that a lot of these words that were incendiary in their time now seem almost harmless and laughable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kaufman/what-s-really-interesting-about-that-is-that-a-lot-of-these-words/) [Philip Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kaufman/) > [“What is so often laughable, in the stories of Kundera's Czechoslovakia, is how grimly serious just about everything turns out to be, jokes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/what-is-so-often-laughable-in-the-stories-of-kundera-s-czechoslovakia/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Batroc is a laughable character. I'm the one who always makes fun of him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeph-loeb/batroc-is-a-laughable-character-i-m-the-one-who-always-makes-fun-of/) [Jeph Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeph-loeb/) > [Even Jesus Christ cannot conduct a free and fair election in Nigeria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olusegun-obasanjo/even-jesus-christ-cannot-conduct-a-free-and-fair-election-in-nigeria/) [Olusegun Obasanjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olusegun-obasanjo/) > [There are some tales not for telling, whether because they are too long, too precious, too laughable, too painful, too easy to need telling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/there-are-some-tales-not-for-telling-whether-because-they-are-too/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) ## More by Mary Boykin Chesnut > [Forgiveness is indifference. Forgiveness is impossible while love lasts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/forgiveness-is-indifference-forgiveness-is-impossible-while-love-lasts/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [I do not allow myself vain regrets or foreboding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/i-do-not-allow-myself-vain-regrets-or-foreboding/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [The weight that hangs upon our eyelids - is of lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/the-weight-that-hangs-upon-our-eyelids-is-of-lead/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [Of all our sorrows, memory is the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/of-all-our-sorrows-memory-is-the-worst/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [“We try our soldiers to see if they are hot enough before we enlist them. 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Only your own family, those nearest and dearest, can hurt you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/peace-comfort-quiet-happiness-i-have-found-away-from-home-only-your/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [“I think incompatibility of temper began when it was made plain to us that we get all the opprobrium of slavery while they, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/i-think-incompatibility-of-temper-began-when-it-was-made-plain-to-us/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [Darkest of all Decembers ever has my life known, Sitting here by the embers, stunned, helpless, alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/darkest-of-all-decembers-ever-has-my-life-known-sitting-here-by-the/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [Is the sea drying up? It is going up into mist and coming down on us in this water spout, the rain. It raineth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/is-the-sea-drying-up-it-is-going-up-into-mist-and-coming-down-on-us/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [Oh, if I could put some of my reckless spirit into these discreet cautious lazy men!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/oh-if-i-could-put-some-of-my-reckless-spirit-into-these-discreet/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [Brutal men with unlimited power are the same all over the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/brutal-men-with-unlimited-power-are-the-same-all-over-the-world/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [“Old Colonel Chesnut came for us. When the train stopped, Quashie, shiny black, was seen on his box, as glossy and perfect in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/old-colonel-chesnut-came-for-us-when-the-train-stopped-quashie-shiny/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [We are divorced, North from South, because we have hated each other so. If we could only separate politely, and not have a horrid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/we-are-divorced-north-from-south-because-we-have-hated-each-other-so/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) > [There is no slave, after all, like a wife...Poor women, poor slaves All married women, all children and girls who live in their father's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-boykin-chesnut/there-is-no-slave-after-all-like-a-wife-poor-women-poor-slaves-all/) [Mary Boykin Chesnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) [Explore all 24 Mary Boykin Chesnut quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-boykin-chesnut/) ## More Breathe quotes > [“Well come and stand a little bit closer, breathe in and get a bit higher. 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Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. 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