--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When Mr Bird had written his will and had…" description: "\"“When Mr Bird had written his will and had read it over he became aware that he was laughing. He heard the sound for some time, a minute or a minute an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/william-trevor-16400_laughing_when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-ha_1703113.png" --- # When Mr Bird had written his will and had read it over he… ![“When Mr Bird had written his will and had read it over he became aware that he was laughing. He heard the sound for some time, a minute or a minute and a quarter, and then he recognized its source and wondered why he was laughing like that, such a quiet, slurping sound, like the lapping of water.” quote by William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/william-trevor-16400_laughing_when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-ha_1703113.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/william-trevor-16400_laughing_when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-ha_1703113.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/william-trevor-16400_laughing_when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-ha_1703113.png) > ““When Mr Bird had written his will and had read it over he became aware that he was laughing. He heard the sound for some time, a minute or a minute and a quarter, and then he recognized its source and wondered why he was laughing like that, such a quiet, slurping sound, like the lapping of water.”” [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A man discovers his own laughter is a strange, quiet sound, prompting introspection. **In simple terms:** He hears his own laugh and wonders why. Key Takeaway Observe and question your inner reactions. Themes self‑awareness humor reflection Mood curious thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - mindfulness practice Key Concepts psychology consciousness perception Questions to Reflect On - What does your laughter reveal about you? - When do you laugh without reason? A Different Perspective Laughter may mask deeper emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“We laughed again. We couldn’t stop. I wondered what it was we were laughing about. Was it just our names? Were we laughing because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-laughed-again-we-couldn-t-stop-i-wondered-what-it-was-we-were/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When the voices of children are heard on the greenAnd laughing is heard on the hill,My heart is at rest within my breastAnd everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/when-the-voices-of-children-are-heard-on-the-greenand-laughing-is/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [When the voices of children are heard on the green And laughing is heard on the hill, My heart is at rest within my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/when-the-voices-of-children-are-heard-on-the-green-and-laughing-is/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [It's hard when you're not a native speaker, because everyone's laughing, and you're like, 'What was that? Can you tell me again?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sibel-kekilli/it-s-hard-when-you-re-not-a-native-speaker-because-everyone-s/) [Sibel Kekilli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sibel-kekilli/) > [For the moment, he's off plotting his Igoresque revenge. I don't know about you, but I have this image of him rubbing his hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/for-the-moment-he-s-off-plotting-his-igoresque-revenge-i-don-t-know/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I'm still laughing like hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinedown/i-m-still-laughing-like-hell/) [Shinedown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinedown/) > [When I'm at home creating music, I usually wind up laughing. It's always, like, funny - like, what the hell did I just write?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thundercat/when-i-m-at-home-creating-music-i-usually-wind-up-laughing-it-s/) [Thundercat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thundercat/) > [Cuz you throw your head back laughing like a little kid:)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justine-dela-cerna/cuz-you-throw-your-head-back-laughing-like-a-little-kid/) JUSTINE DELA CERNA > [“What a goon, except it really is funny, me trying to sneeze a hot dog through my nose, and we're both laughing like total…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodman-philbrick/what-a-goon-except-it-really-is-funny-me-trying-to-sneeze-a-hot-dog/) [Rodman Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodman-philbrick/) > [I don't want to be with someone boring because I'm always laughing. I like to play jokes on people and be sarcastic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-benson/i-don-t-want-to-be-with-someone-boring-because-i-m-always-laughing-i/) [Ashley Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-benson/) > [It's funny - there's nothing that stops you laughing like the sight of other people laughing about something else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-frayn/it-s-funny-there-s-nothing-that-stops-you-laughing-like-the-sight-of/) [Michael Frayn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-frayn/) > [“And then there will be the times when I see you laughing. Like the time you’ll be playing with the neighbor’s puppy, poking your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/and-then-there-will-be-the-times-when-i-see-you-laughing-like-the/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [There are these showcase clubs where 14 guys will go on in a row and people are laughing at everything, and I'm like -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norm-macdonald/there-are-these-showcase-clubs-where-14-guys-will-go-on-in-a-row-and/) [Norm MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norm-macdonald/) > [Sometimes laughs oddly when frighten and I been hanging with my females friends more often lately... I'm noticing I'm laughing like that when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-country/sometimes-laughs-oddly-when-frighten-and-i-been-hanging-with-my/) [Michael Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-country/) > [People think our music's very aggressive or angry or whatever, and it's just the opposite, really... I like laughing. And I like being really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serj-tankian/people-think-our-music-s-very-aggressive-or-angry-or-whatever-and-it/) [Serj Tankian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serj-tankian/) ## More by William Trevor > [“She is embarrassed to be alive and no one on earth can fully console her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/she-is-embarrassed-to-be-alive-and-no-one-on-earth-can-fully-console/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [People like me write because otherwise we are pretty inarticulate. Our articulation is our writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/people-like-me-write-because-otherwise-we-are-pretty-inarticulate-our/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“Miss Clerricot blushes most charmingly and raises a hand to cover a portion of her countenance. It is a shame, this ill-feeling that exists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/miss-clerricot-blushes-most-charmingly-and-raises-a-hand-to-cover-a/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“I have never believed in the axiom that a writer should first and foremost write about what he knows. I think it’s a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/i-have-never-believed-in-the-axiom-that-a-writer-should-first-and/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“You can’t apply academic rules to art of any kind. As soon as you begin to have rules, you begin to say, “Well, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/you-can-t-apply-academic-rules-to-art-of-any-kind-as-soon-as-you/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“He was an old hand at the Camp now, his hollow countenance and the intensity of his averted gaze familiar to all who came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/he-was-an-old-hand-at-the-camp-now-his-hollow-countenance-and-the/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“It should be an explosion of truth. Its strength lies in what it leaves out just as much as what it puts in, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/it-should-be-an-explosion-of-truth-its-strength-lies-in-what-it/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“Would he ever, he wondered, escape from people who banged on the doors he locked to demand his egress?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/would-he-ever-he-wondered-escape-from-people-who-banged-on-the-doors/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“Studdy was thinking that the creature was an animal; he was saying to himself that it was surely in error that she had become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/studdy-was-thinking-that-the-creature-was-an-animal-he-was-saying-to/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [Only love matters in the bits and pieces of a person's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/only-love-matters-in-the-bits-and-pieces-of-a-person-s-life/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“The past has no belongings. The past does not obligingly absorb what is not wanted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/the-past-has-no-belongings-the-past-does-not-obligingly-absorb-what/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [ I get melancholy if I don't \[write\]. I need the company of people who don't exist. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/i-get-melancholy-if-i-don-t-write-i-need-the-company-of-people-who/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [The capacity you're thinking of is imagination; without it there can be no understanding, indeed no fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/the-capacity-you-re-thinking-of-is-imagination-without-it-there-can/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“He was new to London in those days, and he had not liked it. He had not cared for the intensity of the traffic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/he-was-new-to-london-in-those-days-and-he-had-not-liked-it-he-had-not/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) > [“Memory in its ordinary way summoned harvested fields, and haycocks and autumn hedges, the first of the fuchsia, the last of the wild sweetpea.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/memory-in-its-ordinary-way-summoned-harvested-fields-and-haycocks-and/) [William Trevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) [Explore all 40 William Trevor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/) ## More Laughing quotes > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [“Laugh and grow strong”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-loyola/laugh-and-grow-strong/) [Ignatius of Loyola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-loyola/) > [I really enjoy making people laugh; I've discovered that's a great technique. That's as powerful as stirring their sorrow, stirring their compassion, because that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-really-enjoy-making-people-laugh-i-ve-discovered-that-s-a-great/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [We do not claim that punning is legitimate wit. Wit consists in combination of ideas, punning in combination of words only. We wonder at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-hosmer/we-do-not-claim-that-punning-is-legitimate-wit-wit-consists-in/) [Harriet Hosmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-hosmer/) > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [Nothing's funnier to me than laughing at myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-mcgraw/nothing-s-funnier-to-me-than-laughing-at-myself/) [Phil McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-mcgraw/) > [“I hate the way you talk to me And the way you cut your hair I hate the way you drive my car I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-hate-the-way-you-talk-to-me-and-the-way-you-cut-your-hair-i-hate/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [The spring came suddenly, bursting upon the world as a child bursts into a room, with a laugh and a shout and hands full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-spring-came-suddenly-bursting-upon-the-world-as-a-child-bursts/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The major caveat in all of comedy is that it's all instinctive. There's no true criteria. There is no right or wrong. Ultimately, often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-charles/the-major-caveat-in-all-of-comedy-is-that-it-s-all-instinctive-there/) [Larry Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-charles/) > [In theater, one of the biggest problems when you're rehearsing comedy over and over again is that you stop laughing at each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-ashley-carter/in-theater-one-of-the-biggest-problems-when-you-re-rehearsing-comedy/) [Lauren Ashley Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-ashley-carter/) > [If somebody tells you 'History will never forgive you,' just laugh at him! Because when the history comes, you won't be here! The threat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-somebody-tells-you-history-will-never-forgive-you-just-laugh-at/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [We're all basically decent human beings so if 3,000 people are laughing at a joke then it's worth telling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-mack/we-re-all-basically-decent-human-beings-so-if-3-000-people-are/) [Lee Mack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-mack/) > [I've been a poser for f--ing years. I say, pose your arse off. You know, have a laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-connolly/i-ve-been-a-poser-for-f-ing-years-i-say-pose-your-arse-off-you-know/) [Billy Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-connolly/) Browse all 6,780 Laughing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When Mr Bird had written his will and had read it over he became aware that he was laughing. He heard the sound for some time, a minute or a minute and a quarter, and then he recognized its source and wondered why he was laughing like that, such a quiet, slurping sound, like the lapping of water.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Trevor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-had-read-it-over-he-became/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Laughing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-had-read-it-over-he-became/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/william-trevor-16400_laughing_when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-ha_1703113.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/william-trevor-16400_laughing_when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-ha_1703113.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/william-trevor-16400_laughing_when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-ha_1703113.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When Mr Bird had written his will and had read it over he became aware that he was laughing. He heard the…” — William Trevor", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Trevor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-trevor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When Mr Bird had written his...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-had-read-it-over-he-became/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-trevor/when-mr-bird-had-written-his-will-and-had-read-it-over-he-became/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```