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About this quote

What does it mean?
Laughter is highlighted as a unique and defining human emotional trait.
In plain terms
Laughter is a special human emotion.
What can you take from it?
Laughter is a unique human trait.

Where it applies

  • psychology
  • anthropology
  • casual conversation

Putting it to work

  • Use humor to connect

Questions to consider

  • What other emotions define us?
  • Is humor universal across cultures?

Another view

Other animals may display similar behaviors.

More from Margaret Mead

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  3. It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.

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