Beverly Cosham

“It's laughter that lubricates our irritations, that releases our tensions, that feeds our joy… it’s the laughter that helps keep things warm and joyful even in the midst of pain.”
― Emilie Barnes

“Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection - or compassionate action.”
― Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships

“They hooted and laughed all the way back to the car, teasing Milkman, egging him on to tell more about how scared he was. And he told them. Laughing too, hard, loud, and long. Really laughing, and he found himself exhilarated by simply walking the earth. Walking it like he belonged on it; like his legs were stalks, tree trunks, a part of his body that extended down down down into the rock and soil, and were comfortable there--on the earth and on the place where he walked. And he did not limp.”
― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“I escape disaster by writing a poem with a joke in it:
The past, present, and future walk into a bar—it was tense.”
― Kelli Russell Agodon, Hourglass Museum