Writer and healing pioneer Norman Cousins (1915–1990) believed that laughter could be powerful medicine. In his landmark book Anatomy of an Illness, he described how watching Marx Brothers movies and seeking out hearty belly laughs helped him recover from a disease doctors had described as fatal. He treated his hospital room as a laboratory of hope.

“Is it possible,” he wondered, “that love, hope, faith, laughter, confidence, and the will to live have therapeutic value?” Cousins made it a point to enjoy a deep, joyful laugh several times a day, treating joy as seriously as any prescription.

“Funny is an attitude,” observed comedian Flip Wilson. Cousins would have agreed. His experience inspired medical studies showing that laughter boosts levels of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, while lowering levels of epinephrine, a key stress hormone. Good humor, he believed, was not a denial of pain but a way of refusing to give despair the final word.

Other voices echoed his insight. “Laughter,” wrote Victor Hugo, “is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” Philosopher Arnold Glasgow agreed: “Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.” In an ABC television interview, Professor Lee Berk, who studied laughter and medicine for over twenty years, explained that laughter increased Natural Killer cell activity, boosted disease-fighting B-cells and antibodies, and strengthened T-cells that support the immune response.

Writer Mary Pettibone Poole added another smile-sized truth: “He who laughs lasts.” Cousins believed that joy could be practiced. Scientist Boris Sokoloff explained it simply: happiness, like swimming, riding, writing, or even playing golf, can be learned. The more we lean toward delight, the more we train our bodies and hearts to recognize it.

The time is now to laugh and be happy. You can do it. Cousins’ life reminds us that a generous sense of humor, a hopeful spirit, and a willingness to seek joy are not luxuries— they are part of how we heal, from the inside out.

More Norman COUSINS Quotations