The Daily Boost #519

Humor even in death?

Mischievousness, as well as helping with the living of a happy life, can also help us deal with the fact of death. Consider these examples:

The British-Irish comedian Spike Milligan insisted that the words “I told you I was ill’ should be inscribed upon his gravestone (as indeed they are, though in Gaelic).

In a similar vein, the American comic actor Jack Lemmon has “In” written on his gravestone.

We could also reach back to the Chinese monk Budai, known as “the laughing Buddha.” When the prankster knew that he was dying, he stuffed his pockets with gunpowder and fireworks, so that his followers would burst into fits of laughter when his corpse was cremated.

How about you? Does humor help you cope with loss and death?

(My thanks to AnOther for the photograph, and to Aeon for the examples.)

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The Gentle Nudge

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