[ILLUSTRATION: _Laugh and Live_]
Laugh and Live
By DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
BRITTON PUBLISHING COMPANY
1917
TO MY MOTHER
CONTENTS
I. "Whistle and Hoe--Sing As We Go"
II. Taking Stock of Ourselves
III. Advantages of an Early Start
IV. Profiting by Experience
V. Energy, Success and Laughter
VI. Building Up a Personality
VII. Honesty, the Character Builder
VIII. Cleanliness of Body and Mind
IX. Consideration for Others
X. Keeping Ourselves Democratic
XI. Self-Education by Good Reading
XII. Physical and Mental Preparedness
XIII. Self-indulgence and Failure
XIV. Living Beyond Our Means
XV. Initiative and Self-Reliance
XVI. Failure to Seize Opportunities
XVII. Assuming Responsibilities
XVIII. Wedlock in Time
XIX. Laugh and Live
XX. A "Close-Up" of Douglas Fairbanks
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Laugh and Live
Do You Ever Laugh?
Over the Hedge and on His Way
Preparing to Pair With the Prickly Pear
A Little Spin Among the Saplings
Over the Hills and Far Away--Father and Son
A Scene from "His Picture in the Papers"
A Scene from "The Americano"--Matching Wits for Gold
Taking on Local Color
A Scene from "His Picture in the Papers"
Douglas Fairbanks in "The Good Bad-Man"
Squaring Things With Sister--From "The Habit of Happiness"
A Scene from "In Again--Out Again"
Bungalowing in California
Demonstrating the Monk and the Hand-Organ to a Body of Psychologists
"Wedlock in Time"--The Fairbanks' Family
Here's Hoping
A Close-Up
LIVE AND LAUGH
CHAPTER I
"WHISTLE AND HOE--SING AS WE GO"
There is one thing in this good old world that is positively
sure--happiness is for _all_ who _strive_ to _be_ happy--and those who
laugh _are_ happy.
Everybody is eligible--you--me--the other fellow.
Happiness is fundamentally a state of mind--not a state of body.
And mind controls.
Indeed it is possible to stand with one foot on the inevitable "banana
peel" of life with both eyes peering into the Great Beyond, and still be
happy, comfortable, and serene--if we will even so much as smile.
It's all a state of mind, I tell you--and I'm sure of what I say. That's
why I have taken up my fountain pen. I want to talk to my friends--you
hosts of people who have written to me for my recipe. In moving pictures
all I can do is act my part and grin for you. What I say is a matter of
your own inference, but with my pen I have a means of getting around the
"silent drama" which prevents us from organizing a "close-up" with one
another.
In starting I'm going to ask you "foolish question number 1."--
Do you ever laugh?
I mean do you ever laugh right out--spontaneously--just as if the police
weren't listening with drawn clubs and a finger on the button connecting
with the "hurry-up" wagon? Well, if you don't, you should. _Start off
the morning with a laugh and you needn't worry about the rest of the
day._
I like to laugh. It is a tonic. It braces me up--makes me feel
fine!--and keeps me in prime mental condition. Laughter is a
physiological necessity. The nerve system requires it. The deep,
forceful chest movement in itself sets the blood to racing thereby
livening up the circulation--which is good for us. Perhaps you hadn't
thought of that? Perhaps you didn't realize that laughing automatically
re-oxygenates the blood--_your_ blood--and keeps it red? It does all of
that, and besides, it relieves the tension from your brain.
_Laughter is more or less a habit._ To some it comes only with practice.
But what's to hinder practising? Laugh and live long--if you had a
thought of dying--laugh and grow well--if you're sick and
despondent--laugh and grow fat--if your tendency is towards the lean and
cadaverous--laugh and succeed--if you're glum and "unlucky"--laugh and
nothing can faze you--not even the Grim Reaper--for the man who has
laughed his way through life has nothing to fear of the future. His
conscience is clear.
Wherein lies this magic of laughter? For magic it is--a something that
manufactures a state of felicity out of any condition. We've got to
admit its charm; automatically and inevitably a laugh cheers us up. If
we are bored--nothing to do--just laugh--that's something to do, for
laughter is synonymous with action, and action dispels gloom, care,
trouble, worry and all else of the same ilk.
Real laughter is spontaneous. Like water from the spring it bubbles
forth a creation of mingled action and spontaneity--two magic potions in
themselves--the very essence of laughter--the unrestrained emotion
within us!
So, for me, it is to laugh! Why not stick along? The experiment won't
hurt you. All we need is will power, and that is a personal matter for
each individual to seek and acquire for himself. Many of us already
possess it, but many of us do not.
Take the average man on the street for example. Watch him go plodding
along--no spring, no elasticity, no vim. He is in _check-rein_--how can
he laugh when his _pep_ is all gone and the _sand in his craw_ isn't
there any more? What he needs is _spirit_! Energy--the power to force
himself into action! For him there is no hope unless he will take up
physical training in some form that will put him in normal physical
condition--after that everything simplifies itself. The brain responds
to the new blood in circulation and thus the mental processes are ready
to make a fight against the inertia of stagnation which has held them in
bondage.
[Illustration: _Do You Ever Laugh?_ (_White Studio_)]
And, mind you, physical training doesn't necessarily mean going to an
expert for advice. One doesn't have to make a mountain out of a
molehill. Get out in the fresh air and walk briskly--and don't forget to
wear a smile while you're at it. Don't over-do. Take it easy at first
and build on your effort day by day. A little this morning--a little
more tonight. The first chance you have, when you're sure of your wind
and heart, get out upon the country road, or cross-country hill and
dale. Then run, run, run, until you drop exhausted upon some grassy
bank. Then laugh, loud and long, for you're on the road to happiness.
Try it now--don't wait. _Today is the day to begin._ Or, if it is night
when you run across these lines, drop this book and trot yourself
around the block a few times. Then come back and you'll enjoy it more
than you would otherwise. Activity makes for happiness as nothing else
will and once you stir your blood into little bubbles of energy you will
begin to think of other means of keeping your bodily house in order.
Unless you make a first effort the chances are you will do very little
real thinking of any kind--_we need pep to think_.
Think what an opportunity we miss when stripped at night if we fail to
give our bodies a round of exercise. It is so simple, so easy, and has
so much to do with our sleep each night and our work next day that to
neglect to do so is a crime against nature. And laugh! Man alive, if you
are not in the habit of laughing, _get the habit_. Never miss a chance
to laugh aloud. Smiling is better than nothing, and a chuckle is better
still--but _out and out laughter_ is the real thing. Try it now if you
dare! And when you've done it, analyze your feelings.
I make this prediction--if you once start the habit of exercise, and
couple with it the habit of laughter, even if only for one short
week--you'll keep it up ever afterwards.
And, by the way, Friend Reader,--don't be alarmed. The personal pronouns
"_I_" and "_you_" give place in succeeding chapters to the more
congenial editorial "_we_." I couldn't resist the temptation to enjoy
one brief spell of intimacy just for the sake of good acquaintance.
_Have a laugh on me._