proverb · Words worth keeping
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying gives laughter company and leaves crying alone. It presents a bleak contrast between responses to joy and distress.
What the words are saying
The world makes the social claim sweeping. A critical reading can question selective companionship without treating loneliness as deserved or universal. People can support someone who is grieving, and the phrase should not discourage expressing distress or seeking help.
Everyday example
A friend makes room for a difficult conversation instead of expecting only cheerful company.
When to use it
Use it to examine unequal responses to joy and distress critically.
What it does not mean
Distress does not make someone unworthy of company, and isolation is not inevitable.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 472; PDF page 70
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.