Humor

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Prov. 17:22).

Brad Wilcox

Some time ago I was a passenger on an airplane that was coming in for a landing. As we neared the airport, the other passengers and I started to realize that we were traveling much faster than normal. I could feel the anxiety level in the plane start to rise.

Suddenly the airplane hit the ground with great force and then began taxiing down the runway. Shaken, we passengers sat in stunned silence until the captain’s voice came over the sound system: “Take that, you bad, bad runway!” We all erupted in laughter. With a humorous viewpoint and a shared laugh, an uncomfortable situation had become bearable. (“If We Can Laugh at it, We Can Live with It,” Ensign, March 2003)

Jeffrey R. Holland (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)

“Jesus found special joy and happiness in children and said all of us should be more like them—guileless and pure, quick to laugh.” (“‘This Do in Remembrance of Me,’” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 68–69)

Gordon B. Hinckley

“We’ve got to have a little humor in our lives. You had better take seriously that which should be taken seriously but, at the same time, we can bring in a touch of humor now and again. If the time ever comes when we can’t smile at ourselves, it will be a sad time.” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 432)

Marjorie Hinckley appreciated this quality in her husband, President Gordon B. Hinckley. “He didn’t take himself very seriously and was often the first to poke fun at his own quirks.” Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (1996), 106.

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught that “a good sense of humor helps revelation” and that it “is an escape valve for the pressures of life.” Richard G. Scott, “How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life,” Ensign, May 2012, 46.

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught that “husbands and wives deal with their imperfections best with patience and a sense of humor.” Russell M. Nelson, “The Doctrinal Importance of Marriage and Children,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Feb. 2012, lds.org/broadcasts.

Neal A. Maxwell

The true believer is serious about the living of his life, but he is of good cheer. His humor is the humor of hope and his mirth is the mirth of modesty—not the hollow laughter or the cutting cleverness of despair. (“True Believers in Christ,” October 7, 1980)