The
Scroll Marked VII
from The Greatest Salesman in the World
I will laugh at the world.
No living creature can laugh except humans. Trees
may bleed when they are wounded, and beasts in the field
will cry in pain and hunger, yet only I have the gift of
laughter and it is mine to use whenever I choose.
Henceforth I will cultivate the habit of laughter.
I will smile and my digestion will improve; I will
chuckle and my burdens will be lightened; I will laugh
and my life will be lengthened for this is the great
secret of long life and now it is mine.
I will laugh at the world.
And most of all, I will laugh at myself for humans are
most comical when we take ourselves too seriously.
Never will I fall into this trap of the mind. For
though I be nature's greatest miracle am I not still a
mere grain tossed about by the winds of time? Do I
truly know whence I came or whither I am bound?
Will my concern for this day not seem foolish ten years
hence? Why should I permit the petty happenings of
today to disturb me? What can take place before
this sun sets which will not seem insignificant in the
river of centuries?
I will laugh at the world.
And how can I laugh when confronted with person or deed
which offends me so as to bring forth my tears or my
curses?
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Four words I will train myself to say
until they become a habit so strong that immediately
they will appear in my mind whenever good humor
threatens to depart from me. These words, passed
down from the ancients, will carry me through every
adversity and maintain my life in balance. These
four words are: This too shall pass.
I
will laugh at the world.
For all worldly things shall indeed pass. When I
am heavy with heartache I shall console myself that this
too shall pass; when I am puffed with success I shall
warn myself that this too shall pass. When I am
strangled in poverty I shall tell myself that this too
shall pass; when I am burdened with wealth I shall tell
myself that this too shall pass. Yea, verily,
where is he who built the pyramid? Is he not
buried within its stone? And will the pyramid, one
day, not also be buried under sand? If all things
shall pass why should I be of concern for today?
I will laugh at the world.
I will paint this day with laughter; I will frame this
night in song. Never will I labor to be happy;
rather I will remain too busy to be sad. I will
enjoy today's happiness today. It is not grain to
be stored in a box. It is not wine to be saved in
a jar. It cannot be saved for the morrow. It
must be sown and reaped on the same day and this will I
do, henceforth.
I will laugh at the world.
And with my laughter all things will be reduced to their
proper size. I will laugh at my failures and they
will vanish in clouds of new dreams. I will laugh
at my successes and they will shrink to their true
value. I will laugh at evil and it will die
untasted; I will laugh at goodness and it will thrive
and abound. Each day will be triumphant only when
my smiles bring forth smiles from others and this I do
in selfishness, for those on whom I frown are those who
purchase not my goods.
I will laugh at the world.
Henceforth will I shed only tears of sweat, for those of
sadness or remorse or frustration are of no value in the
marketplace whilst each smile can be exchanged for gold
and each kind word, spoken from my heart, can build a
castle.
Never will I allow myself to become so important, so
wise, so dignified, so powerful, that I forget how to
laugh at myself and my world. In this matter I
will always remain as a child, for only as a child am I
given the ability to look up to others; and so long as I
look up to another I will never grow too long for my
cot.
I will laugh at the world.
And so long as I can laugh never will I be poor.
This then, is one of nature's greatest gifts, and I will
waste it no more. Only with laughter and happiness
can I truly become a success. Only with laughter
and happiness can I enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Were it not so, far better would it be to fail, for
happiness is the wine that sharpens the taste of the
meal. To enjoy success I must have happiness, and
laughter will be the maiden who serves me.
I will be happy.
I will be successful.
I will be the greatest salesman the world has ever
known.
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