It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It Page 12

  On the other hand, the best side of our humanity finds us determined to make life as meaningful as possible NOW; to defy our fate. Everything matters. Everything.

  It is easy to become immobilized between these two points of view—to see them both so clearly that one cannot decide what to do or be.

  Laughter is what gives me forward motion at such intersections.

  We are the only creatures that both laugh and weep. I think it’s because we are the only creatures that see the difference between the way things are and the way they might be. Tears bring relief. Laughter brings release.

  Some years ago I came across a phrase in Greek—asbestos gelos—unquenchable laughter. I traced it to Homer’s Iliad, where it was used to describe the laughter of the gods. That’s my kind of laughter. And he who laughs, lasts.

  Good night. Sleep loose.

  About the Author

  If you ask him for his business card, you will find that it simply says Fulghum. The card reflects an open-ended notion of what his occupation might be. ROBERT FULGHUM has been a working cowboy, IBM salesman, professional artist, folksinger, parish minister, bartender, teacher of drawing and painting, writer, and amateur philosopher. He is still working on what he wants to be when he grows up. In the meantime, he lives with his wife on a houseboat in Seattle.

  After three phenomenal #1 bestsellers,

  Robert Fulghum returns with a new collection

  guaranteed to delight his fans.

  MAYBE

  (MAYBE NOT):

  Secret Thoughts From

  A Secret Life

  by

  Robert Fulghum

  Now available in your local bookstore.

  Published in hardcover by Villard Books.

  Ivy Books

  Published by The Random House Publishing Group

  Copyright © 1988,1989 by Robert L. Fulghum

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States of America by The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  Ivy Books and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  www.ballantinebooks.com

  Two of the essays in this book were previously published in Redbook. One essay was previously published in Washington.

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 89-40193

  eISBN: 978-0-307-75501-8

  This edition published by arrangement with Villard Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

  v3.0