Quote of the Day: William Makepeace Thackeray on Happiness

By mid-October, the year starts to feel like a dimmer switch turned down: shorter days, fuller schedules, and a quiet pressure to “push through.” That’s exactly why a small, bright habit matters now, one that doesn’t require more time, money, or willpower. As William Makepeace Thackeray reminds us, “A good laugh is sunshine in the house.”

Sunshine doesn’t argue with the shadows; it simply arrives and changes what’s possible in a room. A good laugh works the same way. It loosens the tight grip of stress, lowers defensiveness, and gives everyone a little more oxygen. In practice, laughter is a reset button for the emotional climate you live in, at home, on a team call, or in your own head. It doesn’t erase problems, but it makes them easier to carry.

Notice Thackeray’s precision: not just laughter, but a good laugh, and not just in a room, but “in the house.” He’s pointing to atmosphere, how relationships feel over time. The simplest way to apply this is to become an intentional curator of humor. Offer a light remark that doesn’t target anyone, share a story where you’re the punchline, or invite playfulness when tension spikes. Shared laughter dissolves invisible walls and builds a quiet, durable resilience.

Thackeray earned this insight the hard way: as the author of Vanity Fair and Henry Esmond, and as a celebrated lecturer, he studied human motives with rare clarity, and knew how warmth can expose truth without cruelty.

Today, send one “sunbeam” on purpose: text a friend a clean joke, queue up a five-minute comedy clip after dinner, or start a meeting with a genuinely funny observation from your week. Let the laughter linger in the halls of your day, and may it warm your whole house.