Laughter is in a way unique. Anger, frustration, worrying, sadness -- they are all negative and they are never total. You cannot be totally sad, there is no way. Any negative emotion cannot be total because it is negative. Totality needs positivity. Laughter is a positive phenomenon -- that's why it is unique -- and that makes it a little difficult to be aware of laughter, for two reasons. One, it comes suddenly. In fact, you become aware only when it has come.

•   Two men were sent to define the border between Poland and Russia.
  One day, in the middle of a big wood, they came to a very old house set right on the borderline. Unable to decide to which country it should belong, they approached the inhabitants. After they rang the bell for a long time a very old but well-known philosopher opened the door. They explained their difficulties and asked him what country he would prefer to belong to.
  "Oh," he said, "I have been living here for so long now, I don't care at all," and he started to shut the door.
  Suddenly he opened it again and said quickly, "No, wait, put me in Poland."
  The rather hurt Russian went back after an hour to ask the old philosopher what the reason for his sudden decision was.
  "Oh, no special reason," he replied. "I just read in the newspapers twenty years ago that the winters in Russia are very cold."
  
  
•   Three reformed and very progressive rabbis were boasting about the advanced views of their respective congregations.
  "We are so modern," said the first, "we have installed ashtrays in every pew so members can smoke while they pray."
  "Ah!" snorted the second. "We now have a snack bar in the basement that serves ham sandwiches after services."
  "You boys," said the third, "are not even in the same class as my congregation. We are so reformed, we close for the Jewish holidays."
  
  
•   The pretty young thing came slamming into her apartment after a blind date and announced to her roommate, "Boy, what a character! I had to slap his face three times this evening!"
  The roommate inquired eagerly, "What did he do?"
  "Nothing!" muttered the girl. "I slapped him to see if he was awake!"
  
  
•   "Son, I just know that you will do the right thing by this little girl," said the preacher. "You just marry her and you will be at the end of your troubles."
  So he did the right thing and he married the girl. And about six months later, when he saw the preacher again, he tried to murder him.
  "You miserable liar!" shouted the young man. "You told me if I married her I would be at the end of my troubles. Well, I married her and she has made my life miserable!"
  "That may be true, son, but you can't blame me," replied the minister. "I said you would be at the end of your troubles, but I never said which end."
  
  
•   Spinster Peabody's proudest possession was Count, her exquisite cat. Unfortunately, he had been missing for two days. When she opened the freezer door, Miss Peabody nearly died of shock. There was Count frozen solid.
  She immediately called the priest, who said there still might be a chance to save the poor animal. "Give it two tablespoons of gasoline," he told her.
  With trembling hands, Miss Peabody opened Count's mouth and carefully spooned in the priest's strange prescription.
  The seconds ticked away and nothing happened. She was about to give up hope when suddenly the cat opened his eyes, let out an ear-piercing screech and shot across the room at a hundred miles per hour, running over the furniture, the walls, even the ceiling. Count kept this up for two minutes and then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, not moving a muscle.
  Miss Peabody called the priest again.
  "What do you think happened?" she asked.
  "Simple," said the priest. "He ran out of gas."
  
  
•   Jack was home from college for the holidays. One day he asked his uneducated mother if he could tell her a narrative. His mother, not being used to such big words, asked him the meaning of 'narrative'.
  "A narrative is a tale," Jack said.
  That night, when going to bed, Jack asked his mother if he might extinguish the light. She wanted to know the meaning of 'extinguish'.
  "To put out," Jack said.
  A few days later Jack's mother was giving a party at their home, and the cat wandered into the room. Jack's mother raised her voice and said confidently, "Jack, take the cat by the narrative and extinguish him."
  
  
•   Mulla Nasruddin once told me, "My uncle has the laziest rooster in the world."
  "How can you tell?" I asked him.
  "At sunrise, he just waits until some other rooster crows, then he nods his head."
  
  
•   Mulla Nasruddin was reading his newspaper and suddenly called his wife and said, "I have caught four flies: two are males and two are females."
  The wife said, "My god, how did you manage to know their sex?"
  He said, "Easy! Two were reading the newspaper with me for hours. And two were sitting on the mirror, completely glued."