![Live Laugh Love Live every moment, Laugh every day, Love beyond words](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/029/094/Live-Laugh-Love-Quotes-111.jpg)
Live Laugh Love
Part of a series on Catchphrases. [View Related Entries]
About
Live Laugh Love is a catchphrase which has become associated with basic culture and is derided as a generic, shallow motto one should avoid.
Origin
The quote is inspired by the 1904 poem "Success" by Bessie Anderson Stanley,[1][2] which opens "He has achieved success / who has lived well, / laughed often, and loved much". It has been misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who once wrote something similar.[3]
Spread
In the 21st century, the quote became well known, appearing on merchandise, mugs, home decor, and tattoos (examples shown below).[2]
![Hadiah Chic Laugh Love © Hadiah UK-www.hadiah.co.uk](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/751/c2a.jpg)
![Mug 8 NOHow](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/753/464.jpg)
![Tattoo e every moment, CD auuayn Ue devery day, beyond words.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/754/e51.jpg)
The phrase grew ubiquitous and took on a negative connotation near the start of the 2010s. On September 6th, 2011, Urban Dictionary user McPhd[4] posted a definition for "Live Laugh Love" reading "A trite phrase shallow women stencil onto their bedroom walls after seeing a DIY segment on the Rachael Ray Show" (shown below).
![Urban Dictionary TOP DEFINITION Live Laugh Love to their bedroom walls after seeing a DIY A trite phrase shallow women stencil on segment on the Rachael Ray Show. "My life has no true meaning so I'm going to latch onto the phrase Live Laugh Love and pretend that it validates our loveless marriage and under-achieving children okay honey?" #the triple l #live laugh love #trite #cliche #expression by McPhd September 06, 2011](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/758/239.jpg)
This translated into memes in which people expressed exhaustion with or aversion to the phrase. On June 22nd, 2017, Redditor AK_2000 posted a Gordon Ramsay meme about the phrase to /r/MemeEconomy[5] (shown below, left). On March 22nd, 2016, an anonymous Imgur user used a reaction image of Randy Jackson about the phrase (shown below, right).
![Gordon Ramsay When you walk into your friend's house and they have a "Live. Laugh. Love." sign hanging up ToMemOrNot ToMem F--- yourselves](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/761/59a.jpg)
![No From Me Dog When u walk into someone's room and they have that "Live, Laugh, Love" sign hanging above their bed yea thats gunna be á no for me dog](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/764/4e7.png)
On January 1st, 2017, a Reddit user asked a question about why the quote was so hated in /r/OutOftheLoop.[5] In response, user AwesomeInTheory answered:
It's cliche white girl pap. Typically found on 'inspirational' Facebook posts or as a tattoo in cursive (google image search brings up a ton of prototypes) in an attempt to be really deep and philosophical.
I've always associated it with garbage 'feel good' chick flicky stuff like the Ya Ya Sisterhood, Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and Eat, Pray Love. Young 20something pablum that's supposed to make you really question your life and 'live it' and whatever, but is just full of hollow sentiments that don't really mean anything.
It's appealing to a lot of folks because it's uplifting, positive and feel good and, as I've probably illustrated, gets made fun of for the same reasons.
Various Examples
![Imma Leave When you walk into someone's house and see the "Live Laugh Love" sign ima leave.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/766/d13.jpg)
![Christian Bale When you walk in someone's house and they have a 'Live. Laugh. Love." sign hanging up](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/767/056.jpg)
![Hide the Pain When u walk into someone's room and see a "live laugh love" sign above their bed](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/768/dd3.jpg)
![Chrissy Teigen When u walk someones house and see a "Live Laugh Love" sign hanging](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/769/3ac.jpg)
![I'm Out WHEN YOU SEE "LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE" AND WITH THAT SAID, I'M OUT imgflip.com](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/770/e66.jpg)
![Tiger Woods Mugshot The face you make when you read her "Live, Laugh, Love" sign hanging on the bathroom wall while you pee.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/475/771/47d.jpg)
Search Interest
External References
[1] Your Daily Poem – Success
[2] House Beautiful – This Is the Origin of Live, Laugh, Love
[3] Gurteen – Emerson Quote
[4] Urban Dictionary – Live Laugh Love
[5] Reddit – Why Is Live Laugh Love So Hated
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