"Live, Love, Laugh" is a motivational three-word phrase that became a popular slogan on

motivational poster A motivational poster, or inspirational poster, is a type of poster commonly designed for use in schools and offices. Intent The intent of motivational posters is to make people achieve more, or to think differently about the things that they m ...

s and home decor in the late 2000s and early 2010s. By extension, the saying has also become pejoratively associated with a style of " basic"

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s a ...

decor and with what ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

'' described as " speaking-to-the-manager shallowness". The phrase is an abridged form of the 1904 poem "Success" by

Bessie Anderson Stanley Bessie Anderson Stanley (born Caroline Elizabeth Anderson, March 25, 1879 – October 2, 1952) was an American writer, the author of the poem ''Success'' (''What is success?'' or ''What Constitutes Success''?), which is often incorrectly attri ...

which begins: This phrase was subsequently popularized in the

Ann Landers Ann Landers was a pen name created by ''Chicago Sun-Times'' advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer (July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002) in 1955. For 56 years, the Ask Ann Landers syndicated ad ...

and Dear Abby columns, where it was misattributed to

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

. A similar phrase, popular on

condolence Condolences (from Latin ''con'' (with) + ''dolore'' (sorrow)) are an expression of sympathy to someone who is experiencing pain arising from death, deep mental anguish, or misfortune. When individuals condole, or offer their condolences to a par ...

cards, comes from

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's 1939 novel ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...

'': "Live, Laugh, Love" and variants on the phrase have appeared on framed posters, wall decals, ornaments, cushions, mugs, bed linen, jewellery and even on coffins. The Live Love Laugh Foundation, a mental health organization in India founded by

Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone ( or ; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She is one of the highest-paid actresses in India, and her accolades include three Filmfare Awards. She features in listings of the nation's most po ...

, takes its name from the phrase. ''Vice'' noted that the trend had largely passed by 2020.

Google Trends Google Trends is a website by Google that analyzes the popularity of top web search query, search queries in Google Search across various regions and languages. The website uses graphs to compare the search volume of different queries over time. ...

shows that searches for the phrase peaked between 2009 and 2014 in the United States, falling in popularity since then.

References

{{Reflist Motivation Internet memes English phrases Slogans 2010s fads and trends

See also

References