Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Muscles to smile, muscles to frown

A long time ago I heard the adage that it takes something like 43 muscles to frown but only 17 muscles to smile, ergo, we should just smile because it's easier. It wasn't until my first anatomy class in college that I realized these numbers couldn't possibly be right. As far as I can tell, there are only about 36 named muscles of facial expression, and they're not all involved in smiling and frowning. Here they are in alphabetical order (a "2" in parentheses means the muscle is bilateral, "1" means it's unpaired):

Auricularis anterior (2)
Auricularis posterior (2)
Auricularis superior (2)
Buccinator (2)
Corrugator supercilii (2)
Depressor anguli oris (2)
Depressor labii inferioris (2)
Depressor septi nasi (1)
Frontalis (1)
Levator anguli oris (2)
Levator labii superioris (2)
Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi (2)
Mentalis (1)
Nasalis (2)
Orbicularis oculi (2)
Orbicularis oris (1)
Platysma (1)
Procerus (1)
Risorius (2)
Zygomaticus major (2)
Zygomaticus minor (2)

So which ones are responsible for smiling and/or frowning? I could hazard a guess, but I'll defer to Dr. David Song, a plastic surgeon and Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Hospitals, who was interviewed for a Straight Dope article: Does it take fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown? Counting only the muscles that make significant contributions, he concludes that smiling takes one more muscle than frowning (12 vs. 11). That doesn't necessarily mean that smiling is harder to do. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I suppose you could compare the masses of "smiling muscles" vs. "frowning muscles" to get a rough estimate of energy consumption (assuming the muscles all consume energy at the same rate per unit mass). In the meantime, check out Happiness Is Only Grin Deep at the always enlightening and entertaining Urban Legend Reference Pages.

100 Comments:

At 9/16/2006 8:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi,

I recently received an email from a friend about how it takes 26 muscles to smile and 62 to frown. I, being a life sci student, of course was very skeptical about this theory. I used your blog and many others to give my friend a comeback about his frowning insult. Thank you for this resource! It's been a pleasure!

 
At 10/14/2006 11:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i am a graphic design student, recently enrolled in a design systems class. i am working on a map that entails the visual system of smiling.

i searched endlessly to find how many muscles were involved in smiling.

thanks for your as clear as it can get answer.

 
At 11/27/2006 3:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I always liked this saying..."It takes 43 muscles to frown and only 17 to smile, but it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face."

 
At 1/29/2007 8:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just received an e-mail stating It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile but only three to squeeze a trigger. It had a sniper from Iraq on it with a smiley face on his scope cover. Not really pertinent but made me use my smiling muscles.

 
At 7/07/2007 5:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thing that the grain of truth in the smile vs. frown saying is that fully relaxed facial expression can be described as a kind of smile. At least reports of death by curare poisoning used to say so -- and people had believed that such a death must be happy, until the way curare acts was elucidated. Today, luckily, to verify that, you don't have to kill anybody by painful asphyxiation, while relaxation of all the muscles prevents even crying or frowning. People operated under full anesthesia should show fully relaxed face as long as medicinal myorelaxants are administered to them.

I just wander while so many people, including myself, when feeling worn-out and tired by the world, exert so much effort to show really disgusting exhausted face instead of the fully relaxed smile.

 
At 7/08/2007 9:43 PM, Blogger Brad said...

Interesting point, Honza. I wonder if it's partly a function of your body position (and the force of gravity). When my face is fully relaxed (if that's possible), it looks more like a frown than a smile, but that's when I'm upright. Maybe it's different if I'm supine (i.e., lying on my back). Over the years I've seen a number of supine cadavers, all about as relaxed as you can get, and at least a few of them appeared to have a subtle smile on their face.

 
At 3/13/2008 9:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I understand that being sceptical is probably in your guys' nature, but people just use these sayings as a pick me up. I'm sure you and the other bloggers must know this. That being said be a little more optomistic and don't ruin someone elses white lie.

 
At 4/20/2008 6:35 PM, Blogger Katherine said...

Who cares the exact number for heaven's sake. I'm glad that you are taking the time to inform people, but I think that say, 43 muscles to frown, and 17 to smile is just meant to get people to put on a happy face.

 
At 6/26/2008 2:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh shoot... I'm getting a low score in science if this is true....... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

 
At 7/02/2008 9:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I got this from a song based on a hymnal. "The secret of a hanged man is the smile on his lips."

 
At 9/27/2008 6:49 AM, Blogger Ldyluuu said...

This is sure to put a smile on many a face...Just say "Smile...It's Sexy!!!", it's easy and fun!

 
At 6/04/2009 11:56 AM, Anonymous Mark Davis said...

Of course it is harder to frown than to smile! This is because frowning is the expression of difficulty (see Darwin - The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals). However initially frowning, in the infant, occurs upon a displeasing sensation and prior to crying. Spontaneous expression of emotion like this requires no effort. So smiling or frowning as spontaneous responses don't require any effort. But a frown will generate the feeling of difficulty (try it). We need to distinguish also voluntary effort from the energy used by non-voluntary muscular contraction. To say that smiling requires more energy than frowning might be true but requires more than simply counting the muscle groups - you have to take into account the amount of individual muscle fibres involved. So it may be that frowning requires more calories than smiling... Certainly we can be sure that frowning feels more difficult - because it is the muscular expression of difficulty itself and generates that feeling internally.

 
At 7/16/2009 3:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am taking my first anatomy class and this unit we are discussing the muscle system. One of our discussion questions is dealing with prime movers, synergist and antagonist when refering the "human" movement and the muscles involved in that movement, placing them in those categories. During the seminar last night i asked if I could use smiling as my movement and the response that I got was...."it involves alot of muscles, you could but I would be to difficult and that i should use a diffrent example like bending my elbow or knee... well needless to say i think i am going to take the hard way...I just need to classify the antagonist muscles that go with smiling.... I was wondering .... the muscles used for frowning would be relaxing when we were smiling, would/could these be classified within this group?

 
At 7/17/2009 9:16 AM, Blogger Brad said...

cand1esindark,

It's true that, generally speaking, frowning muscles relax when smiling muscles contract, and vice versa, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the muscles have overlapping functions (i.e., they're involved in both smiling and frowning). Still, it's probably safe to say that muscles that move the corners of the mouth downwards (e.g., depressor anguli oris, depressor labii inferioris) are antagonistic to muscles that move the corners of the mouth upwards or to the side (e.g., levator labii superioris, zygomaticus major and minor, risorius).

 
At 8/27/2009 12:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i awlays thought if someone insults you,it takes 43 muscles to frown,but only 4 to extend your arm and punch the swine

 
At 10/08/2009 10:32 AM, Blogger Bobby said...

Although this is a very interesting post and I am glad I found it, It just goes to show you how ANAL we can be as humans worrying about such trivial issue. It is more FUN to make people laugh than it is to make them cry I am a class clown commedian and making you crack up is my DRUG of choice in life. So Dont worry Be Happy!
Thanks for the convo their "DOCTOR WRIGHT" I read all those charts on the walls in the docs office so remember to put a bunch of them all over as well as have your cieling painted with the Universe Its real calming. Throw the Enterprize in as a joke

 
At 1/03/2010 9:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi im ta'nyah and i'm doing a science fair project on is smiling contagious. so when a stranger passes a stranger and 1 smiles i think its just common courtesy to smile back and because its easier, so my debate is over is smiling contagious or just a habit?

 
At 1/05/2010 9:50 AM, Blogger Brad said...

Smiling as a response to someone who is smiling at you starts at a very early age (around 1-2 months), so I'd guess the behavior is at least partially innate. I don't know whether to call it contagious or habitual; it's probably both.

 
At 1/31/2010 4:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brad, I would first like to say-Thank you very much for finally putting an end to this silly debate. I can finally tell my friends with reliable references that the whole smiling-frowning-notion is of complete ignorance.

 
At 2/20/2010 9:57 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Hi Brad...
i am a Dentistry student in Lahore, Pakistan.. thanks for this good piece of information. God bless ya.

 
At 5/05/2010 3:15 AM, Blogger Haitham Seelawi said...

Hi,

Facial Action Coding System (FACS) have the answer to this question! Actually a detailed technical explanation of any facial expression can be found in the FACS manual!

 
At 5/05/2010 8:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

a simple smile is a great exercise for body and soul,science knows that, so smile, it's free.

Melinda Robinson

knee anatomy

 
At 6/11/2010 9:33 AM, Blogger George Henke said...

"Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face" William Cowper

 
At 6/13/2010 1:12 AM, Blogger wafflebird said...

This was very interesting and I'm glad I found it =) I'm always interested in learning new things... So, thank you very much! <3

 
At 9/04/2010 7:58 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

this was awesome! I was about to repeat the old "42 to frown and 17 to smile" adage but this had never sounded right to me and then i found this conversation. Needless to say I was smiling the whole time reading the post and all the comments. Glad that there are still anal people for trivial things! thanks!! PS I am a nurse by the way.

 
At 12/29/2010 7:38 PM, Anonymous Mhmd said...

I'm a bit familiar with the anatomy of the muscles of facial expressions but there is a question that I can't seem to find an answer to:
when you smile widely your upper lip "thins", right? Which muscle does that is it the orbicularis oris, Levator anguli oris or some other muscle?
Thanks :)

 
At 1/24/2011 8:56 PM, Blogger Brad said...

Mhmd, not that I expect you to check back almost a month after you left the question (sorry, I've been neglecting the blog again), but muscles that stretch the mouth to the sides to produce a smile and "thin" the upper lip include the zygomaticus major and minor muscles, among others. The orbicularis oris actually relaxes during a smile and gets stretched passively.

 
At 3/01/2011 1:19 PM, Blogger George Henke said...

"Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by
If you smile through your fears/tears and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through
For you
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear
May be ever so near
That's the time
You must keep on trying
Smile what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just S M I L E !!!"

(As sung by the great Durante)

 
At 3/01/2011 2:16 PM, Blogger George Henke said...

Or as Hamstergirl523 alluded to on 4/20/2008:

"Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Brush off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face
Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy,
It's not your style
You'll look sooooooo good that you'll be glad
Ya decided to smile!
Pick out a pleasant outlook
Stick out that noble chin;
Wipe off that 'full of doubt' look,
Slap on a happy grin!
And spread sunshine all over the place.
Just put on a happy face!
And if you're feeling cross and bickerish
Don't sit and whine
Think of bannana splits and licorice
And you'll feel fine.
I knew a girl soooooooo gloomy
She'd never laugh or sing
She wouldn't listen to me
Now she's a mean old thing
So spread sunshine all over the place
Just put on a happy face."

 
At 3/01/2011 4:14 PM, Blogger George Henke said...

And finally last but certainly not least . . .

"When you're smiling
When you're smiling
The whole world smiles with you

When you're laughing
When you're laughing
The sun comes shining through

But when you're crying
You bring on the rain
So stop your sighing
Be happy again

For when you're smiling
When you're smiling

The whole world smiles with you."

 
At 3/01/2011 5:10 PM, Blogger George Henke said...

And mustn't forget to . . .

"Powder your face with sunshine
Put on a great big smile
Make up your eyes with laughter
Folks will be laughing with you
In a little while

Whistle a tune of gladness
Blue never was in style

The future's brighter
When hearts are lighter

So . . .

Smile, Smile, Smile"

 
At 4/15/2011 3:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Only one muscle counts & that is the heart both actually & metaphorically speaking. Have a happy & productive day everyone
:-)
:-D
xox
<3

 
At 4/17/2011 7:28 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hehe I just saw someone's facebook status:
"If someone annoys you, it takes 42 muscles to frown. it takes 4 muscles to give him a bitchslap!"

 
At 4/18/2011 8:49 AM, Blogger George Henke said...

And it takes no muscles "to turn the other cheek".

 
At 4/23/2011 3:41 AM, Anonymous apotek dk said...

Jeg har lige vandre, mens så mange mennesker, inklusive mig selv, når følelsen slidte og trætte af verden, så mange kræfter på at vise virkelig ulækkert opbrugt ansigt i stedet for den fuldt afslappet smil øve.

 
At 6/02/2011 3:51 PM, Blogger Cheburashka said...

I think we have the gist of religious belief here, with so many people writing "So what if it's a lie? It makes people happy!!!" What a silly idea. If it's not true, it's not true. Find a better way to encourage people to smile. Don't lie to them!

 
At 6/18/2011 10:15 AM, Anonymous tabata said...

Many spammers here too bad this is a nice blog :/

 
At 6/19/2011 9:09 PM, Anonymous George said...

Cheburasha's comment, 6/2/2011:

"I think we have the gist of religious belief here, with so many people writing "So what if it's a lie? It makes people happy!!!" What a silly idea. If it's not true, it's not true. Find a better way to encourage people to smile. Don't lie to them!"

reminds me to . . .

"Pretend you're happy when you're blue
It isn't very hard to do
And you'll find happiness without an end
Whenever you pretend.

"Remember anyone can dream
And nothing's bad as it may seem
The little things you haven't got
Could be a lot
If you pretend.

"You'll find a love you can share
Someone to call all your own.
Just close your eyes he'll/she'll be there
You'll never be alone.

"And if you sing this melody
You'll be pretending just like me.
The world is mine, it could be yours, my friend
If you will just pretend."

(As sung by Nat King Cole)

 
At 6/20/2011 8:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OOOOHHHH MY DEAR GOD. You all have done it again. Taken a simple saying that was not meant to be anything more than a way to get people to smile and laugh a little, and turned it into some science experiment and totally missed the whole point. Get a life....

 
At 6/21/2011 8:55 PM, Blogger Brad said...

FYI, the author of this blog reserves the right to remove irrelevant and/or spammy comments.

 
At 6/24/2011 3:01 PM, Anonymous SENuke X said...

Really enjoyed this post. Will read on...

 
At 7/05/2011 4:41 AM, Blogger Maria Angela Deloso said...

awesome. Great job.

 
At 8/07/2011 10:49 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

it takes 44 muscles to frown and 4 muslces to stick up my middle finger and say bite me

 
At 8/09/2011 2:02 PM, Anonymous George said...

Norman Cousins history is a case study of the effect of laughter on health. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Cousins also served as Adjunct Professor of Medical Humanities for the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he did research on the biochemistry of human emotions, which he long believed were the key to human beings’ success in fighting illness. It was a belief he maintained even as he battled heart disease, which he fought both by taking massive doses of Vitamin C and, according to him, by training himself to laugh. He wrote a collection of best-selling non-fiction books on illness and healing, as well as a 1980 autobiographical memoir, Human Options: An Autobiographical Notebook. Late in life Cousins was diagnosed with a form of arthritis then called Marie-Strumpell's disease (ankylosing spondylitis), although this diagnosis is currently in doubt and it has been suggested that Cousins may actually have had reactive arthritis. His struggle with this illness is detailed in the book and movie Anatomy of an Illness.

Told that he had little chance of surviving, Cousins developed a recovery program incorporating megadoses of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter induced by Marx Brothers films. "I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep," he reported. "When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval."

Cousins received the Albert Schweitzer Prize in 1990. He died of heart failure on November 30, 1990, in Los Angeles, California, having survived years longer than his doctors predicted: 10 years after his first heart attack, 26 years after his collagen illness, and 36 years after his doctors first diagnosed his heart disease."

I have a special regard for Norman Cousins, because he took the time to reply to a letter I wrote to the editor when I was a lowly infantry man fighting in Vietnam, which was no laughing matter.

 
At 11/29/2011 10:00 AM, Anonymous George said...

Oh, how could we ever leave out this famous lady . . .

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you
You’re so like the lady with the mystic smile
Is it only ’cause you’re lonely they have blamed you?
For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile?

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there and they die there
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?

(As sung by Nat King Cole)

 
At 12/03/2011 4:54 PM, Anonymous George said...

Brad,

I looked at your picture and I really don't think you're using all 17 muscles to smile.

Now please, stop being a sluggard and get with the program.

 
At 12/05/2011 9:41 PM, Anonymous George said...

Cheburasha commented, 6/2/2011:

"I think we have the gist of religious belief here, with so many people writing "So what if it's a lie? It makes people happy!!!" What a silly idea. If it's not true, it's not true. Find a better way to encourage people to smile. Don't lie to them!"

Her point is well taken and illustrated by the following incident . . .

In 1835 a man visited a doctor in Florence, Italy. The man was quite despondent. He was exhausted from a lack of sleep. Moreover, he couldn’t eat, and he avoided his friends. The doctor examined him and found him to be in excellent physical health. The physician concluded that his patient needed to have a good time, so he recommended that he go to the circus that was in town and see its star performer, a clown named Grimaldi. Night after night he had the people rolling in the aisles. “You must go see him,” the doctor advised. “Grimaldi is the world’s funniest clown. He will make you laugh and cure your sadness.” “No,” replied the despairing man, “he can’t help me. You see, I am Grimaldi!”

 
At 12/09/2011 4:34 PM, Anonymous George said...

A certain smile, a certain face
Can lead an unsuspecting heart
On a merry chase
A fleeting glance can say
So many lovely things
Suddenly you know why my heart sings

You love awhile and when love goes
You try to hide the tears inside
With a cheerful pose

But in the hush of night
Exactly like a bitter sweet refrain
Comes that certain smile
To haunt your heart again

(As sung by Johnny Mathis)

 
At 12/22/2011 9:59 PM, Anonymous George said...

Even nature does not need muscles to smile

On the darkest day of the year, it is nice to recall that a beautiful lake in New Hampshire which the Indians named Winnipesaukee is translated, "the smile of the Great Spirit".

 
At 12/31/2011 6:38 PM, Anonymous George said...

"Chisel in hand stood a sculptor-boy,
With his marble block before him;
And his face lit up with a smile of joy
As an angel dream passed o'er him.
He carved the dream on that shapeless stone
With many a sharp incision.
With heaven's own light the sculptor shone, —
He had caught the angel-vision.

"Sculptors of life are we as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when at God's command
Our life dream passes o'er us.
If we carve it then on the yielding stone
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own, —
Our lives that angel-vision."

From Life Sculpture by George Washington Doane (May 27, 1799 – April 27, 1859)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! !

:-) :-) :-)

 
At 1/27/2012 9:44 PM, Anonymous George said...

On 7/7/2007, Honza wrote:

"I think that the grain of truth in the smile vs. frown saying is that fully relaxed facial expression can be described as a kind of smile. At least reports of death by curare poisoning used to say so -- and people had believed that such a death must be happy, until the way curare acts was elucidated. Today, luckily, to verify that, you don't have to kill anybody by painful asphyxiation, while relaxation of all the muscles prevents even crying or frowning. People operated under full anesthesia should show fully relaxed face as long as medicinal myorelaxants are administered to them."

His post reminds me of the word, sardonic, and its etymology as given by Wikipedia:

"Sardonicism (from Latin: Risus sardonicus, a grin from spasm of the facial muscles associated with tetanus and other poisonings) is the expression of derision, cynicism or skeptical humor variously through comment, gesture or writing.

"The etymology of sardonicism as both a word and concept is uncertain. The Byzantine Greek Suda traces its earliest roots to the notion of grinning (Greek: sairō) in the face of danger, or curling one's lips back at evil. One explanation for a later morph to its more familiar form and connection to laughter (supported by the Oxford English Dictionary) appears to stem from an ancient belief that ingesting the sardonion plant from Sardinia (Greek: Sardō) would result in convulsions resembling laughter and, ultimately, death.

"In Theory and History of Folklore, Vladimir Propp discusses alleged examples of ritual laughter accompanying death and killing, all involving groups. These he characterized as sardonic laughter.

'Among the very ancient people of Sardinia, who were called Sardi or Sardoni, it was customary to kill old people. While killing their old people, the Sardi laughed loudly. This is the origin of notorious sardonic laughter (Eugen Fehrle, 1930), now meaning cruel, malicious laughter. In light of our findings things begin to look different. Laughter accompanies the passage from death to life; it creates life and accompanies birth. Consequently, laughter accompanying killing transforms death into a new birth, nullifies murder as such, and is an act of piety that transforms death into a new life.'

"A root form first appears in Homer as the Ancient Greek sardánios, Odysseus, smiling "sardonically" when attacked by one of his wife's erstwhile suitors upon his return to Ithaca. From the Greek: sardónios evolved the Latin: sardonius, thence the French: sardonique, and ultimately the familiar English adjectival form, sardonic.

"In 2009 scientists at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy claimed to have identified hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) as the plant responsible for producing the sardonic grin. This plant is the most-likely candidate for the "sardonic herb," which was a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in pre-Roman Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, they were intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death."

Allow me to say sardonically, "What a nice thought."

Or would that be sarcastic?

 
At 1/27/2012 10:34 PM, Anonymous George said...

Spring training is almost here, so how about a sardonic baseball song, Heart, from Damn Yankees: Lyrics: Richard Adler; Music: Jerry Ross)


You've gotta have heart
All you really need is heart
When the odds are sayin' you'll never win
That's when the grin should start
You've gotta have hope
Mustn't sit around and mope
Nothin's half as bad as it may appear
Wait'll next year and hope
When your luck is battin' zero
Get your chin up off the floor
Mister you can be a hero
You can open any door, there's nothin' to it but to do it
You've gotta have heart
Miles 'n miles n' miles of heart
Oh, it's fine to be a genius of course
But keep that old horse
Before the cart
First you've gotta have heart

 
At 2/10/2012 8:58 PM, Anonymous George said...

There is something wonderful about being able to laugh in the face of adversity, even death itself, as the ancient Sardoni's did.

Here is another song with some more sardonic advice of what to do "when your dreams fall apart at the seams" and how to stay young, as only Jimmy Durante could sing it.

"Fairy tales can come true
It can happen to you
If you're young at heart
For it's hard, you will find,
To be narrow of mind
If you’re young at heart
You can go to extremes
With impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams
Fall apart at the seams
And life becomes exciting with each passing day,
And love is either in your heart… or on its way.
Don't you know that it's worth
Every treasure on earth
To be young at heart?
For, as rich as you are,
It's much better by far
To be young at heart
And, if you should survive
To a hundred and five,
Look at all you'll derive
Just by being alive!
Now, here is the best part:
You have a head start
If you are amongst the very young...
At heart"

 
At 2/14/2012 8:04 PM, Anonymous George said...

“Happy Valentine’s Day with a “smile in my heart”.

“The shadow of your smile
When you are gone
Will color all my dreams
And light the dawn.

“Look into my eyes my love and see
All the lovely things you are to me.

“Our wistful little star
Was far too high
A teardrop kissed your lips
And so did I.

“Now when I remember spring
All the joys that love can bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of your smile.”



“The days of wine and roses
Laugh and run away
Like a child at play
Through a meadow land
Toward a closing door
A door marked "nevermore"
That wasn't there before.

“The lonely night discloses
Just a passing breeze
Filled with memories
Of the golden smile
That introduced me to
The days of wine and roses
And you.”


“I'll never smile again
Until I smile at you.
I'll never laugh again
What good would it do.

“For tears would fill my eyes
My heart would realize
That our romance is through.

“I'll never love again
I'm so in love with you.
I'll never thrill again
To somebody new.

“Within my heart
I know I will never start
To smile again
Until I smile at you.”


“My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart.

“Your looks are laughable, unphotographable
Yet you're my favorite work of art.

“Is your figure less than Greek
Is your mouth a little bit weak
When you open it to speak, are you smart?

“Don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay.

“Each day is Valentine's Day.”

 
At 3/17/2012 7:09 PM, Anonymous George said...

"When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away."

Happy St Patrick's Day

 
At 3/19/2012 8:17 PM, Anonymous George said...

On the first day of Spring . . .

"What an abuse of natural beauty to say that a rose, the smile of God, can produce suffering! The joy of its presence, its beauty and fragrance, should uplift the thought, and dissuade any sense of fear or fever" (Mary Baker Eddy)

 
At 3/24/2012 5:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Really interesting post, look forward to reading more.

 
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At 5/11/2012 3:34 PM, Anonymous swingset brackets said...

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At 5/13/2012 11:06 AM, Anonymous George said...

"No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;
No night drops down upon the troubled breast
When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain
And mother finds her home and heav'nly rest" (Mary Baker Eddy)

Happy Mother's Day

 
At 5/16/2012 3:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well I don't think science believes that people actually have souls. And also, although a smile can be an action that makes people feel happy, it uses so little energy I would not call it an exercise. P.s: Remember that smiles can be smug, evil, and other not-so-nice emotions.

 
At 5/16/2012 3:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And I am not saying that I don't believe people have soul, nor that people shouldn't smile. I love smiling, and when people around me look like they are cheery it makes me feel good. :)

 
At 5/16/2012 3:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

About every single other muscle counts. Really.

 
At 5/16/2012 3:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Um, doing all that would definitely take MORE muscles than frowning, no matter how many muscles frowning uses.

 
At 5/16/2012 4:39 PM, Anonymous George said...

"The man of integrity is one who makes it his constant rule to follow the road of duty, according as Truth and the voice of his conscience point it out to him. He is not guided merely by affections which may some time give the color of virtue to a loose and unstable character.
The upright man is guided by a fixed Principle, which destines him to do nothing but what is honorable, and to abhor whatever is base or unworthy; hence we find him ever the same, — at all times the trusty friend, the affectionate relative, the conscientious man of business, the
pious worker, the public-spirited citizen.
He assumes no borrowed appearance. He seeks no mask to cover him, for he acts no studied part; but he is indeed what he appears to be, — full of truth, candor, and humanity. In all his pursuits, he knows no path but the fair, open, and direct one, and would much rather fail of success than attain it by reproachable means. He never shows us a smiling countenance while he meditates evil against us in his heart. We shall never find one part of his character at variance with another." (Mary Baker Eddy)

 
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At 6/11/2012 10:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At 7/03/2012 4:54 PM, Anonymous eten bestellen said...

Over the years I've seen a number of supine cadavers, all about as relaxed as you can get, and at least a few of them appeared to have a subtle smile on their face.

 
At 7/04/2012 10:47 PM, Anonymous Printable Flash Cards said...

I thing that the grain of truth in the smile vs. frown saying is that fully relaxed facial expression can be described as a kind of smile.

 
At 7/15/2012 4:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

.,hi there..nice work done...you are actually giving as the total number of facial muscle..i wont argue about that because im not sure also f how many muscle really we have in the face but acording to study, every individual have different number of facial muscle..i just have read this in one of the articles..this is the link address and you might want to look at it.. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080616205044.htm

 
At 8/30/2012 4:21 AM, Anonymous house cleaning services sacramento ca said...

I'm a bit familiar with the anatomy of the muscles of facial expressions but there is a question that I can't seem to find an answer to:
when you smile widely your upper lip "thins", right? Which muscle does that is it the orbicularis oris, Levator anguli oris or some other muscle?
Thanks :)

 
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At 11/11/2012 11:58 AM, Anonymous George said...

At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, World War I came to an end 94 years ago today while we sang,


Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile,
While you've a Lucifer (wooden match) to light your fag (cigarette),
Smile, boys, that's the style.
What's the use of worrying?
It never was worth while, so
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile.

During World War II we sang:

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.
Keep smiling through, just like you always do,
'Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away.

So will you please say hello to the folks that I know,
Tell them I won't be long.
They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go,
I was singing this song.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.


During Vietnam we sang,

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
He's blowin his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go


So on this very special day let's,

"remember, a pure faith in humanity will subject one to deception; the uses of good, to abuses from evil; and calm strength will enrage evil. But the very heavens shall laugh at them, and move majestically to your defense when the armies of earth press hard upon you." (Mary Baker Eddy)

"Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken, Formed thee for His own abode:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
By salvation's walls surrounded
Thou mayst smile at all thy foes." (John Newton)

 
At 12/21/2012 3:04 PM, Anonymous George said...

On the shortest day of the year, it is well to remember:

"There is no night but in God's frown; there is no day but in His smile" (Mary Baker Eddy)

 
At 2/22/2013 12:00 PM, Anonymous Wasi Shah said...

What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.

 
At 2/22/2013 4:29 PM, Anonymous George said...

"Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure: toil is triumph;"

"Sincerity is more successful than genius or talent."

Mary Baker Eddy

 
At 3/17/2013 10:10 AM, Blogger Mr. Winnz said...

Maybe the numbers should be recounted bcz a full frown usually involves the entire face. A smile usually takes place between the bottom of your nose & the top of your chin. Either way whatever we can do to cheer up or motivate this dark world everyone please do it. Attempt to smile & make someone else smile on purpose!!

 
At 3/20/2013 7:38 PM, Anonymous George said...

On the last day of Winter:

I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string
I'd say that I had Spring fever
But I know it isn't Spring

I am starry-eyed and vaguely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing
Oh, why should I have Spring fever
When it isn't even Spring?

I keep wishing I were somewhere else
Walking down a strange new street
Hearing words that I have never heard
From a girl I've yet to meet

I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams
I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud or a robin on the wing
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way
That it might as well be Spring

It might as well be Spring

 
At 9/12/2013 1:32 AM, Anonymous Ann said...

I can't even imagine that so many muscles are used when we smile. Very interesting. Thank you! Ann (Viber UAE)

 
At 9/14/2013 6:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this article and your many good comments. However, I get so tired of preachers using this in their sermons and being told to smile when I thought I was. You see my relaxed face doesn't have a smile because it is harder for me to hold a smile and after a while actually begins to ache. Please don't tell me to see a doctor. No insurance, no money. I wish people would accept me as I am, smile or no smile. I try hard not to be a grouch and to be optimistic.

 
At 2/10/2014 12:01 PM, Anonymous Taye said...

Hey it recently takes 17 to smile and 43 to frown thnxz but you is WROUNG anonymous !!!!!!!!!!😃😩

 
At 3/25/2014 2:07 PM, Anonymous George said...

When people smile they look better, more beautiful.

For the 9/14/13 poster . . .

I knew a girl so glooming
She'd never laugh or sing
She wouldn't listen to me
Now she's a mean old thing
So spread sunshine all over the place
Just put on a happy face
So, put on a happy face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDons4IG5FA

 
At 7/13/2014 5:01 PM, Anonymous Maha said...

Yes... I have always heard that too... and people would spread e-mails saying so without any proof! So, I am more than glad that you wrote this!

While easier or not, smiling does in deed make people's faces look much more relaxed and easier to approach, friendlier...

Not to mention, that smiling in itself as an act does make the person happier, as proven by studies! So, why wouldn't we smile!

So, Let us All Spread Happiness and Smile =D

http://live--to--inspire.weebly.com/ For more inspirational messages :) And More Smiles

 
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At 8/11/2014 5:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this article and your many good comments. However, I get so tired of preachers using this in their sermons and being told to smile when I thought I was. You see my relaxed face doesn't have a smile because it is harder for me to hold a smile and after a while actually begins to ache. technology leadership conference

 
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At 8/16/2014 6:22 AM, Anonymous George said...

It has been said that there are 7 basic plots, prime subjects, themes for all popular music . . .

Love
Hate
Loneliness
Happiness
Sadness
Jealousy
Revenge

Happiness and Sadness are two of them.

 
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At 8/20/2014 12:54 PM, Anonymous George said...

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the smiles/faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
They’re really sayin......i love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more.....than I’ll never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

 
At 12/13/2014 7:18 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I perfer " Smile it makes people wonder what you're thinking" my self though I do appreciate the info as I was trying to teach my kids rudimentary anatomy

 
At 12/29/2014 2:23 PM, Anonymous George said...

"There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low", and here is why . . .

There's No Business Like Show Business Lyrics

There's no business like show business like no business I know
Everything about it is appealing, everything that traffic will allow
Nowhere could you get that happy feeling when you are stealing that extra bow

There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low
Even with a turkey that you know will fold, you may be stranded out in the cold
Still you wouldn't change it for a sack of gold, let's go on with the show

The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Are secretly unhappy men because
The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Get paid for what they do but no applause.
They'd gladly bid their dreary jobs goodbye for anything theatrical and why?

There's no business like show business and I tell you it's so
Traveling through the country is so thrilling, standing out in front on opening nights
Smiling as you watch the theater filling, and there's your billing out there in lights

There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low
Angels come from everywhere with lots of jack, and when you lose it, there's no attack
Where could you get money that you don't give back? Let's go on with the show

(There's no business like show business like no business I know)
You get word before the show has started that your favorite uncle died at dawn
Top of that, your pa and ma have parted, you're broken-hearted, but you go on

(There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low)
Yesterday they told you you would not go far, that night you open and there you are
Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star, let's go on with the show!!

 
At 12/29/2014 2:31 PM, Anonymous George said...

And another reason: "There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low."

because they . . .

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy;
Make just one heart the heart you sing to.
One smile that cheers you,
One face that lights when it nears you,
One girl you're ev'rything to.

Fame if you win it,
Comes and goes in a minute.
Where's the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer,
Someone to love is the answer.
Once you've found her, build your world around her.

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy,
And you will be happy, too.

 
At 4/26/2015 6:50 PM, Anonymous Mike said...

interesting

 
At 10/15/2015 4:49 AM, Anonymous Smiley27 said...

For some reason I have been noticing lately photos of people with huge, sharply curved-mouth frowns, most of whom were I think disgraced criminals. I was pretty sure I would not even be able to make my mouth do that. I just tried, and the closest I could get was by stretching my mouth out as wide as possible, which produced just a slight downturn and also made my neck tendons stick out a lot. So I'm wondering whether a frown like this has to be spontaneous, or I just am bad at controlling my facial muscles, or is this something not everyone can do.

 
At 12/25/2015 10:43 PM, Anonymous George said...

"Beloved - A word to the wise is sufficient. Mother wishes you all a happy Christmas, a feast of Soul and a famine of sense." (Mary Baker Eddy)

 

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