A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

The words of Phyllis Diller—“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”—carry both humor and truth, born from a woman who made her life’s work to bring laughter into a world often heavy with worry. The image she gives us is simple, yet profound: the smile, a gentle curve of the lips, has the power to untangle knots of tension, soften the hardest hearts, and bring harmony where once there was discord. The world may be filled with crookedness, with cares and confusions, but the curve of a smile straightens paths the mind cannot.

The ancients would have heard in these words a parable of balance. For what is bent by sorrow can be restored by joy; what is twisted by anger can be eased by kindness. The smile is small, yet it is mighty, for it disarms conflict without weapons and repairs spirits without medicine. It is a curve that, paradoxically, makes the crooked straight—because it reorders not the outer world at first, but the inner heart. And once the heart is restored, the world itself follows.

Consider the story of Winston Churchill during the Second World War. Though burdened by the weight of a nation’s survival, he often lightened rooms of strategy and despair with humor and with his unmistakable smile. It was not that the war vanished, but that his people, seeing his courage wrapped in warmth, felt their own strength rise. In the midst of chaos, his smile—curved, human, simple—set straight the resolve of millions. This is the power Phyllis Diller spoke of: the curve that carries the strength to realign even the gravest of moments.

Diller herself, though a comedian, knew hardship and ridicule. As one of the first female stand-up comedians, she faced a world that doubted her, dismissed her, and often mocked her. Yet she smiled. She turned her trials into laughter, her struggles into humor, and her stage into a sanctuary where broken spirits could heal. She proved by her life that the smile is not a denial of pain but a transformation of it. Her words carry the weight of her own triumph: she chose the curve that set her life straight and gave strength to countless others.

This teaching reveals a truth for all generations: anger complicates, bitterness bends, sorrow twists, but joy straightens. To smile is to take hold of the crookedness of life and to declare, “You will not break me.” The smile does not erase the storm, but it gives the sailor courage to steer through it. It does not remove the burden, but it strengthens the back that carries it. It is a curve more powerful than the edge of the sword, for it turns enemies into friends, strangers into allies, and despair into hope.

The lesson is clear: choose to smile even when it is difficult. When conflict arises, smile before you speak, for it may soften what words alone cannot. When fear weighs heavy, smile as a declaration of faith, for it will remind your spirit that the storm is not forever. When you meet another soul, offer a smile first—it is the universal key that unlocks fellowship. This is not pretense but discipline, a way of shaping your spirit so that crooked things may be straightened.

Practically, one might cultivate this by making the smile a conscious practice. In the morning, let your first act be to smile at life itself. In the face of trials, pause and lift your lips before lifting your words. Share smiles with strangers, family, and foes alike, for in each case you plant a seed of harmony. Over time, you will see how the crooked paths of misunderstanding and sorrow are made straight, not by force, but by the gentle curve of your expression.

Thus, Phyllis Diller’s words endure: “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” Let this wisdom guide you. For in the end, the smile is more than an expression—it is a weapon of peace, a tool of courage, and a gift of healing. Carry it, use it, live it, and you will find that even when life bends you with burdens, the curve of your smile will be enough to set all things straight again.