© Jonathon Rosen
They're considered a release, a psychological tonic, and to many a glimpse of something deeper: the heart's own sign language, emotional perspiration from the well of common humanity.
Tears lubricate love songs and love, weddings and funerals, public rituals and private pain, and perhaps no scientific study can capture their many meanings.
"I cry when I'm happy, I cry when I'm sad, I may cry when I'm sharing something that's of great significance to me," said Nancy Reiley, 62, who works at a women's shelter in Tampa, Fla., "and for some reason I sometimes will cry when I'm in a public speaking situation.
"It has nothing to do with feeling sad or vulnerable. There's no reason I can think of why it happens, but it does."
Comment: If you go to the search function at the top right of this page and type in: "intext: vaccine" without the quotation marks, you will come up with at over 450 articles dealing with vaccines.
Here is just a few to get you started:
Vaccine Court: Hepatitis B Shot Caused MS
Vaccines and Medical Experiments on Children, Minorities, Woman and Inmates
Federal Members of Advisory Committee Block Vaccine-Autism Research, Defy Wishes of Its Own Scientists, Autism Community, and Congress
Vaccinating older people against pneumonia is a 'waste of time'
New Clues to Who Is Susceptible to Autism Via Vaccine Injury
Mystery illness paralyses girl given cervical cancer jab
Gardasil Linked to Seventy-Eight Outbreaks of Genital Warts
Vaccine given to babies increases risk of childhood asthma
Autism Doc's claims led to witch hunt
Stunning New Link Between Vaccines and Autism Rates