And the smile that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through tears.

The quote contrasts easy cheerfulness with a harder, more admirable kind of joy: a smile that “shines through tears.” Wilcox suggests that praise-worthy happiness is not naïve or untouched by pain; it is earned, luminous precisely because it coexists with grief. The image implies endurance and moral strength—an ability to keep one’s humanity, kindness, or hope even when circumstances warrant sorrow. In Wilcox’s characteristic inspirational mode, the line elevates emotional courage into a public virtue: the world may applaud surface success, but the deepest admiration belongs to those who can transmute suffering into compassion and quiet brightness.