First health, then wealth, then pleasure, and do not owe anything to anybody.
—Catherine II of Russia (1729–96) Russian Empress
As the great Confucius said, “The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change”. Flow. But we keep looking back, don’t we? We cling to things in the past and cling to things in the present…Do you want to enjoy a symphony? Don’t hold on to a few bars of the music. Don’t hold on to a couple of notes. Let them pass, let them flow. The whole enjoyment of a symphony lies in your readiness to allow the notes to pass…
—Anthony de Mello (1931–87) Indian-born American Theologian
I had rather have a fool to make me merry than experience to make me sad.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright, Poet, Author
All mankind are happier for having been happy, so that if you make them happy new, you make them happy twenty years hence by the memory of it.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Anglican Writer, Critic
The worst sin — perhaps the only sin — passion can commit is to be joyless.
—Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) British Novelist, Playwright, Essayist, Translator, Poet
Every period of life is obliged to borrow its happiness from time to come.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist, Biographer, Poet, Writer, Literary Critic
My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I’m happy. I can’t figure it out. What am I doing right?
—Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) American Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Essayist
To be of use in the world is the only way to happiness.
—Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75) Danish Author, Poet, Short Story Writer
Rich bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Dramatist, Short Story Writer, Journalist, Writer
Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens.
—Andy Rooney (1919–2011) American Writer, Humorist, TV Personality
I do not know of any sure way of making others happy as being so oneself.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) English Dramatist, Essayist
This is life! It can harden and it can exalt.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright, Poet, Theater Personality
Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.
—Hosea Ballou (1771–1852) American Universalist Clergyman, Writer
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
To be happy means to be free, not from pain or fear, but from care or anxiety.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
False happiness is like false money; it passes for a long time as well as the true, and serves some ordinary occasions; but when it is brought to the touch, we find the lightness and alloy, and feel the loss.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet, Translator
The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.
—J. D. Salinger (1919–2010) American Actor
The secret of living is to find a pivot, the pivot of a concept on which you can make your stand.
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Author
Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life.
—Burton Hillis (William E. Vaughan) (1915–77) American Columnist, Author
Happiness seems to require a modicum of external prosperity.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
My crown is called content; a crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright, Poet, Author
Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either egotism, selfishness, evil –or else an absolute ignorance.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) Hong-Kong-born American Sportsperson, Actor, Philosopher, Film Director, Screenwriter
Never mind your happiness; do your duty.
—Will Durant (1885–1981) American Historian, Philosopher, Memoirist, Socialist
Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though it were his own.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
Labor and trouble one can always get through alone, but it takes two to be glad.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright, Poet, Theater Personality
Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
No man should desire to be happy who is not at the same time holy. He should spend his efforts in seeking to know and do the will of God, leaving to Christ the matter of how happy he should be.
—A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) American Christian Pastor, Preacher, Author, Editor
Every now and then, when the world sits just right, a gentle breath of heaven fills my soul with delight … .
—Hazelmarie ‘Mattie’ Elliott
We must learn that to enjoy happiness we must conscientiously and continuously seek to spread happiness. Selfishness is suicidal to happiness.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author, Social Activist, Educator
The secret of happiness is to admire without desiring. And that is not happiness.
—F. H. Bradley (1846–1924) British Philosopher
It takes great wit and interest and energy to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish.
—Robert Henri (1865–1929) American Painter, Teacher
Best trust the happy moments… The days that make us happy make us wise.
—John Masefield (1878–1967) English Poet, Novelist, Playwright
When unhappy, one doubts everything; when happy, one doubts nothing.
—Philibert Joseph Roux (1780–1854) French Surgeon
The main obligation is to amuse yourself.
—S. J. Perelman (1904–79) American Humorist, Author, Screenwriter
On the whole, the happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so.
—William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) English Anglican Clergyman, Priest, Mystic
To be happy, one must have a good stomach and a bad heart.
—Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757) French Essayist
Happiness doesn’t come from doing what we like to do but from liking what we have to do.
—Wilferd Arlan Peterson (1900–95) American Author
There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.
—Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789–1849) Irish Novelist, Writer
Those who seek happiness miss it, and those who discuss it, lack it.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader, Philosopher, Civil Rights Activist
In every part and corner of our life, to lose oneself is to be the gainer; to forget oneself is to be happy.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Short Story Writer, Author
Money, or even power, can never yield happiness unless it be accompanied by the goodwill of others.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
The happiest people I have known in this world have been the Saints — and, after these, the men and women who get immediate and conscious enjoyment from little things.
—Hugh Walpole (1884–1941) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Dramatist
As we are now living in an eternity, the time to be happy is today.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
The principle of happiness should be like the principle of virtue: it should not be dependent of things, but be a part of personality (and character).
—William Lyon Phelps (1865–1943) American Author, Critic, Scholar
Farms and in castles, in homes, studies, and cloisters — where sensible people manage to live relatively lusty and decent lives, as moral as they must be, as free as they may be, and as masterly as they can be. If we only knew it, this elusive arrangement is happiness.
—Erik Erikson (1902–94) German-born American Psychologist, Psychoanalyst, Writer
Happiness lies, first of all, in health.
—George William Curtis (1824–92) American Essayist, Public Speaker, Editor, Author
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love, nor a friend to know me; all I ask, the heavens above, and the road below me.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Short Story Writer, Author
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Life begins on the other side of despair.
—Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80) French Philosopher, Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter, Political Activist
The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Happiness is a form of courage.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
No man, with a man’s heart in him gets far on his way without some bitter, soul-searching disappointment. Happy is he who is brave enough to push on to another stage of the journey.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
Perfect love casts out fear. Where there is love there are no demands, no expectations, no dependency. I do not demand that you make me happy; my happiness does not lie in you. If you were to leave me, I will not feel sorry for myself; I enjoy your company immensely, but I do not cling.
—Anthony de Mello (1931–87) Indian-born American Theologian
Happiness depends upon ourselves.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Our happiness depends on the habit of mind we cultivate. So practice happy thinking every day. Cultivate the merry heart, develop the happiness habit, and life will become a continual feast.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Protestant Children’s Books Writer, Author, Public Speaker, Minister
Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canada Journalist, Playwright, Academic, Critic, Novelist
By becoming more unhappy, we sometimes learn how to be less so.
—Sophie Swetchine (1782–1857) Russian Christian Mystic
Whoever is happy will make others happy too.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) German Holocaust Victim
Pleasure is a reciprocal; no one feels it who does not at the same time give it. To be pleased, one must please.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher, Playwright, Screenwriter
Unhappy is the man who is not so much dissatisfied with what he has as with what the other fellow possesses.
—Chauncey Depew (1834–1928) American Businessperson, Politician
The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Short Story Writer, Author
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Civil Rights Leader, Philosopher, Author
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Happiness will never be any greater than the idea we have of it.
—Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) Belgian Playwright, Poet, Essayist
Happiness lies first of all in health.
—George William Curtis (1824–92) American Essayist, Public Speaker, Editor, Author
Unhappy is the man, though he rule the world, who doesn’t consider himself supremely blessed.
—Seneca the Elder (Marcus Annaeus Seneca) Roman Rhetorician, Writer
I am more and more convinced that our happiness or our unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves.
—Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) German Philosopher, Diplomat, Educator, Public Administrator
Service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.
—Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947) American Civil Rights Leader
We must laugh before we are happy, for fear of dying without having laughed at all.
—Jean de La Bruyere
A happy man or woman is a better thing to find than a five-pound note. He or she is a radiating focus of goodwill; and their entrance into a room is as though another candle had been lighted.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Short Story Writer, Author
So long as we can lose any happiness, we possess some.
—Booth Tarkington (1869–1946) American Novelist, Dramatist
Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit; to become delightful, happiness must be tainted with poison.
—Georges Bataille (1897–1962) French Philosopher, Writer
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.
—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-born British Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic
If all were gentle and contented as sheep, all would be as feeble and helpless.
—John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) American Catholic Clergyman, Educator, Essayist, Biographer
Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Happiness is like a cat. If you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come. But if you pay not attention to it and go about your business, you’ll find it rubbing against your legs and jumping into your lap.
—William Bennett (b.1943) American Politician, Political Theorist, Government Official
We must have courage to bet on our ideas, on the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
Your readiest desire is your path to joy even if it destroys you.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
Happiness is the sense that one matters. Happiness is an abiding enthusiasm. Happiness is single-mindedness. Happiness is whole-heartedness. Happiness is a by-product. Happiness is faith.
—Sam Shoemaker (1893–1963) American Episcopal Priest
Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. The flowers which scatter their odours from time to time in the paths of life, grow up without culture from seeds scattered by chance. Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist, Biographer, Poet, Writer, Literary Critic
Set happiness before you as an end, no matter in what guise of wealth, or fame, or oblivion even, and you will not attain it. — But renounce it and seek the pleasure of God, and that instant is the birth of your own.
—Arthur Sherburne Hardy (1847–1930) American Engineer, Educator, Editor, Diplomat, Novelist, Poet
Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.
—Carl Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
The world is full of people looking for spectacular happiness while they snub contentment.
—Doug Larson
Silence is the perfectest herald of joy. I were but little happy if I could say how much.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright, Poet, Author
When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.
—Niccolo Machiavelli
This is my “depressed stance.” When you’re depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand. The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you’ll start to feel better. If you’re going to get any joy out of being depressed, you’ve got to stand like this.
—Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) American Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
The highest happiness of man is to have probed what is knowable and quietly to revere what is unknowable.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
Don’t say, “I am depressed”. If you want to say, “It is depressed,” that’s all right. If you want to say that depression is there, that’s fine; if you want to say gloominess is there, that’s fine. But not: I am gloomy. You’re defining yourself in terms of the feeling. That’s your illusion; that’s your mistake. There is a depression there right now, but let it be, leave it alone. It will pass. Everything passes, everything. Your depressions and your thrills have nothing to do with happiness. Those are swings of the pendulum. If you seek kicks or thrills, get ready for depression. Do you want your drug? Get ready for the hangover. One end of the pendulum swings over to the other.
—Anthony de Mello (1931–87) Indian-born American Theologian
To live and let live, without clamor for distinction or recognition; to wait on divine Love; to write truth first on the tablet of one’s own heart–this is the sanity and perfection of living, and my human ideal.
—Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) American Christian Science Religious Leader, Humanitarian, Writer
We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
Money is human happiness in the abstract; and so the man who is no longer capable of enjoying such happiness in the concrete, sets his whole heart on money.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Happiness comes from within a man, from some curious adjustment to life.
—Hugh Walpole (1884–1941) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Dramatist
We communicate happiness to others not often by great acts of devotion and self-sacrifice, but by the absence of fault-finding and censure, by being ready to sympathize with their notions and feelings, instead of forcing them to sympathize with ours.
—Adam Clarke (1762–1832) British Methodist Scholar, Theologian, Clergyman
In theory there is a possibility of perfect happiness: To believe in the indestructible element within one, and not to strive towards it.
—Franz Kafka (1883–1924) Austrian Novelist, Short Story Writer
The happy have whole days,|and those they choose.|The unhappy have but hours,|and those they lose.
—Colley Cibber (1671–1757) English Playwright, Poet, Actor
The best advice on the art of being happy is about as easy to follow as advice to be well when one is sick.
—Sophie Swetchine (1782–1857) Russian Christian Mystic
The secret of happiness is to find a congenial monotony.
—V. S. Pritchett (1900–97) British Short Story Writer, Biographer, Memoirist, Literary Critic
The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Lawyer, Writer, Economist, Humorist
Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable.
—Unknown
It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self. As a matter of experience, we find that true happiness comes in seeking other things, in the manifold activities of life, in the healthful outgoing of all human powers.
—Hugo Black (1886–1971) American Politician, Jurist
I had always imagined paradise as a kind of library.
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine Writer, Essayist, Poet
A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.
—J. D. Salinger (1919–2010) American Actor
Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
—Zhuangzi (369BCE–286BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Without pleasure man would live like a fool and soon die.
—Pierre Beaumarchais (1732–99) French Inventor, Diplomat, Musician, Fugitive, Revolutionary
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go.
—Martha Washington (1731–1802) American First Lady
The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of oneself to others.
—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) French Jesuit Philosopher, Priest, Paleontologist, Geologist
The habit of being uniformly considerate toward others will bring increased happiness to you.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence, but in the mastery, of his passions.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State, Lawyer, Politician
Happiness includes chiefly the idea of satisfaction after full honest effort. No one can possibly be satisfied and no one can be happy who feels that in some paramount affairs he failed to take up the challenge of life.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist
To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Those who take up any subject with an open mind, willing to learn anything that will contribute to their advancement, comfort and happiness, are wise.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter, Writer
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
—Robert Brault
Amusement is the happiness of those who cannot think.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet, Translator
True happiness must arise from well-regulated affections, and an affection includes a duty.
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) British Children’s Books Writer, Writer, Philosopher, Civil Rights Advocate
Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Protestant Children’s Books Writer, Author, Public Speaker, Minister
Work and live to serve others, to leave the world a little better than you found it and garner for yourself as much peace of mind as you can. This is happiness.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1971) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) German Holocaust Victim
All men have happiness as their object: there are no exceptions. However different the means they employ, they aim at the same end.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Catholic Mathematician, Physicist, Inventor, Philosopher, Writer
Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you’re not going to be very happy. If someone bases his happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.
—Andy Rooney (1919–2011) American Writer, Humorist, TV Personality
Do not worry; eat three square meals a day; say your prayers; be courteous to your creditors; keep your digestion good; exercise; go slow and easy. Maybe there are other things your special case requires to make you happy, but my friend, these I reckon will give you a good lift.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State, Lawyer, Politician
Being happy is something you have to learn. I often surprise myself by Saying, “Wow, this is it. I guess I’m happy. I’ve got a home that I love. A career that I love. I’m even feeling more and more at peace with myself”. If there’s something else to happiness, let me know. I’m ambitious for that, too.
—Harrison Ford (b.1942) American Actor, Film Producer
Suspicion of happiness is in our blood.
—E. V. Lucas (1868–1938) English Author, Historian
It is impossible for a man to be made happy by putting him in a happy place, unless he be first in a happy state.
—Benjamin Whichcote (1609–83) British Anglican Priest, Theologian, Philosopher
Man must search for what is right, and let happiness come on its own.
—Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827) Swiss Educator
Happiness is good health and a bad memory.
—Ingrid Bergman (1915–82) Swedish Actor
The happy people are those who are producing something; the bored people are those who are consuming much and producing nothing.
—William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) English Anglican Clergyman, Priest, Mystic
Of all created comforts, God is the lender; you are the borrower, not the owner.
—Samuel Rutherford (1600–61) Scottish Presbyterian Theologian, Author