Motivational Quotes

Happiness

We all want to be happy, and we're all going to die. You might say those are the only two unchallengeably true facts that apply to every human being on this planet.

- Boyd, William

Best Quotes about Happiness

But the whim we have of happiness is somewhat thus. By certain valuations, and averages, of our own striking, we come upon some sort of average terrestrial lot; this we fancy belongs to us by nature, and of indefeasible rights. It is simple payment of our wages, of our deserts; requires neither thanks nor complaint. Foolish soul! What act of legislature was there that thou shouldst be happy? A little while ago thou hadst no right to be at all.

Carlyle, Thomas

Happiness is not a horse, you cannot harness it.

Proverb, Russian

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

Baruch Spinoza

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.

Erikson, Erik H.

Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained; most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources.

Spencer, Herbert

Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either egotism, selfishness, evil --or else an absolute ignorance.

Greene, Graham

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Addison, Joseph

The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp.

John Berry

To be happy is not the purpose of our being rather it is to deserve happiness.

Fichte, Johann G.

10.

Sometimes it's hard to avoid the happiness of others.

David Assael

11.

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. which give happiness. Thomas Jefferson We never enjoy perfect happiness; our most fortunate successes are mingled with sadness; some anxieties always perplex the reality of our satisfaction.

James, William

12.

Happiness arises in a state of peace, not of tumult.

Ann Radcliffe

13.

Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky.

Solon

14.

The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.

William Cowper

15.

Happiness is a sunbeam which may pass through a thousand bosoms without losing a particle of its original ray; nay, when it strikes on a kindred heart, like the converged light on a mirror, it reflects itself with redoubled brightness. It is not perfected till it is shared.

Porter, Jane

16.

Call no man unhappy until he is married.

Socrates

17.

While we pursue happiness, we flee from contentment.

Proverb, Hasidic

18.

The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.

Barrie, Sir James M.

19.

It seldom happens that any felicity comes so pure as not to be tempered and allayed by some mixture of sorrow.

Cervantes, Miguel De

20.

Whoever is happy will make others happy too.

Frank, Anne

21.

Many people have the wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

Keller, Helen

22.

Personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications are not your life.

J.K. Rowling

23.

There's a hope for every woe, and a balm for every pain, but the first joys of our heart come never back again!

Gilfillan, Robert

24.

If you want to be happy for a year, plant a garden; If you want to be happy for life, plant a tree.

Proverb, English

25.

Happiness seems made to be shared.

Corneille, Pierre

26.

All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh.

Doris Lessing

27.

What a man really wants is creative challenge with sufficient skills to bring him within the reach of success so that he may have the expanding joy of achievement.

Nash, Fay B.

28.

Happiness is not in having being; it is in doing.

Watson, Lilian Eichler

29.

Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.

Bono, Edward De

30.

If you want happiness for an hour -- take a nap. If you want happiness for a day -- go fishing. If you want happiness for a month -- get married. If you want happiness for a year -- inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime -- help someone else.

Proverb, Chinese

31.

If we cannot live so as to be happy, let us least live so as to deserve it.

Immanuel Hermann Fichte

32.

Happy are those who dream dreams and are willing to pay the price to make them come true.

33.

The secret to happiness is not in doing what one likes to do, but in liking what one has to do.

34.

Happiness is the harvest of a quiet eye.

O'Malley, Austin

35.

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.

Lee, Bruce

36.

The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.

Schweitzer, Albert

37.

I've grown to realize the joy that comes from little victories is preferable to the fun that comes from ease and the pursuit of pleasure.

Lawana Blackwell

38.

Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.

Jefferson, Thomas

39.

It is wrong to assume that men of immense wealth are always happy.

Rockefeller, John D.

40.

The attitude of unhappiness is not only painful, it is mean and ugly. What can be more base and unworthy than the pining, puling, mumping mood, no matter by what outward ills it may have been engendered? What is more injurious to others? What less helpful as a way out of the difficulty? It but fastens and perpetuates the trouble which occasioned it, and increases the total evil of the situation. At all costs, then, we ought to reduce the sway of that mood; we ought to scout it in ourselves and others, and never show it tolerance.

James, William

41.

The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.

Schopenhauer, Arthur

42.

Life at its noblest leaves mere happiness far behind; and indeed cannot endure it. Happiness is not the object of life: life has no object: it is an end in itself; and courage consists in the readiness to sacrifice happiness for an intenser quality of life.

Shaw, George Bernard

43.

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

44.

True happiness is the full use of your powers along lines of excellence in a life affording scope.

Kennedy, John F.

45.

The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.

Saroyan, William

46.

I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to Jesus.

Muggeridge, Malcolm

47.

Do you want my one-word secret of happiness -- It's growth -- mental, financial, you name it.

Geneen, Harold S.

48.

Happiness doesn't come from doing what we like to do but from liking what we have to do.

Peterson, Wilferd A.

49.

Our happiness in this world depends on the affections we are able to inspire.

Prazlin, Duchess

50.

The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness. For this were arts invented, sciences cultivated, laws ordained, and societies modeled, by the most profound wisdom of patriots and legislators. Even the lonely savage, who lies exposed to the inclemency of the elements and the fury of wild beasts, forgets not, for a moment, this grand object of his being.

Hume, David