Motivational Quotes

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

Best Quotes about Happiness

And isn't that, at it's core, what the princess fantasy is about for all of us? "Princess" is how we tell little girls that they are special, precious. "Princess" is the wish that we could protect them from pain, that they would never know sorrow, that they will live happily ever after ensconces in lace and innocence.

Peggy Orenstein

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

Wilde, Oscar

Look up, laugh loud, talk big, keep the color in your cheek and the fire in your eye, adorn your person, maintain your health, your beauty and your animal spirits.

Hazlitt, William

Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.

Benjamin Franklin

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.

Black, Hugo

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.

George Burns

Happy were men if they but understood There is no safety but in doing good

Fountain., John

Depend not on another, but lean instead on thyself...True happiness is born of self-reliance.

The laws of Manu

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.

Kingsley, Charles

10.

I define joy as a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace - a connection to what matters.

Oprah Winfrey

11.

Happiness is activity.

Aristotle

12.

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

Greene, Graham

13.

Happiness consists in activity -- it is a running stream, not a stagnant pool.

Mason, John L.

14.

Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of unhappiness.

Lao-Tzu

15.

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

16.

Joy descends gently upon us like the evening dew, and does not patter down like a hailstorm.

Richter, Jean Paul

17.

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a person and life they lead.

Camus, Albert

18.

If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life.

Maslow, Abraham H.

19.

Happiness is the harvest of a quiet eye.

O'Malley, Austin

20.

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

Addison, Joseph

21.

There are seeds of self-destruction in all of us that will bear only unhappiness if allowed to grow.

Brande, Dorothea

22.

The glow of satisfaction which follows the consciousness of doing our level best never comes to a human being from any other experience.

Marden, Orison Swett

23.

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

24.

Happiness is not a state to arrive at, rather, a manner of traveling.

Johnson, Samuel

25.

Never believe straight off in a man's unhappiness. Ask him if he can still sleep. If the answer's yes, all's well. That is enough.

Celine, Louis-Ferdinand

26.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi

27.

Happiness comes when we test our skills towards some meaningful purpose.

Stossel, John

28.

We wish to be happier than other people; and this is difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.

Montesquieu, Charles De

29.

Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.

Epictetus

30.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

Baruch Spinoza

31.

A person will be just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Lincoln, Abraham

32.

Happiness is not a possession to be prized. It is a quality of thought, a state of mind.

Maurier, Daphne Du

33.

The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue happiness you'll never find it.

C. P. Snow

34.

Where there is joy there is creation. Where there is no joy there is no creation: know the nature of joy.

Upanishads, Veda

35.

The greatest joy of life is to love and be loved.

Clyde, R.D.

36.

If you can't be happy where you are, it's a cinch you can't be happy where you ain't.

Jones, Charles ''Tremendous''

37.

People who never achieve happiness are the ones who complain whenever they're awake, and whenever they're asleep, they are thinking about what to complain about tomorrow.

Zimbler, Adam

38.

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.

Sarnoff, David

39.

Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.

Apollinaire, Guillaume

40.

He wanted to live life in such a way that if a photograph were taken at random it would be a cool photograph. Things should look right. Fun; there should be a lot of fun and no more sadness than absolutely necessary.

David Nicholls

41.

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Abraham Lincoln

42.

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

Prazlin, Duchess

43.

Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted.

Chopra, Deepak

44.

A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness.

Fontenelle, Bernard Le Bovier

45.

To describe happiness is to diminish it.

Stendhal, Henri B.

46.

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

47.

To have joy one must share it. Happiness was born a twin.

Byron, Lord

48.

My happiness derives from knowing the people I love are happy.

Ketchel, Holly

49.

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

50.

True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The great blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.

Seneca