Motivational Quotes

Happiness

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

- Saroyan, William

Best Quotes about Happiness

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

Baruch Spinoza

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

Brande, Dorothea

Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.

Barthel, Mildred

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

Prazlin, Duchess

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

Epictetus

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.

Bennett, William John

Happiness is the longing for repetition.

Kundera, Milan

The most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control.

Nash, Ogden

The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.

Russell, Bertrand

10.

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

11.

We cannot be contented because we are happy, and we cannot be happy because we are contented.

Landor, Walter Savage

12.

Like swimming, riding, writing, or playing golf, happiness can be learned.

Sokoloff, Boris

13.

Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.

W. Somerset Maugham

14.

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.

Storm Jameson

15.

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

16.

The thing that counts most in the pursuit of happiness is choosing the right companion.

17.

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

18.

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

19.

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

20.

Happiness is understanding that friendship is more precious than mere things, more precious than getting your own way, more precious than being in situations where true principles are not at stake.

Walters, J. Donald

21.

We are made happy when reason can discover no occasion for it. The memory of some past moments is more persuasive than the experience of present ones. There have been visions of such breadth and brightness that these motes were invisible in their light.

Thoreau, Henry David

22.

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

Fichte, Johann G.

23.

I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering; surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!

Louise Bogan

24.

False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.

Montesquieu, Charles De

25.

It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.

Epicurus

26.

Happiness consists more in small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.

Franklin, Benjamin

27.

Happiness requires problems

Hollingworth, H. L.

28.

If you optimize everything, you will always be unhappy.

Knuth, Don

29.

The world's literature and folklore are full of stories that point out how futile it can be to seek happiness. Rather, happiness is a blessing that comes to you as you go along; a treasure that you incidentally find.

Binstock, Louis

30.

He felt the loyalty we feel to unhappiness -- the sense that is where we really belong.

Greene, Graham

31.

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

Maurier, Daphne Du

32.

Happiness is a journey not a destination.

Sweetland, Ben

33.

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.

Tozer, A. W.

34.

Not only is there a right to be happy, there is a duty to be happy. So much sadness exists in the world that we are all under obligation to contribute as much joy as lies within our powers.

Bonnell, John S.

35.

Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make pursuant to our individual organization.

Sade, Marquis De

36.

Happiness comes more from loving than being loved; and often when our affection seems wounded it is only our vanity bleeding. To love, and to be hurt often, and to love again -- this is the brave and happy life.

Buckrose, J.E

37.

Happiness is unrepentant pleasure.

Socrates

38.

Happiness lies first of all in health.

Curtis, George William

39.

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

40.

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

Saroyan, William

41.

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

42.

Happiness is a small and unworthy goal for something as big and fancy as a whole lifetime, and should be taken in small doses.

Baker, Russell (Wayne)

43.

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; The wise grows it under his feet.

Oppenheimer, Julius Robert

44.

The hardest habit of all to break is the terrible habit of happiness.

Garrison, Theodosia

45.

True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions.

Addison, Joseph

46.

Happiness is a by-product. You cannot pursue it by itself.

Levenson, Samuel

47.

If frugality were established in the state, and if our expenses were laid out to meet needs rather than superfluities of life, there might be fewer wants, and even fewer pleasures, but infinitely more happiness.

Goldsmith, Oliver

48.

It isn't necessary to be rich and famous to be happy. It's only necessary to be rich.

Alda, Alan

49.

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

C. P. Snow

50.

Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.

Millman, Dan