Motivational Quotes

Happiness

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

- Alfred Lord Tennyson

Best Quotes about Happiness

Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly often attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults.

Szasz, Thomas

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

In order to have great happiness, you have to have great pain and unhappiness-otherwise how would you know when you're happy?

Caron, Leslie

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.

Jean Houston

There is something ridiculous and even quite indecent in an individual claiming to be happy. Still more a people or a nation making such a claim. The pursuit of happiness... is without any question the most fatuous which could possibly be undertaken. This lamentable phrase the pursuit of happiness is responsible for a good part of the ills and miseries of the modern world.

Muggeridge, Malcolm

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

Solon

Happiness consists of three things; Someone to love, work to do, and a clear conscience.

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

Bono, Edward De

If you optimize everything, you will always be unhappy.

Knuth, Don

10.

If happiness is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence.

Aristotle

11.

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

12.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

Baruch Spinoza

13.

Happiness is activity.

Aristotle

14.

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

15.

That which you create in beauty and goodness and truth lives on for all time to come. Don't spend your life accumulating material objects that will only turn to dust and ashes.

Waitley, Denis

16.

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

William Cowper

17.

When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him; and you are torn by the thought of the unhappiness and night you cast, by the mere fact of living, in the hearts you encounter.

Camus, Albert

18.

The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

19.

Happiness is a sort of action.

Aristotle

20.

Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.

Aurelius, Marcus

21.

While we pursue happiness, we flee from contentment.

Proverb, Hasidic

22.

Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens.

Rooney, Andy

23.

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.

24.

Unhappiness is not knowing what we want, and killing ourselves to get it.

Herold, Don

25.

Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.

Rubin, Theodore I.

26.

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

Levenson, Samuel

27.

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

28.

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

Lao-Tzu

29.

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

30.

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

Prazlin, Duchess

31.

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

Addison, Joseph

32.

When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things -- not the great occasions -- that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.

Hope, Bob

33.

All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.

La Bruyere, Jean De

34.

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.

Peale, Norman Vincent

35.

Happiness lies in being privileged to work hard for long hours in doing whatever you think is worth doing. One man may find happiness in supporting a wife and children. Another may find it in robbing banks. Still another may labor mightily for years in pursuing pure research with no discernible result. Note the individual and subjective nature of each case. No two are alike and there is no reason to expect them to be. Each man or woman must find for himself or herself that occupation in which hard work and long hours make him or her happy. Contrariwise, if you are looking for shorter hours and longer vacations and early retirement, you are in the wrong job. Perhaps you need to take up bank robbing. Or geeking in a sideshow. Or even politics.

Heinlein, Robert

36.

The secret of happiness is something to do.

Burroughs, John

37.

Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.

Schachtel, Rabbi H.

38.

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

39.

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

Ann Radcliffe

40.

We are never so happy nor so unhappy as we imagine.

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

41.

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

Dyer, Wayne

42.

Joy comes from using your potential.

Schultz, Will

43.

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

Spencer, Herbert

44.

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

Maurier, Daphne Du

45.

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

Benjamin Franklin

46.

It's not a question of happiness, it's a requirement. Consider the alternative.

Horton, Doug

47.

We think a happy life consists in tranquility of mind.

Cicero, Marcus T.

48.

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

49.

Happiness is a positive cash flow.

Adler, Fred

50.

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

Kennedy, John F.