A cheerful temper, joined with innocence, will make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good-natured. It will lighten sickness, poverty, and affliction; convert ignorance into an amiable simplicity, and render deformity itself agreeable.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Not having enough sunshine is what ails the world.—Make people happy, and there will not be half the quarreling, or a tenth part of the wickedness there now is.
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
Gaiety alone, as it were, is the hard cash of happiness; everything else is just a promissory note.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Cheerfulness is health; its opposite, melancholy, is disease.
—Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796–1865) Canadian Author, Humorist, Businessperson, Judge
Cheerful company shortens the journey.
—German Proverb
Health is the condition of wisdom, and the sign is cheerfulness—an open and noble temper.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Better the cottage where one is merry than the palace where one weeps.
—Chinese Proverb
To be happy, the temperament must be cheerful and gay, not gloomy and melancholy.—A propensity to hope and joy, is real riches; one to fear and sorrow, is real poverty.
—David Hume (1711–76) Scottish Philosopher, Historian
Honest good humor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting, and there is no jovial companionship equal to that where the jokes are rather small and the laughter abundant.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
I had rather have a fool make me merry, than experience make me sad.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Burdens become light when cheerfully borne.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Oh, give us the man who sings at his work.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The cheerful live longest in years, and afterwards in our regards. Cheerfulness is the offshoot of goodness.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Cheerfulness removes the rust from the mind, lubricates our inward machinery, and enables us to do our work with fewer creaks and ;groans. If people were universally cheerful, probably there wouldn’t be half the quarreling or a tenth part of the wickedness
—Unknown
Every time a man smiles, and much more when he laughs, it adds something to his fragment of life.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
God is glorified, not by our groans but by our thanksgivings; and all good thought and good action claim a natural alliance with good cheer.
—Edwin Percy Whipple (1819–86) American Literary Critic
I’m not happy, I’m cheerful. There’s a difference. A happy woman has no cares at all. A cheerful woman has cares but has learned how to deal with them.
—Beverly Sills (1929–2007) American Singer, Musician
Cheerfulness greases the axles of the world.
—Unknown
People are always good company when they are doing what they really enjoy.
—Samuel Butler
A man of gladness seldom falls into madness.
—Unknown
If I can put one touch of a rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.
—George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish Novelist, Lecturer, Poet
The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Cheerfulness is contagious, but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a “carrier”.
—Unknown
Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, altogether past calculation its powers of endurance. Efforts, to be permanently useful, must be uniformly joyous,—a spirit all sunshine, graceful from very gladness, beautiful because bright.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Cheerful looks make every dish a feast; and it is that which crowns a welcome.
—Philip Massinger (1583–1640) English Playwright
You have not fulfilled every duty unless you have fulfilled that of being cheerful and pleasant.
—Charles Buxton (1823–71) British Politician, Writer
To watch the corn grow, or the blossoms set; to draw hard breath over the plough or spade; to read, to think, to love, to pray, are the things that make men happy.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
I feel an earnest and humble desire, and shall till I die, to increase the stock of harmless cheerfulness.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Continual cheerfulness is a sign of wisdom.
—Irish Proverb
The mind that is cheerful at present will have no solicitude for the future, and will meet the bitter occurrences of life with a smile.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
It is not fitting, when one is in God’s service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.
—Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) Italian Monk, Founder of the Franciscan Order
Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
The habit of looking on the best side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
To be free-minded and cheerfully disposed at hours of meals, and of sleep, and of exercise, is one of the best precepts of long-lasting.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
A light heart lives long.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
If the soul be happily disposed, everything becomes capable of affording entertainment, and distress will almost want a name.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
If my heart were not light, I would die.
—Joanna Baillie (1762–1851) Scottish Playwright, Poet
I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.
—Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British Head of State
O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
Cheerfulness is a friend to grace; it puts the heart in tune to praise God, and so honors religion by proclaiming to the world that we serve a good master.—Be serious, yet cheerful.—Rejoice in the Lord always.
—Thomas J. Watson, Sr. (1874–1956) American Business Executive
Health and cheerfulness make beauty; finery and cosmetics cost money and lie.
—Spanish Proverb
The voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our spontaneous be lost, is to sit up cheerfully, and act and speak as if cheerfulness wee already there. To feel brave, act as if we were brave, use all our will to that end, and courage will very likely replace fear. If we act as if from some better feeling, the bad feeling soon folds its tent like an Arab and silently steals away
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
You find yourself refreshed in the presence of cheerful people. Why not make an honest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy.
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
Cheerfulness and goodwill make labor light.
—Danish Proverb
An ounce of cheerfulness is worth a pound of sadness to serve God with.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance—the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it better, will persevere in it longer, than the sad or sullen.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Cheerfulness is as natural to the heart of a man in strong health, as color to his cheek; and wherever there is habitual gloom, there must be either bad air, unwholesome food, improperly severe labor, or erring habits of life.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
So of cheerfulness, or a good temper – the more it is spent, the more of it remains.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher