It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it. It’s my partner.
—Jonas Salk (1914–95) American Microbiologist
Happy is the person who not only sings, but feels God’s eye is on the sparrow, and knows He watches over me. To be simply ensconced in God is true joy.
—Alfred A. Montapert (1906–97) American Engineer, Philosopher
Joy, has no cost.
—Marianne Williamson (b.1952) American Activist, Author, Lecturer
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
The real stumbling-block of totalitarian regimes is not the spiritual need of men for freedom of thought; it is men’s inability to stand the physical and nervous strain of a permanent state of excitement, except during a few years of their youth.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meaning can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. Such is the moment I am presently experiencing. I experience this high and joyous moment not for myself alone but for those devotees of nonviolence who have moved so courageously against the ramparts of racial injustice and who in the process have acquired a new estimate of their own human worth. Many of them are young and cultured. Others are middle aged and middle class. The majority are poor and untutored. But they are all united in the quiet conviction that it is better to suffer in dignity than to accept segregation in humiliation. These are the real heroes of the freedom struggle: they are the noble people for whom I accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
The end of life is life. Life is action, the use of one’s powers. And to use them to their height is our joy of duty.
—Unknown
Never be afraid because the community teems with excitement.—Silence and death are dreadful.—The rush of life, the vigor of earnest men, and the conflict of realities, invigorate, cleanse, and establish the truth.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The frontiers were sort of wide open. It was that sense of excitement that we really wanted to spark in everybody else wherever we went.
—Bill Gates (b.1955) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Author, Philanthropist
One joy shatters a hundred griefs.
—Chinese Proverb
I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.
—C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) Irish-British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old.
—John Ciardi (1916–86) American Poet, Teacher, Etymologist, Translator
Discipline is based on pride, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the goal or the fear of failure.
—Gary Ryan Blair
The word “romance,” according to the dictionary, means excitement, adventure, and something extremely real. Romance should last a lifetime.”
—Billy Graham (1918–91) American Baptist Religious Leader
A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked…
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
The result is often disappointing, but the process is highly exciting.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
It is the passions that wear—the appetites that grind out the force of life.—Excitement in the higher realm of thought and feeling does not wear out or waste men.—The moral sentiments nourish and feed us.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river.
—Zhuang Zhou (c.369–c.286 BCE) Chinese Taoist Philosopher
Every book has an intrinsic impossibility, which its writer discovers as soon as his first excitement dwindles.
—Annie Dillard (b.1945) Essayist, Novelist, Poet, Naturalist, Mystic
May your joys be as deep as the ocean, your sorrows as light as its foam.
—Unknown
Joy runs deeper than despair.
—Corrie Ten Boom (1892–1983) Dutch Evangelist, Author
The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
‘Tis so much joy! ‘Tis so much joy! If I should fail, what poverty! And yet, as poor as I Have ventured all upon a throw; Have gained! Yes! Hesitated so this side the victory!
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one’s identity as a being of worth and dignity.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
Tranquil pleasures last the longest; we are not fitted to bear long the burden of great joys.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
I have no greater joy then to hear that my children walk in truth.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
What joy can the years bring half so sweet as the unhappiness they’ve taken away?
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
The surest mark of a Christian is not faith, or even love, but joy.
—Sam Shoemaker (1893–1963) American Episcopal Priest, Influence on Alcoholics Anonymous
The joy in life is to be used for a purpose. I want to be used up when I die.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing, through the overtaking and possessing of a wish discovers the folly of the chase.
—William Congreve (1670–1729) English Playwright, Poet
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