True happiness consists in making others happy.
—Indian Proverb
True happiness is to understand our duties toward God and man; to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence on the future; not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears, but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is abundantly sufficient.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Marriage enlarges the scene of our happiness and of our miseries.—A marriage of love is pleasant—of interest, easy, and where both meet, happy.—A happy marriage has in it all the pleasures of friendship, all the enjoyments of sense and reason, and, indeed, all the sweets of life.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Don’t mistake pleasure for happiness. They are a different breed of dogs.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
Happiness ain’t a thing in itself—it’s only a contrast with something that ain’t pleasant. And so, as soon as the novelty is over and the force of the contrast dulled, it ain’t happiness any longer, and you have to get something fresh.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Precisely the least, the softest, lightest, a lizard’s rustling, a breath, a flash, a moment – a little makes the way of the best happiness.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Happiness spring—cleans the heart.
—Japanese Proverb
The most intelligent men, like the strongest, find their happiness where others would find only disaster: in the labyrinth, in being hard with themselves and with others, in effort; their delight is self-mastery; in them asceticism becomes second nature, a necessity, as instinct.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
To be happy is not the purpose of our being, but to deserve happiness.
—Immanuel Hermann Fichte (1796–1879) German Philosopher
Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian Novelist
Are you so unobservant as not to have found out that sanity and happiness are an impossible combination?
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
If you search the world for happiness, you may find it in the end, for the world is round and will lead you back to your door.
—Robert Brault
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.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
The most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
Jumping for joy is good exercise.
—Unknown
Natural joy brings no headaches and no heartaches.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Never mind your happiness; do your duty.
—Will Durant (1885–1981) American Historian, Philosopher, Memoirist, Socialist
The simple truth is that happy people generally don’t get sick.
—Bernie S. Siegel (b.1932) American Physician, Writer
Happiness and beauty are by-products. Folly is the direct pursuit of happiness and beauty.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The highest happiness of man is to have probed what is knowable and quietly to revere what is unknowable.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Just as a cautious businessman avoids investing all his capital in one concern, so wisdom would probably admonish us also not to anticipate all our happiness from one quarter alone.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Happy the man whose wish and care a few paternal acres bound, content to breathe his native air in his own ground.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Those who are the most happy appear to know it the least; happiness is something that for the most part seems to mainly consist in not knowing it.
—Joyce Brothers (1927–2013) American Psychologist, Advice Columnist
Life finds its purpose and fulfillment in the expansion of happiness.
—Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1914–2008) Indian Hindu Religious Leader
Nine requisites for contented living: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
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