Cheerfulness is a very great help in fostering the virtue of charity. Cheerfulness itself is a virtue.
—Lawrence G. Lovasik
Oh the wild joys of living! The leaping from rock to rock … the cool silver shock of the plunge in a pool’s living waters.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
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.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
The very society of joy redoubles it; so that, while it lights upon my friend it rebounds upon myself, and the brighter his candle burns the more easily will it light mine.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
The subliminal mind receives and remembers all those touches that delight the soul. Our soul takes joy in this right touching by the Essence of all experience.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
I have no greater joy then to hear that my children walk in truth.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.
—Benjamin Haydon (1786–1846) English Painter, Writer
Your success and happiness lie within you. External conditions are the accidents of life, its outer trappings.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
To be healthy, wealthy, happy and successful in any and all areas of your life you need to be aware that you need to think healthy, wealthy, and happy and successful thoughts twenty-four hours a day and cancel all negative, destructive, fearful and unhappy thoughts. These two types of thought cannot coexist if you want to share in the abundance that surrounds us all.
—Sidney Madwed (1926–2013) American Poet, Author
Try to make at least one person happy every day. … If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!
—Lawrence G. Lovasik
The soul’s joy lies in doing.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
The secret of happiness is something to do.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) Italian-born French Poet, Playwright
The slave must be content with the joys of his master.
—Arabic Proverb
Being happy is something you have to learn. I often surprise myself by saying “Wow, this is it. I guess I’m happy. I got a home I love. A career that I love. I’m even feeling more and more at peace with myself.” If there’s something else to happiness, let me know. I’m ambitious for that, too.
—Harrison Ford (b.1942) American Actor
Happiness is a perfume that you cannot pour on others without spilling a little on yourself.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
If a man is happy in America, it is considered he is doing something wrong.
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Civil Liberties Lawyer
Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
This is the manner of noble souls: they do not want to have anything for nothing; least of all, life. Whoever is of the mob wants to live for nothing; we others, however, to whom life gave itself, we always think about what we might best give in return…One should not wish to enjoy where one does not give joy.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
I think every person should be able to enjoy life. Try to decide what you most enjoy doing, and then look around to see if there is a job for which you could prepare yourself that would enable you to continue having this sort of joy.
—Linus Pauling (1901–94) American Scientist, Peace Activist
If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
I am still determined to be cheerful and happy,
in whatever situation I may be; for I have also
learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness
or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.
—Martha Washington (1731–1802) American First Lady
The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Writer, Actor, Commentator
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.
—John Sutherland Bonnell (1893–1992) American Preacher
The word “happiness” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
Comparison is the thief of joy.
—Unknown
Love is not getting, but giving. Not a wild dream of pleasure and madness of desire – oh, no – love is not that! It is goodness and honor and peace and pure living – yes, love is that and it is the best thing in the world and the thing that lives the longest.
—Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852–1933) American Author, Educator, Clergyman
While there is a chance of the world getting through its troubles, I hold that a reasonable man has to behave as though he were sure of it. If at the end your cheerfulness in not justified, at any rate you will have been cheerful.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
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