The earth laughs in flowers.
- Ralph Waldo EmersonHappiness
Few subjects have been written about so much with so little agreement. For Aristotle happiness was not a feeling but a way of living — eudaimonia, visible only when a life is viewed whole. For the Epicureans it was the absence of disturbance. For the Stoics it was a consequence of virtue and never a target. None of these is the same as being in a good mood, yet that substitution is the one most often made.
Read a run of quotes on happiness and you notice the persuasive ones are usually about something else: work, relationships, acceptance, attention. Happiness appears in them as a side effect rather than an aim. That may be the most useful thing the genre has to say — that pursuing happiness directly is rarely the route to it.
True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.
- SenecaHe who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
- Lao TzuWealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
- EpictetusHe is richest who is content with the least.
- SocratesReflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
- Charles DickensThere is only one happiness in this life: to love and be loved.
- George SandKeep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.
- Helen KellerIf the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
- Meister EckhartAn early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
- Henry David ThoreauWe are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.
- Immanuel KantHappiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold; happiness dwells in the soul.
- DemocritusHe is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
- EpictetusAppreciation is a wonderful thing: it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
- VoltaireThe best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.
- Mark TwainThe greatest wealth is to live content with little.
- PlatoHealth is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
- BuddhaKnow your own happiness.
- Jane AustenThe greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness.
- Fyodor DostoevskyGratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
- CiceroIn every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.
- Friedrich NietzscheThe happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
- Marcus AureliusPeace begins with a smile.
- Mother TeresaRules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.
- Immanuel KantThe soul is healed by being with children.
- Fyodor DostoevskyThe noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
- Leonardo da VinciFor every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
- Ralph Waldo EmersonHappiness, not in another place but this place, not for another hour but this hour.
- Walt WhitmanA good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.
- Irish ProverbA bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
- Chinese ProverbEverything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
- ConfuciusOne is never as unhappy as one thinks, nor as happy as one hopes.
- François de La RochefoucauldHappiness depends upon ourselves.
- AristotleA thing of beauty is a joy forever.
- John KeatsWrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
- Mark TwainWhoever is happy will make others happy too.
- Anne FrankVery little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself.
- Marcus AureliusYou can never be overdressed or overeducated.
- Oscar WildeEnjoy when you can, and endure when you must.
- Johann Wolfgang von GoetheThink of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.
- Anne FrankBe happy for this moment. This moment is your life.
- Omar KhayyamBetter a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the branch.
- Croatian ProverbLaughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
- Victor Hugo