Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money. It lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Peace is when time doesn’t matter as it passes by. — Maria Schell
If we cannot live so as to be happy, let us least live so as to deserve it. — Immanuel Hermann Fichte
My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I’m happy. I can’t figure it out. What am I doing right? — Charles M. Schulz
The more passions and desires one has, the more ways one has of being happy. — Charlotte Catherine
Remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. — Epicurus
Spend today thinking of what you can do for others and you will have a beautiful day. Spend today thinking of what you can do for yourself and you will have a terrible day. It’s that simple. — Bill Purdin
Nothing is as certain as that the vices of leisure are gotten rid of by being busy. — Seneca
Happiness does not notice the passing of time. — Chinese proverb.
Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length. — Robert Frost
If you ever picture your life as the world’s worst case scenario, just look around. Then redraw that picture.
— Bill Purdin
To produce things and to rear them,
To produce, but not to take possession of them,
To act, but not to rely on one’s own ability,
To lead them, but not to master them –
This is called profound and secret virtue. — Lao-tzu
Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about. — Saskya Pandita
Learn to value yourself, which means: to fight for your own happiness. — Ayn Rand
A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. — George Moore
He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul’s estate.– Henry David Thoreau
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
— The Dalai Lama
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for works left unsaid and deeds left undone. — Harriet Beecher Stowe
The inner life is where happiness dwells. — Bill Purdin
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. — Freya Madeline Stark
Cease to ask what the morrow will bring forth. And set down as gain each day that Fortune grants. — Horace
When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
— Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
— Thich Nhat Hanh
The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is. — Desiderius Erasmus
When life starts to look like a nightmare, it’s time to wake up. — Bill Purdin
All that we are is the result of what we have thought, all that we are is founded on our thoughts and formed of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness pursues him like his own shadow that never leaves him. — Dhammapada
One golden day redeems a weary year. — Celia Thaxter
A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow. — Charlotte Bronte
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. — Mahatma Gandhi
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet. — James Oppenheim
A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world. — John Locke
When you can’t have what you want, it’s time to start wanting what you have. — Kathleen A. Sutton
Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. — Mahatma Gandhi
Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
— Sir Winston Churchill
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness. — Bertrand Russell
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs. — Euripides
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads. — Henry David Thoreau
A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition. — William Arthur Ward
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
— William Blake , Auguries of Innocence
No smile is as beautiful as the one that struggles through tears. –Unknown
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. — Helen Keller
In order to live free and happily you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice. –Richard Bach
Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. — Abraham Lincoln
Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy. — Gretta Brooker Palmer
“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best–” and then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called. — A.A. Milne
Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die,
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.
— Langston Hughes
Most true happiness comes from one’s inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is hard to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline.
— W. L. Shirer
It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar, with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything. — E(lwin) B(rooks) White, Charlotte’s Web
If you wouldst live long, live well; for folly and wickedness shorten life. — Benjamin Franklin
Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. — Henry David Thoreau
Reason should direct and appetite obey. — Cicero
Joys divided are increased. — Josia Gilbert Holland
There are two kinds of people in the world: happy and unhappy. Just decide which kind you want to be. — Bill Purdin
Find expression for a sorrow, and it will become dear to you. Find expression for a joy, and you will intensify its ecstasy. — Oscar Wilde
It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis. — Margaret Bonnano
The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy. — Henry Ward Beecher
The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.
— Robert Louis Stevenson
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness is never decreased by being shared. — Buddha
Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. — Corrie Ten Boom
Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. –Nathaniel Hawthorne
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go. — Martha Washington
When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. — La Rochefoucauld
It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. — Agnes Repplier
Happiness is a matter of one’s most ordinary everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with self. — Iris Murdoch
We know not where our dreams will take us, but we can probably see quite clearly where we’ll go without them. — Marilyn Grey
We tend not to choose the unknown, which might be a shock or a disappointment or simply a little difficult to cope with. And yet it is the unknown with all its disappointments and surprises that is the most enriching.”
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Nothing is more injurious to the character and to the intellect than the suppression of a generous emotion.
— John Jay Chapman
I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. — Albert Schweitzer
Everyday happiness means getting up in the morning, and you can’t wait to finish your breakfast. You can’t wait to do your exercises. You can’t wait to put on your clothes. You can’t wait to get out – and you can’t wait to come home, because the soup is hot. — George Burns
Boredom is a self-inflicted insult. — Bill Purdin
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. — Mark Twain
Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon … must inevitably come to pass. — Paul J. Meyer
The fruit derived from labor is the sweetest of all pleasures. — Luc de Clapiers
The heart of marriage is memories: and if the two of you happen to have the same ones and can savor your reruns, then your marriage is a gift from the gods. — Bill Cosby
I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex. — Oscar Wilde
Happiness is something you give. — Bill Purdin
Happiness comes to those who are moving toward something they want very much to happen. And it almost always involves making someone else happy. — Earl Nightingale
Figure out what is it that would, to you, make today a successful day, and then do that, first thing. — Bill Purdin