Motivational Quotes

Happiness

The glow of satisfaction which follows the consciousness of doing our level best never comes to a human being from any other experience.

- Marden, Orison Swett

Best Quotes about Happiness

The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meandering, but leads none of us by the same route

Colton, Charles Caleb

Happiness is an agreeable sensation, arising from contemplating the misery of others.

Bierce, Ambrose

The secret to happiness is not in doing what one likes to do, but in liking what one has to do.

Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained; most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources.

Spencer, Herbert

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.

Twain, Mark

The final moment of success is often no more thrilling than taking off a heavy backpack at the end of a long hike. If you went on the hike only to feel that pleasure, you are a fool. Yet people sometimes do just this. They work hard at a task and expect some special euphoria at the end. But when they achieve success and find only moderate and short-lived pleasure, they ask is that all there is? They devalue their accomplishments as a striving after wind. We can call this the progress principle: Pleasure comes more from making progress toward goals than from achieving them.

Jonathan Haidt

The happier the moment the shorter.

Pliny The Elder

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.

Chuang Tzu

10.

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.

Saint-Exupery, Antoine De

11.

It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self.

Black, Hugo

12.

No burden is so heavy for a man to bear as a succession of happy days.

Muller, Max

13.

Happiness is something that comes into our lives through doors we don't even remember leaving open.

Lane, Rose Wilder

14.

The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.

Saroyan, William

15.

Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.

Jefferson, Thomas

16.

Look up, laugh loud, talk big, keep the color in your cheek and the fire in your eye, adorn your person, maintain your health, your beauty and your animal spirits.

Hazlitt, William

17.

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier.

Young, Margaret

18.

Happiness... she loves, to see men at work. She loves sweat, weariness, self sacrifice. She will be found not in places but lurking in cornfields and factories; and hovering over littered desks; she crowns the unconscious head of the busy child.

Grayson, David

19.

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; The wise grows it under his feet.

Oppenheimer, Julius Robert

20.

The greatest joy of life is to love and be loved.

Clyde, R.D.

21.

Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.

Anderson, Greg

22.

The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.

William Cowper

23.

To buy happiness is to sell soul.

Horton, Doug

24.

But the whim we have of happiness is somewhat thus. By certain valuations, and averages, of our own striking, we come upon some sort of average terrestrial lot; this we fancy belongs to us by nature, and of indefeasible rights. It is simple payment of our wages, of our deserts; requires neither thanks nor complaint. Foolish soul! What act of legislature was there that thou shouldst be happy? A little while ago thou hadst no right to be at all.

Carlyle, Thomas

25.

After what we can say you can be sure the happy heart will make the happy day.

26.

The Greeks said grandly in their tragic phrase, Let no one be called happy till his death; to which I would add, Let no one, till his death be called unhappy.

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett

27.

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.

Koenig, Frederick

28.

Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that. Yes, yes, it's the most comical thing in the world.

Beckett, Samuel

29.

Happiness is a hard thing because it is achieved only by making others happy.

Cloete, Stuart

30.

The loss of wealth is loss of dirt, as sages in all times assert; The happy man's without a shirt.

Heywood, John

31.

Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.

Dumas, Alexandre

32.

I've grown to realize the joy that comes from little victories is preferable to the fun that comes from ease and the pursuit of pleasure.

Lawana Blackwell

33.

Happiness is the harvest of a quiet eye.

O'Malley, Austin

34.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi

35.

Be it jewel or toy, not the prize gives the joy, but the striving to win the prize.

Meredith, Owen

36.

Shall I give you my recipe for happiness? I find everything useful and nothing indispensable. I find everything wonderful and nothing miraculous. I reverence the body. I avoid first causes like the plague.

Douglas, Norman

37.

It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.

Epicurus

38.

IÆve decided that the key to happiness is low expectations.

Laura Moncur

39.

To be happy we must not be too concerned with others.

Camus, Albert

40.

I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.

Lee, Bruce

41.

Happiness consumes itself like a flame. It cannot burn for ever, it must go out, and the presentiment of its end destroys it at its very peak.

Strindberg, J. August

42.

Never believe straight off in a man's unhappiness. Ask him if he can still sleep. If the answer's yes, all's well. That is enough.

Celine, Louis-Ferdinand

43.

Be open to your happiness and sadness as they arise.

Thomas, John M.

44.

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.