more quotations and passages on happiness

happiness 3

To be without some of the things you want
is an indispensable part of happiness.

Her theme was happiness: what it was; what it was not;
where we might find it, where not; and how, if found,
it must be guarded. Never must we confound it
with pleasure. Nor think sorrow its exact opposite.

Mary Lavin

I have learned too much of the vanity
of human affairs to expect any felicity
from public life. But I am determined
to be cheerful and happy in whatever
situation I may be. For I have learned
from experience that the greater part
of our happiness or misery depends
on our dispositions and not on our
circumstances. We carry the seeds
with us in our minds wherever we go.

Martha Washington

Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within.
It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us
which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do,
first for the other person and then for ourselves.

Helen Keller

One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance, in a lucky hour, at the world’s end somewhere, and holds fast to the days, as to fortune or fame.

Willa Cather

Who are the happiest people on earth? A craftsman or artist whistling
over a job well done. A little child building sand castles. A mother,
after a busy day, bathing her baby. A doctor who has finished a difficult
and dangerous operation, and saved a human life. Happiness lies in
a constructive job well done. Get your happiness out of your work
or you will never know what happiness is.

Elbert Hubbard

It was probably a mistake to pursue happiness; much better to create happiness;
still better to create happiness for others. The more happiness you created for others
the more would be yours—a solid satisfaction that no one could ever take away from you.

Lloyd Douglas

Fill the cup of happiness for others, and there will be enough overflowing to fill yours to the brim.

Rose Pastor Stokes

To be able to find joy in another’s joy:
that is the secret of happiness.

George Bernanos

The life that is sharing in the interests, the welfare, and the happiness
of others is the one that is continually expanding in beauty
and in power and, therefore, in happiness.

Ralph Waldo Trine

All real and wholesome enjoyments possible to people have been
just as possible to them since first they were made of the earth
as they are now; and they are possible to them chiefly in peace.
To watch the corn grow, and the blossoms set; to draw hard breath
over plowshare or spade; to read, to think, to love, to hope:
these are the things that make people happy.

John Ruskin

Exude happiness and you will feel it back a thousand times. Joan Lunden
Love, and love alone, is capable of giving you a happier life. Ludwig von Beethoven	Some of us might find happiness if we would quit struggling so desperately for it. William Feather

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Men and women are rushing hither and thither in the blind search
for happiness, and cannot find it; nor ever will until they recognize
that happiness is already within them and round them, filling the
universe, and that they, in their selfish searching,
are shutting themselves out from it.

James Allen

Happiness is a process of radiation, not absorption. No need
to seek for happiness. Happiness is within. Happiness is the
only thing where the more you give, the more you possess.
Pleasure can be bought at a price. Happiness is priceless.

Fred van Amburgh

Happiness depends not on things around us, but on our attitude.

Alfred A. Montapert

We have been accustomed to thinking that we have to get something
from outside us in order to be happy, but in truth it works the other way:
we must learn to contact our inner source of happiness and satisfaction
and flow it outward to share with others--not because it is virtuous
to do so, but because it really feels good.

Shakti Gawain

The ingredients of happiness are so simple that they can be counted on one hand.
First of all, happiness must be shared. Selfishness is its enemy; to make another
happy is to be happy oneself. It is quiet, seldom found for long in crowds, most
easily won in moments of solitude and reflection. It comes from within, and
rests most securely on simple goodness and clear conscience.

William Ogden

Your happiness or misery depends on your state of mind
and not upon your external conditions or circumstances.

Papa Ramdas

The foundation of happiness is mindfulness. The basic condition for being happy
is our consciousness of being happy. If we are not aware that we are happy, we are
not really happy. When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache
is a wonderful thing. But when we do not have a toothache, we are still not happy.
A non-toothache is very pleasant. There are so many things that are enjoyable,
but when we don’t practice mindfulness, we don’t appreciate them. When we practice
mindfulness, we come to cherish these things and we learn how to protect them.
By taking good care of the present moment, we take good care of the future.
Working for peace in the future is to work for peace in the present moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh

When we recognize that nothing has to go right for us to be happy,
that people do not have to behave for us to love them, our walk home
can be surprisingly simple. We have enormous power not to manipulate
the world, but to be happy and to know peace.

Hugh Prather

It's easy to romanticize what we don't know. It's easy to assume that someone
else must have a greater vision, a nobler purpose than just going to work,
having a family, and living a life. People are people, and have been throughout
time. Our problems aren't new or unique. The secret to happiness is the same
as it has always been. If you are unhappy with where you are, don't be there.
Yes, you may be here now, you may be learning hard lessons today, but there is
no reason to stay there. If it hurts to touch the stove, don't touch it. If you want
to be someplace else, move. If you want to chase a dream, then do it. Learn
your lessons where you are, but don't close off your ability to move and to learn
new lessons someplace else. Are you happy with the path you're on? If not,
maybe it's time to choose a new one. There need not be a great mysterious
reason. Sometimes it's just hot and dry, and the beach is
calling your name. Be where you want to be.

Melody Beattie

It is a great obstacle to happiness
to expect too much.

Bernard de Fontenelle

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.

Iris Murdoch

It's good to be just plain happy; it's a little better
to know that you're happy; but to understand
that you're happy and to know why and how. . .
and still be happy, be happy in the being and the
knowing, well that is beyond happiness, that is bliss.

Henry Miller

The genius for happiness is still so rare, is indeed on the whole the rarest genius.
To possess it means to approach life with the humility of a beggar, but to treat it
with the proud generosity of a prince; to bring to its totality the deep understanding
of a great poet and to each of its moments the abandonment and ingenuousness of a child.

Ellen Key

Someone once asked me what I regarded as the three most important
requirements for happiness. My answer was: “A feeling that you have
been honest with yourself and those around you; a feeling that you have
done the best you could both in your personal life and in your work;
and the ability to love others.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: find what
interests you and that you can do well, and put your whole soul into
it—every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have.

John D. Rockefeller III

May we never let the things we can’t have, or don’t have,
or shouldn’t have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we
do have and can have. As we value our happiness, let us
not forget it, for one of the greatest lessons in life is learning
to be happy without the things we cannot or should not have.

Richard L. Evans

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others
without getting a few drops on yourself.

George Bernard Shaw

I've been thinking about happiness--how wrong it is ever to expect it
to last or there to be a time of happiness. It's not that,
it's a moment of happiness. Almost every day contains
at least one moment of happiness.

May Sarton

I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being,
we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that
the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own
sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others
automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or
insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles
we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are
not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for
happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace.

the Dalai Lama

Speak or act with a pure mind, and happiness
will follow you as your shadow, unshakable.

the Buddha

Happiness is found on the familiar highways of life;
contentment is an herb that grows very close to the earth.

Melville Harcourt

All happiness comes from the desire for others to be happy.
All misery comes from the desire for oneself to be happy.

Shantideva

A happiness that is sought for ourselves alone can never be found;
for a happiness that is diminished by being shared is not big enough to make us happy.

Thomas Merton

One of the best ways to worship God
is simply to be happy.

Traditional Hindu saying

Happiness is neither within us only, or without us;
it is the union of ourselves with God.

Plutarch

Those who never sacrificed a present to a future good,
or a personal to a general one, can speak of happiness
only as the blind do of colors.

Horace Mann