happiness quotes from influential philosophers, authors and people
"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."
2
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts."
3
"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts."
9
"This is the mark of perfection of character — to spend each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, laziness, or any pretending."
10
"While we wait for life, life passes."
19
"Life is long, if you know how to use it."
20
"Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future."
28
"Happiness is a good flow of life."
32
"Well-being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing."
34
"Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it."
36
"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will."
37
"We deem those happy who from the experience of life have learnt to bear its ills without being overcome by them."
62
"The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom."
89
"Satisfaction consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of life."
95
"Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour."
97
"To enjoy - to love a thing for its own sake and for no other reason."
111
"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."
152
"The root of suffering is attachment."
172
"No man is happy who does not think himself so."
233
"Be happy, but never satisfied."
243
"The word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness."
303
"Happiness was not the direct object of a Stoic's life. There is no rule of life contained in the precept that a man should pursue his own happiness. Many men think that they are seeking happiness when they are only seeking the gratification of some particular passion, the strongest that they have."
347
"Happiness is the feeling that power increases — that resistance is being overcome."
367
"Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions."
396
"It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else."
397
"Joy is only a symptom of the feeling of obtained power. One does not strive for joy… joy accompanies."
420
"Man, the bravest of animals, and the one most accustomed to suffering, does not repudiate suffering as such; he desires it, he even seeks it out, provided he is shown a meaning for it, a purpose of suffering."
421
"The meaninglessness of suffering, not the suffering itself, was the curse that lay over mankind so far."
422
"Human beings do not seek pleasure and avoid displeasure. What human beings want… is an increase of power; driven by that will they seek resistance, they need something that opposes it - displeasure, as an obstacle to their will to power, is therefore a normal fact; human being do not avoid it; they are rather in continual need of it."
423
"And life itself confided the secret to me: behold, it said, I am that which must always overcome itself."
424
"He who is contented is rich."
524
"Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy."
529
"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."
534
"The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness."
535
"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."
539
"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings."
540
"Live your life as an Exclamation rather than an Explanation."
567
"Happiness depends upon ourselves."
585
"Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats."
713
"The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us."
714
"The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood."
715
"The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude."
735
"I’ve decided to be happy because it is good for my health."
736
"Conquer yourself rather than the world."
909
"I desire to live in peace and to continue the life I have begun under the motto 'to live well you must live unseen."
917
"A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a Happy state in this World: he that has these two, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little better for anything else."
958
"The most precious of all possessions is power over ourselves."
963
"We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without."
965
"Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for."
973
"The busier we are, the more acutely we feel that we live, the more conscious we are of life."
978
"To be is to do."
993
"Why should we build our happiness on the opinons of others, when we can find it in our own hearts?"
1004
"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life."
1028
"Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken."
1031
"The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
1033
"To be happy we must not be too concerned with others."
1046
"The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived."
1078
"A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time."
1087
"To be happy we need something to solve. Happiness is therefore a form of action."
1160
"Don’t just sit there. Do something. The answers will follow."
1161
"This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes."
1162
"Because here’s the thing that’s wrong with all of the 'How to Be Happy' shit that’s been shared eight million times on Facebook in the past few years—here’s what nobody realizes about all of this crap: The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience."
1167
"The highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion."
1173
"Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter."
1174
"Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough."
1175
"It's in responsibility that most people find the meaning that sustains them through life. It's not in happiness. It's not in impulsive pleasure."
168
"What does Resistance feel like? First, unhappiness. We're bored, we're restless. We can't get no satisfaction. There's guilt but we can't put our finger on the source. We want to go back to bed; we want to get up and party. We feel unloved and unlovable. We're disgusted. We hate our lives. We hate ourselves."
319
"Grandiose fantasies are a symptom of Resistance. They're the sign of an amateur. The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work."
327
"There is nothing in life that can't be handled. If we choose, there is no situation in which we are not free. The road to freedom is also the road to happiness."
338
"The end of a man is, as already explained, to live conformably to nature, and he will thus obtain happiness, tranquility of mind, and contentment."
348
"Love is not just a feeling of happiness. Love is a willingness to sacrifice."
403
"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."
404
"What is happiness? The feeling that power increases - that a resistance is overcome."
419
"Words have a magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair."
562
"The collective cannot decide what is to be the purpose of a man’s existence nor prescribe his choice of happiness."
865
"But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?"
1036
"We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives... inside ourselves."
1041