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7987c92 In all human love it must be realized that every man promises a woman, and every woman promises a man that which only God alone can give, namely, perfect happiness. One of the reasons why so many marriages are shipwrecked is because as the young couple leave the altar, they fail to realize that human feelings tire and the enthusiasm of the honeymoon is not the same as the more solid happiness of enduring human love. One of the greatest trials of marriage is the absence of solitude. In the first moments of human love, one does not see the little hidden deformities which later on appear. marriage happiness love Fulton J. Sheen
8906bb9 Don't you think they're as bored as you are? You think you're somebody special? You think I wake up everyday so happy to see you? You're a snob, just in the other way. Do you think you are the only one who wants something else? Another life? happiness life Zadie Smith
42c0866 And in that moment of sun and joy, Lupe knew why she loved and also hated Salvador. He gave her wings. He didn't try to lock her in, as had Jaime and the other boys she'd known. No, she could dream her wildest dreams with him and so she loved him for this; but she also hated him because it made her fearful. No one in her family was like this. They were always very cautious. freedom joy fear happiness love Victor Villaseñor
ee2617f I had everything I could possibly want -- yet I was failing to appreciate it. Bogged down in petty complaints and passing crises, weary of struggling with my own nature, I too often failed to comprehend the splendor of what I had. happiness Gretchen Rubin
03be017 However powerful our technology and complex our corporations, the most remarkable feature of the modern working world may in the end be internal, consisting in an aspect of our mentalities: in the widely held belief that our work should make us happy. All societies have had work at their centre; ours is the first to suggest that it could be something more than a punishment or a penance. Ours is the first to imply that we should seek to work even in the absence of a financial imperative. work happiness Alain de Botton
07c5373 His gut was stitched up good and tight, but that didn't prevent it from flopping. He wiped his damp palms on the legs of his jeans and stood up shakily, leaning heavily on his cane. He called himself a masochist for putting himself through this torture day after day. He braced himself for the disappointment of having to go home alone. He braced himself for happiness like he'd never known in his entire life. He watched the door they would come through. feelings emotion future happiness hope love sandra-brown lethal Sandra Brown
995ac1d The greatest happiness is when the eye discovers beauty where neither then mind conceived of nor the hand intended any. happiness Orhan Pamuk
a2e3f5c "Listen, listen!" I interrupted her. "Forgive me if I tell you something else.... I tell you what, I can't help coming here to-morrow, I am a dreamer; I have so little real life that I look upon such moments as this now, as so rare, that I cannot help going over such moments again in my dreams. I shall be dreaming of you all night, a whole week, a whole year. I shall certainly come here to-morrow, just here to this place, just at the same hour, and I shall be happy remembering today. This place is dear to me already. I have already two or three such places in Petersburg. I once shed tears over memories ... like you.... Who knows, perhaps you were weeping ten minutes ago over some memory.... But, forgive me, I have forgotten myself again; perhaps you have once been particularly happy here...." memories dreams happiness Fyodor Dostoyevsky
b9fc8b3 He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life. Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, - 'Wait and hope.' - Your friend, Edmond Dantes, Count of Monte Cristo. The eyes of both were fixed on the spot indicated by the sailor, and on the blue-line separating the sky from the Mediterranean Sea, they perceived a large white sail. live grief future happiness hope horizon wait Alexandre Dumas
7f06cc1 They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it, others are content merely to know it is there. They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery. happiness omelas misery Ursula K. Le Guin
53d2081 No,' said Gould, with an unusual and convincing gravity; 'I do not believe that being perfectly good in all respects would make a man merry.' 'Well,' said Michael quietly, 'will you tell me one thing? Which of us has ever tried it? happiness righteous purity G.K. Chesterton
950b684 If she come, I be happy. If she don't, I be content. And then I figure this the lesson I was suppose tolearn. happiness Alice Walker
25253cc "For a moment he could do nothing but close his eyes. Was this a taste of the rest of his life as Billie Bridgerton's husband? Was he destined to live in terror, wondering what sort of danger she'd thrown herself into that day? Was it worth it? "George?" she whispered. She sounded uneasy. Had she seen something in his expression? A sign of doubt? He touched her cheek, and he looked into her eyes. He saw his whole world there. "I love you," he said. Someone gasped. It might have been his mother. "I cannot live without you," he said, "and in fact, I refuse to do so. So no, you will not be going on some ill-advised mission to the coast to hand off a potentially dangerous package to people you don't know. Because if anything happened to you..." His voice broke, but he didn't care. "If anything happened to you, it would kill me. And I'd like to think you love me too much to let that happen." Billie stared at him in wonder, her softly parted lips trembling as she blinked back tears. "You love me?" she whispered. He nearly rolled his eyes. "Of course I do." "You never said." "I must have done." "You didn't. I would have remembered." "I would remember, too," he said softly, "if you'd ever said it to me." "I love you," she said immediately. "I do. I love you so much. I --" "Thank God," Lady Manston exclaimed. George and Billie both turned." doubt world happiness love Julia Quinn
aeafea5 We had some good times at school. I didn't know how good those times was till I left, but I guess that's the way of it fun happiness life schooling Ron Rash
bbcfbb9 No man should ever completely realize his dreams. What else would there then be to live for? happiness life David Gemmell
606f6f5 There is a preppy wabi-sabi to soft, faded khakis and cotton shirts, but it's not nice to be surrounded by things that are worn out or stained or used up. happiness plenty Gretchen Rubin
c7e7953 Some things are hard to imagine. Can you conceive of excessive contentment, for example? Or an over pleasant evening? Too much happiness? happiness pessimism Alan Moore
7cb6833 Quienquiera que se inventase eso de que el dinero no hace la felicidad, se regocija Lloyd Hooks, esta claro que no tenia bastante. money spanish happiness felicidad español David Mitchell
af26f40 Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria! happiness Bill Watterson
e8f4116 Although we presume that we act because of the way we feel, in fact we often feel because of the way we act. feelings happiness Gretchen Rubin
e705f8e It was a time for warm embraces, for smiles, for toasts and reconciliations, for renewing old friendships and making new ones, for laughter and kisses. It was a good time, a golden autumn, a time of peace and plenty. But winter was coming. laughter happiness time-for-love winter-is-coming prosperity peace threat ominous George R.R. Martin
357d422 "People do not belong to others, either. How can the huincas buy and sell people if they do not own them. Sometimes the boy went two or three days without speaking a word, surly, and not eating, and when asked what was the matter, the answer was always the same: "There are content days and there are sad days. Each person is a master of his silence." sadness happiness self-realization human-nature Isabel Allende
e75e7ce Happiness is important. Fun is everything. fun happiness ray-bradbury mgg Ray Bradbury
ea73fdd People won't admit it, they're too busy grabbing to see that the lights have fused. They can't see the darkness and the spider-face beyond and the great web of it all. That there's always this if you scratch at the surface of happiness and goodness. The black and the black and the black. happy good dark people goodness darkness happiness fused grab grabbing scratch spider lights beyond web distraction see black surface distracted John Fowles
bbe1cdb If our life has no meaning other than our own happiness, we are likely to find that when we have obtained what we think we need to be happy, happiness itself still eludes us. happiness fulfillment Peter Singer
06b0b21 The years lay spread out before her, spacious untouched canvases on which she was presently going to paint the picture of her life. It was to be a very beautiful picture, she said to herself with an extraordinary feeling of proud confidence; not beautiful because of any gifts or skill of hers, for never was a woman more giftless, but because of all the untiring little touches, the ceaseless care for detail, the patient painting out of mistakes; and every touch and every detail was going to be aglow with the bright colours of happiness. happiness Elizabeth von Arnim
e5f65b0 "As the philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote, "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are a different opinion, it is because they know only their own side of the question." happiness psychology Daniel Gilbert
f2f363f "It's astonishing how much trouble one can get oneself into, if one works at it. And astonishing how much trouble one can get oneself out of, if one simply assumes that everything will, somehow or other, work out for the best." -Destruction" confidence happiness philosophy wisdom inspirational essential knowledge-of-self human-nature values Neil Gaiman
091bf2a Man is fond of reckoning up his troubles, but does not count his joys. joy happiness Fyodor Dostoyevsky
bd774ef Are you what is called a lucky man? Well, you are sad every day. Each day has its great grief or its little care. Yesterday you were trembling for the health of one who is dear to you, today you fear for your own; tomorrow it will be an anxiety about money, the next day the slanders of a calumniator, the day after the misfortune of a friend; then the weather, then something broken or lost, then a pleasure for which you are reproached by your conscience or your vertebral column; another time, the course of public affairs. Not to mention heartaches. And so on. One cloud is dissipated, another gathers. Hardly one day in a hundred of unbroken joy and sunshine. And you are of that small number who are lucky! As for other men, stagnant night is upon them. happiness misery luck Victor Hugo
1bcf163 Life streamed through him in splendid flood, glad and rampant, until it seemed that it would burst him asunder in sheer ecstasy and pour forth generously over the world. nature happiness jack-london classic-literature classic Jack London
93c5e0a I'm starting to think paradise isn't eternal contentment. It's more like there's something eternal about feeling contented. There's no such thing as eternal life, because you're never going to outrun time, but you can still escape time if you're contented, because then time doesn't matter. happiness meditation Jonathan Franzen
6d10759 It is time to end a story that began in sorrow and ordeal and has ended in a deep and lasting happiness. May it be so for others. sorrow happiness Anne McCaffrey
50f53c2 Protestations of happiness could sound almost boasting to those whose happiness is incomplete. One did not boast of perfect skin to one affected by dermatitis; for the same reason, perhaps, one should take care in proclaiming one's happiness. unhappiness happiness Alexander McCall Smith
3407c7e The Bible said, as Chris quoted one memorable day, there was a time for everything. I figured my time for happiness was just ahead, waiting for me. time happiness waiting V.C. Andrews
cec2912 Who you allow into the circle of your life will make the difference in the quality of your life. friendship happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
bdc4243 The best way for you to get that new experience is to change your response to what happens. happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
3297c43 Happiness is the successful state of life, pain is an agent of death. Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values. A morality that dares to tell you to find happiness in the renunciation of your happiness--to value the failure of your values--is an insolent negation of morality. virtue man mind good morality reason happiness life philosophy john-galt pursuit-of-happiness objectivism rational think thinking morals values evil Ayn Rand
3a71a5f Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it--that no substitute can do your thinking--that the vilest form of self-abasement and self-destruction is the subordination of your mind to the mind of another, the acceptance of an authority over your brain, the acceptance of his assertions as facts, his say-so as truth, his edicts as middle-man between your consciousness and your existence. virtue pain man mind good independence morality reason happiness life philosophy truth wisdom john-galt pursuit-of-happiness objectivism rational think thinking morals values evil Ayn Rand
5e91553 En vivant votre misere, vous pouvez etre malheureuse ou heureuse. C'est dans ce choix que consiste votre liberte. Vous etes libre de fondre votre individualite dans la marmite de la multitude avec un sentiment de defaite, ou bien avec euphorie. (...) notre seule liberte est de choisir entre l'amertume et le plaisir. L'insignifiance de tout etant notre lot, il ne faut pas la porter comme une tare, mais savoir s'en rejouir. (ch. 43) living happiness Milan Kundera
d4aa10e Rationality is the recognition of the fact that existence exists, that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it, which is thinking--that the mind is one's only judge of values and one's only guide of action--that reason is an absolute that permits no compromise--that a concession to the irrational invalidates one's consciousness and turns it from the task of perceiving to the task of faking reality--that the alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short-circuit destroying the mind--that the acceptance of a mystical invention is a wish for the annihilation of existence and, properly, annihilates one's consciousness. virtue pain man mind good morality reason happiness life philosophy truth wisdom john-galt pursuit-of-happiness objectivism rational think thinking morals values evil Ayn Rand
17892b5 All Bette's stories have happy endings. That's because she knows where to stop. She's realized the real problem with stories - if you keep them going long enough, they always end in death. dreams happiness happy-ending endings stories Neil Gaiman
b550af8 -Do you think artists are supposed to be happy? -Everyone is supposed to be. -I said staunchly,and I knew that I was indeed an idiot and that was my destiny and I didn't mind it happiness inspirational Elizabeth Kostova
30dcab0 Chris, soap people are like us-they seldom go outdoors. And when they do, we only hear about it, never see it. They loll about in living rooms, bedrooms, sit in the kitchens and sip coffee or stand up and drink martinis-but never, never go outside before our eyes. And whenever something good happens, whenever they think they're finally going to be happy, some catastrophe comes along to dash their hopes. hopes happiness hope loll sitting catastrophes indoors outdoors coffee outside V.C. Andrews
c14a698 No one's happiness but my own is in my power to achieve or to destroy. happiness john-galt Ayn Rand
2855d8d That was an evil terror---- an ugly inmate to have found a nestling-place in Godfrey's kindly disposition; but no disposition is a security from evil wishes to a man whose happiness hangs on duplicity. happiness George Eliot
0677bd8 Apparently he thought he deserved only to be loved--from a distance, though--and given what he wanted. And in return he would be . . . what? Pleasant? Generous? Maybe all he was really saying was: I am not responsible for your pain; share your happiness with me but not your unhappiness. pain relationship happiness love sincerity Toni Morrison
cd641ec Happiness, after all, is generally measured as reported satisfaction with one's life - a state of mind perhaps more accessible to those who are affluent, who conform to social norms, who suppress judgment in the service of faith, and who are not overly bothered by societal injustice...The real conservatism of positive psychology lies in its attachment to the status quo, with all its inequalities and abuses of power. Positive psychologists' tests of happiness and well-being, for example, rest heavily on measures of personal contentment with things as they are. positive-thinking positivity happiness life-satisfaction positive-psychology critique psychology Barbara Ehrenreich
1a916de I see you and St. John have been quarrelling, Jane,' said Diana, 'during your walk on the moor. But go after him; he is now lingering in the passage expecting you - he will make it up.' I have not much pride under such circumstances: I would always rather be happy than dignified; and I ran after him - he stood at the foot of the stairs. happiness embarassment pride Charlotte Brontë
3fce9c9 Is there any place on Earth that smells better than a laundromat? It's like a rainy Sunday when you don't have to get out from under your covers, or like lying back on the grass your father's just mowed - comfort food for your nose. rain family happiness life sunday laundromat safety father Jodi Picoult
8c0d1d0 And with love one can live even without happiness. happiness love notes-from-underground Fyodor Dostoyevsky
bc1e349 The secret of happiness is to ignore your reflection in mirrors once you're over forty. happiness mirrors David Mitchell
f096815 To die, he thought, was to escape passion's grasp, but that was the last thing he wanted. Instead he wished to be seized by passion and pinioned, held in its palm forever--he could not imagine any other existence as embracing any real happiness. passion happiness David Guterson
b20838b "The meaning of life in western secular society is to be successful. So many people are success mad and they are encouraged to reach for something and have so called "worthwhile goals". Money, fame, power, good looks, possessions are the indicators of success and the media and advertising companies exploit this. People are conditioned to believe that they can only feel happy or good about themselves if they have these things. This of course is not true." money looks lies good meaning success happiness life truth companies conditioned indicators what possessions conditioning is of fame successful western society goals secular media deceit power Tim Crawshaw
e9c5809 The more you engage in any type of emotion or behavior, the greater your desire for it will become. depression happiness philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness chris-prentiss zen emotions Chris Prentiss
bc426f9 People always want something more than immediate joy or that deeper sense called happiness. This is one of the secrets by which we shape the fulfillment of our designs. The something more assumes amplified power with people who cannot give it a name or who (most often the case) do not even suspect its existence. Most people only react unconsciously to such hidden forces. Thus, we have only to call a calculated something more into existence, define it and give it shape, then people will follow. meaning happiness something-greater unconscious meaning-of-life zeitgeist purpose mythology Frank Herbert
40cf051 From across the woods, as if by common accord, birds left their trees and darted upward. I joined them, flew amount them, they did not recognize me as something apart from them, and I was happy, so happy, because for the first time in years, and forevermore, I had not killed, and never would. death happiness dying George Saunders
6c73987 "There it is." And he watched with now-gentle sorrow and now-quick delight, and at last quiet acceptance as all the bits and pieces of his house mixed, stirred, settled, poised, and ran steadily again. "The Happiness Machine," he said. "The Happiness Machine." family happiness home Ray Bradbury
5dd5c14 "Happy?" asked Aquilina, with dreadful look, and a smile full of pity and terror. "Ah, you do not know what it is to be condemned to a life of pleasure." loneliness relationships sorrow sadness happiness love pleasure Honoré de Balzac
706206d If a little hill of happiness would satisfy Chris, good for him. But after all these years of striving, hoping, dreaming, longing-I wanted a mountain high! A hill wasn't enough. dreams happiness satisfy hill striving mountain hoping mountains longing V.C. Andrews
c733ada "Again, all of life presents us with two basic ways to treat events. We can either label them "god for us" or "bad for us." The event is only an event. It's how we treat the event that determines what it becomes in our lives. The event doesn't make that determination- we do." depression happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
2319ccc Cathy, don't look so defeated. She was only trying to put us down again. Maybe nothing did work out right for her, but that doesn't mean we are doomed. Let's go forth tomorrow with no great expectations of finding perfection. Then, expecting only a small share of happiness, we won't be disappointed. perfection happiness disapointment facial-expressions put-down putting-people-down small-share towmorrow work-out doomed doom small put-downs expectations V.C. Andrews
ad59a7a Two years hence you will be as calm as I am now, - and far, far happier, I trust, for you are a man and free to act as you please men women future happiness Anne Brontë
f7bffa4 "You certainly remember this scene from dozens of films: a boy and a girl are running hand in hand in a beautiful spring (or summer) landscape. Running, running, running and laughing. By laughing the two runners are proclaiming to the whole world, to audiences in all the movie theaters: "We're happy, we're glad to be in the world, we're in agreement with being!" It's a silly scene, a cliche, but it expresses a basic human attitude: serious laughter, laughter "beyond joking." All churches, all underwear manufacturers, all generals, all political parties, are in agreement about that kind of laughter, and all of them rush to put the image of the two laughing runners on the billboards advertising their religion, their products, their ideology, their nation, their sex, their dishwashing powder." -- laughter happiness philosophy czech kitsch meaning-of-life existentialism novel Milan Kundera
1f6e4f0 Summer would not last forever; he knew it and Ronia knew it. But now they began to live as if it would, and as far as possible they pushed away all painful thoughts of winter. loneliness happiness denial summer Astrid Lindgren
9bd65b9 You are the happy one. I am the doomed fool. happiness love fool Don DeLillo
d6d4a23 "I knew I wouldn't discover happiness in a faraway place or in unusual circumstances; it was right here, right now-- as in the haunting play "The Blue Bird," where two children spend a year searching the world for the Blue Bird of Happiness, only to find it waiting for them when they finally return home." happiness blue-bird Gretchen Rubin
a67afa9 They all had their own struggles and stories to tell and they al made it to this point, happy and in love. happy happiness love Jennifer L. Armentrout
0539556 The more people I meet the happier I become. friendship happiness Samuel Beckett
3a2a581 [A] smile is the most becoming ornament that any lady can wear. beauty happiness becoming most ornament wear smile lady Susanna Clarke
ab30fc7 Oh, how good it is to be with someone, sometimes. loneliness happiness love hiroshima-mon-amour marguerite-duras content couple longing-for-love Marguerite Duras
86c40ad " ," Balder murmurs from the backseat, his eyes still closed. "I looked upon your face and knew happiness." Without further warning, the sky opens up and cries." happiness love inspirational libba-bray Libba Bray
efd9e76 They must live outside class, without relations or money; they must work and stick to each other till death. But England belonged to them. That, besides companionship, was their reward. Her air and sky were theirs, not the timorous millions' who own stuffy little boxes, but never their own souls. happiness love homosexuality england lgbt E.M. Forster
918d51f So, Son, instead of crying, be strong, so as to be able to comfort your mother . . . take her for a long walk in the quiet country, gathering wild flowers here and there. . . . But remember always, Dante, in the play of happiness, don't you use all for yourself only. . . . help the persecuted and the victim because they are your better friends. . . . In this struggle of life you will find more and love and you will be loved. happiness son Howard Zinn
00f52cd Perhaps we will not be great people, chosen by God, but just happy. happiness Philippa Gregory
64d73ab "In Kant's description, ethical duty functions like a foreign traumatic intruder that from the outside disturbs the subject's homeostatic balance, its unbearable pressure forcing the subject to act "beyond the pleasure principle," ignoring the pursuit of pleasures. For Lacan, exactly the same description holds for desire, which is why enjoyment is not something that comes naturally to the subject, as a realization of her inner potential, but is the content of a traumatic superego injunction." happiness duty trauma Slavoj Žižek
c6308d1 This is one of the many paradoxes of happiness: we seek to control our lives, but the unfamiliar and the unexpected are important sources of happiness. happiness control Gretchen Rubin
bd04def Experts say that denying bad feelings intensifies them, acknowledging bad feelings allows good feelings to return. happiness emotional-health denial Gretchen Rubin
84abdf0 I will not stop singing the Muses who set me dancing. tragedy writer poetry joy work inspiration inspirational-quotes happiness life love euripides muses dancing sing creativity poet Anne Carson
ebdbd99 Just because your life isn't as awful as someone else's that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. You can't compare how you feel to the way other people feel. It just doesn't work. What might look like the perfect life - or even an okay life - to you might not be so okay for the person living it. depression people human relationship sadness happiness life perfect-life feeling feel reflection suck comparison Michael Thomas Ford
7689624 Levi's gaze sought out Miss Spencer. Eden. All she had to do was smile to release those little frissons of lightning in him. As that thought crossed his mind, she glanced up, and Levi realized he was wrong. She didn't have to smile. All she had to do was look at him. Heaven help him. He was in bad. romantic feelings romance happiness love historical-romance clean Karen Witemeyer
99e5e8f "But there is a way of despising the dandelion which is not that of the dreary pessimist, but of the more offensive optimist. It can be done in various ways; one of which is saying, "You can get much better dandelions at Selfridge's," or "You can get much cheaper dandelions at Woolworth's." Another way is to observe with a casual drawl, "Of course nobody but Gamboli in Vienna really understands dandelions," or saying that nobody would put up with the old-fashioned dandelion since the super-dandelion has been grown in the Frankfurt Palm Garden; or merely sneering at the stinginess of providing dandelions, when all the best hostesses give you an orchid for your buttonhole and a bouquet of rare exotics to take away with you. These are all methods of undervaluing the thing by comparison; for it is not familiarity but comparison that breeds contempt. And all such captious comparisons are ultimately based on the strange and staggering heresy that a human being has a right to dandelions; that in some extraordinary fashion we can demand the very pick of all the dandelions in the garden of Paradise; that we owe no thanks for them at all and need feel no wonder at them at all; and above all no wonder at being thought worthy to receive them. Instead of saying, like the old religious poet, "What is man that Thou carest for him, or the son of man that Thou regardest him?" we are to say like the discontented cabman, "What's this?" or like the bad-tempered Major in the club, "Is this a chop fit for a gentleman?" Now I not only dislike this attitude quite as much as the Swinburnian pessimistic attitude, but I think it comes to very much the same thing; to the actual loss of appetite for the chop or the dish of dandelion-tea. And the name of it is Presumption and the name of its twin brother is Despair. This is the principle I was maintaining when I seemed an optimist to Mr. Max Beerbohm; and this is the principle I am still maintaining when I should undoubtedly seem a pessimist to Mr. Gordon Selfridge. The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them." optimism happiness G.K. Chesterton
bb6dce4 Maligant items don't have to be reminders of bad times, like a breakup or a health crisis. They can bring back memories of loved ones or high points in your life. But if these memories leave you feeling sad or feeling that your life isn't as good now, then the objects are causing you mental and emotional harm and have no place in your home. ...The key to enjoying happiness and good health in a warm, welcoming home is to live IN THE PRESENT MOMENT surrounded by items that you cherish and that have meaning for you and your family. If too much of your time is spent replaying your greatest hits or struggling with old pain, you're not making new memories of your present life. --pg 20 happiness homelessness malignant-clutter Peter Walsh
6f7bda1 "El, you are telling me to run away with a man to become his mistress." "I am telling you to be happy. Even if it lasts only a little while. We must snatch what we can when we have the chance. Life is so very lonely when we don't." loneliness happiness life eleanor Jennifer Ashley
68eec65 Though in single life your joys may not be very many, your sorrows, at least will not be more than you can bear. Marriage may change your circumstances for the better, but in my private opinion, it is far more likely to produce a contrary result marriage happiness love sorrows reality-of-life Anne Brontë
2650fe9 But what now if all the peace, the comfort, the contentment were to come to a horrible end? happiness life Franz Kafka
39a24ba So that made me happy but the part that really made me happy was that you wanted me to be happy. That's what Thank you means. happiness meanings thanks Margaret Atwood
1c25e4e Finding happiness by delivering it. achievement-and-attitude achievement-gap achieving-dreams achieving-excellence achieving-mastery achieving-success arriving evangelical evangelistic happiness-quote personal-planning professional-listening sales-advice sales-effectiveness selling success-in-business perseverance successful-living success happiness truth success-self-improvement listening-to-others achievements success-in-life tenacity success-strategies business presentation moving-forward reputation doing listening-skills evangelism success-quotes listening sales sales-training Chris Murray
8665d09 I should become happier at what I do and leave others happier than before they'd met me. achievement-and-attitude achievement-gap achieving-dreams achieving-excellence achieving-mastery achieving-success arriving evangelical evangelistic happiness-quote personal-planning professional-listening sales-advice sales-effectiveness selling success-in-business perseverance successful-living success happiness truth success-self-improvement listening-to-others achievements success-in-life tenacity success-strategies business presentation moving-forward reputation doing listening-skills evangelism success-quotes listening sales sales-training Chris Murray
41bc28e The thought of all that happiness was hard to bear. What's the point of happiness when all it does is throw the facts of dying into clear relief? happiness relief Sebastian Faulks
5357b7a You can't build happiness on someone else's pain. happiness Greg Iles
a552d06 The issue, perhaps, boils down to one of how perceptions or misperceptions of racial difference impact various individuals', or groups of individuals', experience of freedom in America. Some would argue that it goes beyond hampering their 'pursuit of happiness' to outright obliterating it. racism equality freedom happiness demographics-of-united-states eric-garner george-zimmerman kajieme-powell killing-of-black-men-in-america michael-brown new-jim-crow pursuit-of-happiness racial-demographics tamir-rice trayvon-martin troy-anthony-davis mass-incarceration human-rights-day race-and-racism-in-america racial-discrimination diversity justice democracy Aberjhani
6bee329 Man only likes counting his grief, he doesn't count his happiness. But if he were to count properly, he'd see that there's enough of both lots for him. happiness Fyodor Dostoyevsky
db3704b "Are you happy?" "I think I may be going to be happy." Remember, things do not force, forge or fashion. They fall into place" fate happiness hope life Ann Beattie
9eef0ee Oh, God, if I'm anything by a clinical name, I'm a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I think people are plotting to make me happy. happy happiness paranoia J.D. Salinger
3d1c64a "happiness is a choice. If you choose to mope and be glum, you shall be; but if you wish to be happy and determine to enjoy what life has to offer, then you can have that as well. "She said that nothing is all good or all bad, that life offers everyone a mix of both--though sometimes it does not seem so, and bad is all we can see in our lives, while in the lives of others we see only good and feel envy. She said we must enjoy the good despite the bad, else life can beat us down and leave us hopeless, and that is no way to live." good happiness life envy Lynsay Sands
84b65c2 Happy we were the, for we had a good house, and good food and good work. work happiness house Richard Llewellyn
3f37a1b O, blackberry tart, with berries as big as your thumb, purple and black, and thick with juice, and a crust to endear them that will go to cream in your mouth, and both passing down with such a taste that will make you close your eyes and wish you might live for ever in the wideness of that rich moment. happiness Richard Llewellyn
3ed41ea "Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick she was in love with coming up the road with a calf under his arm or whatever. humor happiness dancing George Saunders
2a61589 It takes practice, feeling happy about the ever enfolding events of life, and, because of all the conditioning we have undergone before this, it may be very difficult to make the change, but if we take the saying to heart and practice it, as the days unfold we will find ourselves living ever happier lives, smiling more, and finally, laughing more. happy happiness life wisdom i-ching wu-wei smile health Wu Wei
2f261df You can be happy if you are willing to let go of your past and leave yourself unencumbered so you can fly freely. happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
1a2f2fe "Your actions create an "energy vortex" that draws in the necessary ingredients for your venture." inspirational-quotes happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
ce195e2 "Most men seem to live for themselves, without much or any regard for thy glory, or for the good of others; They earnestly desire and eagerly pursue the riches, honor, and pleasures of this life, as if they supposed that wealth, greatness, merriment, could make their immortal souls happy; happiness holiness Arthur Bennett
994dfd4 Well, let's argue this out, Mr Blank. You, who represent Society, have the right to pay me four hundred francs a month. That's my market value, for I am an inefficient member of Society, slow in the uptake, uncertain, slightly damaged in the fray, there's no denying it. So you have the right to pay me four hundred francs a month, to lodge me in a small, dark room, to clothe me shabbily, to harass me with worry and monotony and unsatisfied longings till you get me to the point when I blush at a look, cry at a word. We can't all be happy, we can't all be rich, we can't all be lucky - and it would be so much less fun if we were. Isn't it so, Mr Blank? There must be the dark background to show up the bright colours. Some must cry so that the others may be able to laugh the more heartily. happy fun happiness damaged harass inefficient pay longings monotony slow cry worry rich society job Jean Rhys
f6fe3e1 You soon get tired of what's extraordinary, dragon rider. It's often the most ordinary things that bring great happiness. happiness dragon-rider ordinary extraordinary Cornelia Funke
d3dba15 I love the buildings. They're called skyscrapers. They're the closest thing to an ocean here. But it's an ocean that goes straight up, not flat out. They say that the body of water stretching away to the east of Manhattan is the ocean but it isn't. Not my ocean, anyway. It's weird because back home I just took it for granted, my grey-green sea. Now I have a granite ocean. It gives me the same happy-sad feeling I need sometimes. When I look straight up at the buildings I can feel alone in a good way. Not in that horrible way of no one knows me. sadness happiness skyscrapers manhattan home new-york-city ocean city Ann-Marie MacDonald
eaf023a There are a good many people of the same kind as Harry. Many artists are of his kind. These persons all have two souls, two beings within them. Thee is God and the devil in them; the mother's blood and the father's; the capacity for happiness and the capacity for suffering; and in just such a state of enmity and entanglement towards and within each other as were the wolf and man in Harry. And these men, for whom life has no repose, live at times in their rare moments of happiness with such strength and indescribable beauty, the spray of their moment's happiness is flung so high and so dazzlingly over the wide sea of suffering, that the light of it, spreading its radiance, touches others too with its enchantment. Thus, like a precious, fleeting foam over the sea of suffering arise all those works of art, in which a single individual lifts himself for an hour so high above his personal destiny that his happiness shines like a star and appears to all who see it as something eternal and as a happiness of their own. artists happiness Hermann Hesse
feffc6a We often live as if our happiness depended on having. But I don't know anyone who is really happy because of what he or she has. True joy, happiness, and inner peace come from the giving of ourselves to others. A happy life is a life for others. That truth, however, is usually discovered when we are confronted with our brokenness. sacrifice happiness humility peace Henri J.M. Nouwen
a86f0ce I read. The more you read, the more the world opens up to you... and the happier you are and more comforted you feel. It's up to you. No you is educated who cannot educate himself. reading happiness reading-books Mark Helprin
11cb837 Ideally, the pursuit of truth is said to be at the heart of the intellectual's business, but this credits his business too much and not quite enough. As with the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of truth is itself gratifying whereas consummation often turns out to be elusive. Truth captured loses its glamour; truths long known and widely believed have a way of turning false with time; easy truths are bore and too many of them become half truths. Whatever the intellectual is too certain of, if he is healthily playful, he begins to find unsatisfactory. The meaning of his intellectual life lies not in the possession of truth but in the quest for new uncertainties. Harold Rosenberg summed up this side of the life of the mind supremely well when he said that the intellectual is one who turns answers into questions. happiness truth playfulness playful intellectual intellectualism intellectuals uncertainty play questions Richard Hofstadter
c254671 How little it takes to make a young girl happy! A pretty dress, sunshine, and somebody opposite, and they are blest. happiness life love pretty-little-things naivete Louisa May Alcott
0cf5bab It's more important to be free than to be happy. happiness Tom Robbins
083ffcc Make sure everyone, who works with you or for you, feels the need to tell others about the incredible experience. achievement-and-attitude achievement-gap achieving-dreams achieving-excellence achieving-mastery achieving-success arriving evangelical evangelistic happiness-quote personal-planning professional-listening sales-advice sales-effectiveness selling success-in-business perseverance successful-living positive positivity success happiness truth success-self-improvement listening-to-others achievements success-in-life tenacity success-strategies business presentation moving-forward reputation doing listening-skills evangelism success-quotes listening sales sales-training Chris Murray
277379a Happiness is the inner poetry of women, just as fine clothes are the mask of beauty women happiness Honoré de Balzac
78fa727 Then I'll have more fun searching in vain then marrying one of the wrong sort. marriage romance happiness inspirational minset life-philosophy Erle Stanley Gardner
3ca0501 It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that if you have something you love or there's something you want, you'll be happier with more. money happiness Gretchen Rubin
b8ece6c Although people sometimes assume that the happy are self-absorbed and complacent, just the opposite is true. In general, happiness doesn't make people want to drink daiquiris on the beach; it makes them want to help rural villagers gain better access to clean water. happiness Gretchen Rubin
5d7ef5b Find one person to trust--there need only be one. With them, share every shame, every secret and listen to theirs... with love. Bare hearts and souls until there is understanding. Of a certainty, such honest exposure is the first step toward happiness. -- Andre Chevalier trust honesty happiness shame secrets Nikki Sex
413f8df "Poor May!" he said. "Poor? Why poor?" she echoed with a strained laugh. "Because I shall never be able to open a window without worrying you," he rejoined, laughing also. For a moment she was silent; then she said very low, her head bowed over her work: "I shall never worry if you're happy." "Ah, my dear; and I shall never be happy unless I can open the windows!" "In THIS weather?" she remonstrated; and with a sigh he buried his head in his book." marriage happiness Edith Wharton
9a8b78b ... most of my prayers are expressions of sheer gratitude for the fullness of my contentment. prayer happiness Elizabeth Gilbert
09731ea Being rich and coming from a distinguished family background doesn't guarantee happiness, Abby. In fact, it might make happiness harder to find because you have to live up to akk that expectation. happiness landry living-up-to-expectations pearl-in-the-mist v-c-andrews rich poor V.C. Andrews
c194703 I wonder is happiness only an essence of good living, that you shall taste only once or twice while you live, and then go on living with the taste in your mouth, and wishing you had the fulness of it solid between your teeth, like a good meal that you have tasted and cherished, and look back in your mind to eat again. happiness happiness-in-life Richard Llewellyn
36e7e05 If you feel depressed for an hour, you've produced approximately eighteen billion new cells that have more receptors calling out for depressed-type peptides and fewer calling out for feel-good peptides. depression happiness philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness mindfulness zen Chris Prentiss
dca1b95 The events that occur in my life are workout situations. They are there for my benefit so I can become strong and gain wisdom and information by working my way through those situations. pain joy happiness life love philosophy wisdom addiction-free chris-prentiss-quotes addiction-and-recovery passages-ventura passages-malibu chris-prentiss philosophy-of-life peace guilt Chris Prentiss
2b30b9d Believe that is cure is possible for you. Discover and heal the underlying causes with a holistic recovery program. Adopt a philosophy based on what is true in the Universe. universe sobriety freedom inspiration inspire change happiness life philosophy wisdom good-books alcohol-addiction-treatment curing-addiction drug-addiction-treatment recommended-reading renew sober-living treatment-program holistic-treatment addiction-free non12step holistic-health non-12-step passages-ventura passages-malibu addiction-cure addiction-treatment-center chris-prentiss sober healing change-the-world health self-improvement self-help Chris Prentiss
aa31634 Every belief that you hold manifests itself in some manner by either causing you to take some form of action or by preventing you from taking action. If you don't believe something is possible, you won't even attempt it. happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness metaphysics zen Chris Prentiss
eae2cd9 "Zen is a journey of exploration and a way of living that, in and of itself, does not belong to any one religion or tradition. It is about experiencing life in the here and now and about removing the dualistic distinctions between "I" and "you" between "subject" and "objective", between our spiritual and our ordinary, everyday activities." inspiration happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness chris-prentiss zen Chris Prentiss
a64c2db Imagine a world where people were 10% happier and less reactive. Marriage, parenting, road rage, politics - all would be improved upon. Public health revolutions can happen rapidly. Most Americans didn't brush their teeth until after world war 2 after soldiers were demanded to maintain oral hygiene. Exercise didn't get popular until science proved its benefits. Mindfulness, I had come to believe, could, in fact, change the world. happiness public-health mindfulness meditation revolution Dan Harris
44bf6ed It is a charming quality of the happiness we inspire in others that, far from being diminished like a reflection, it comes back to us enhanced. happiness making-others-happy shared-happiness Victor Hugo
eb440ac The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people. people happiness life Elizabeth Gilbert
b60d833 And they did what lovers often do when they think the future stretches out endless before them as bright as on the noon of creation day: they talked ceaselessly of the past, as if each must be caught up on the other's previous doings before they can move forward paired. happiness love Charles Frazier
2358808 The sun dances in her and she has an immense joy of life dance women joy happiness sun James Clavell
6938b48 [I]t is things that make us happy when conversation begins to reveal itself as a paltry substitute. happiness material-goods things Rick Moody
7888611 We're brought up to expect a happy ending. But there are no happy endings. There's only death waiting for us. We find love and happiness, and it's snatched away from us without rhyme or reason. We're on a deserted space ship careening mindlessly among the stars. The world is Dachau, and we're all Jews. happiness life Sidney Sheldon
2872d9f Adopt the positive in everything you do, for there will always be positivity there to find, if that is what you seek. achievement-and-attitude achievement-gap achieving-dreams achieving-excellence achieving-mastery achieving-success arriving evangelical evangelistic happiness-quote personal-planning professional-listening sales-advice sales-effectiveness selling success-in-business perseverance successful-living positive positivity success happiness truth success-self-improvement listening-to-others achievements success-in-life tenacity success-strategies business presentation moving-forward reputation doing listening-skills evangelism success-quotes listening sales sales-training Chris Murray
0b29954 My intention was, only, ever to help you see the light shining brightly in front, and inside, of you. achievement-and-attitude achievement-gap achieving-dreams achieving-excellence achieving-mastery achieving-success arriving evangelical evangelistic happiness-quote personal-planning professional-listening sales-advice sales-effectiveness selling success-in-business perseverance successful-living success happiness truth success-self-improvement listening-to-others achievements success-in-life tenacity success-strategies business presentation moving-forward reputation doing listening-skills evangelism success-quotes listening sales sales-training Chris Murray
288e8a5 That which is currently beyond your capabilities now, does not have to be so forever achievement-and-attitude achievement-gap achieving-dreams achieving-excellence achieving-mastery achieving-success arriving evangelical evangelistic happiness-quote personal-planning professional-listening sales-advice sales-effectiveness selling success-in-business perseverance successful-living positive positivity success happiness truth success-self-improvement listening-to-others achievements success-in-life tenacity success-strategies business presentation moving-forward reputation doing listening-skills evangelism success-quotes listening sales sales-training Chris Murray
be2e9c0 "They are a bit small for me, Mma," she confessed. "I think you were right. But I felt great happiness when I wore them, and I shall always remember that. They are such beautiful shoes." Mma Ramotswe laughed. "Well, that's the important thing, isn't it, Mma? To feel happiness, and then to remember it." "I think that you're right," said Mma Makutsi. Happiness was an elusive thing. It had something to do with having beautiful shoes, sometimes; but it was about so much else. About a country. About a people. About having friends like this." happiness shoes Alexander McCall Smith
721b44f When I consider my life objectively, it does not seem particularly happy. Yet I cannot really call it unhappy, despite all my mistakes. After all, it is quite foolish to talk about happiness and unhappiness, for it seems to me that I would not exchange the unhappiest days of my life for all the happy ones. unhappiness happiness hermann-hesse happiness-quotes mistakes Hermann Hesse
685a46c Success is when you're seduced into thinking that your joy and satisfaction are not here but there--somewhere in the future, at some moment when you accomplish X or you win Y. Success can never get enough. It makes your head spin, because you get that thing you were desperately working for, for all those years, and when you get it, you realize that it isn't what you thought it was. success happiness Rob Bell
7ca3953 That I may carry on what I have begun, that I may do good, that I may be one day a grand and encouraging example that it may be said that there was finally some little happiness resulting from this suffering which I have undergone and this virtue to which I have returned! virtue suffering happiness Victor Hugo
8826535 If you're not happy, it's all on you. If you want to find your way, be your own compass. happiness Susan Mallery
b5bbef6 Porque a felicidade era temporaria, individual, excepcionalmente dual, rarissimas vezes tripartida e nunca coletiva, municipal. happiness individualism Mario Vargas Llosa
a42d2b6 Happiness is so rare that our mind can turn somersaults to protect it. happiness rare protection David Henry Hwang
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