To describe happiness is to diminish it. Stendhal (Henri Beyle)
Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so. John Stuart Mill
People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be. Abraham Lincoln
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. Helen Keller
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go. Oscar Wilde
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. Epictetus
There is this difference between happiness and wisdom, that he that thinks himself the happiest man really is so; but he that thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool. Charles Caleb Colton
Only a fool expects to be happy all the time. Robertson Davies
Nothing prevents happiness like the memory of happiness. André Gide
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness. Bertrand Russell
There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, and that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all. Ogden Nash
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Joseph Addison
If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are. Montesquieu
Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open. John Barrymore
All who joy would win must share it. Happiness was born a Twin. Lord Byron
Happiness, or misery, is in the mind. It is the mind that lives. William Cobbett
The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions – the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. Epictetus
Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it. William Feather
Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved. Victor Hugo
He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances. David Hume
Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times. Aeschylus
Happiness is a small and unworthy goal for something as big and fancy as a whole lifetime, and should be taken in small doses. Russell Baker
Happiness is unrepented pleasure. Socrates
A man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy and nothing can stop him. Alexander Solzhenitsyn
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark
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. August Strindberg
Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing. William Butler Yeats
Whenever I get happy, I always have a terrible feeling. Roman Polanski
Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself. Plutarch
The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions. Lord Alfred Tennyson
Happiness isn’t something you experience, it’s something you remember. Oscar Levant
Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind. Marcel Proust
The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation. Jeremy Bentham
Happiness is open to all, since, when you boil it down, it merely consists of contentment with what you have got and doing what you can for other people. Robert Baden-Powell
The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others. Sir Robert Baden Powell
Happiness is good health and a bad memory. Ingrid Bergman
Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get. Ingrid Bergman
If you have not taken the time to define what happiness means to you, what have your spent your whole life pursuing? Bo Bennett
Happiness doesn’t come from doing what we like to do but from liking what we have to do. Wilfred Peterson
The secret of happiness is to find a congenial monotony. V S Pritchett
Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make pursuant to our individual organization. Marquis de Sade
No man is happy but by comparison. Thomas Shadwell
Truth is not always the best basis for happiness. There are people who perish when their eyes are opened. Wilhelm Stekel
Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly often attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults. Thomas Szasz
The key to happiness is not to get more, but to enjoy what we have and to fill the empty frame of our lives instead of enlarging it. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness. Eric Hoffer
I never meet anyone nowadays who admits to having had a happy childhood. Everyone appears to think happiness betokens a lack of sensitivity. Jessamyn West
How happy is he born or taught,
That serveth not another’s will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!
Sir Henry Wotton
A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. Jane Austen
Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations. Jane Austen
Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. Jane Austen
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust
False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared. Montesquieu
Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values. Ayn Rand
No one’s happiness but my own is in my power to achieve or to destroy. Ayn Rand
Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder. Henry David Thoreau
Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne