One of the most beautiful feelings in the world is ‘happiness.’ And what does this word mean? Why is it that people all around are looking for ways to find happiness? And why is it that this feeling is so elusive?
While there is no one definition of this word and happiness is a subjective concept, here are a few quotes that will give you an understanding of what happiness is!
- “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” ― Aristotle
- “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
- “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” ― Dalai Lama XIV
- “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” ― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
- “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.” ― Albert Camus
- “The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” ― George Washington Burnap, The Sphere, and Duties of Woman: A Course of Lectures
- “Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
- “Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste.” ― Charlotte Bronte
- “No medicine cures what happiness cannot.” ― Gabriel García Márquez
- “Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
- “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
- “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is a content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Seneca
- “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Happiness is not a goal…it’s a by-product of a life well lived.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence.” ― Aristotle
- “Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.” ― Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca
- “Do not set aside your happiness. Do not wait to be happy in the future. The best time to be happy is always now.” ― Roy T. Bennett
- “Maybe the truth is, there’s a little bit of loser in all of us. Being happy isn’t having everything in your life be perfect. Maybe it’s about stringing together all the little things.” ― Ann Brashares, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
- “The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage.” ― Carrie Jones, Need
- “A mathematical formula for happiness: Reality divided by Expectations. There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality or lower your expectations.” ― Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes
- “I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” ― Groucho Marx, The Essential Groucho: Writings For By And About Groucho Marx
- “I think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and they reflect that happiness.” ― Drew Barrymore
- “Whoever is happy will make others happy.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
- “Perfectionism is the enemy of happiness. Embrace being perfectly imperfect. Learn from your mistakes and forgive yourself, you’ll be happier. We make mistakes because we are imperfect. Learn from your mistakes, forgive yourself, and keep moving forward.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
- “The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” ― Martha Washington
- “I heard a definition once: Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I’d invented it because it is very true.” ― Audrey Hepburn
- “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
- “There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will. ” ― Epictetus
- “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.” ― J. Richard Lessor
- “Happiness is a risk. If you’re not a little scared, then you’re not doing it right.” ― Sarah Addison Allen, The Peach Keeper
- “My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.” ― Ayn Rand, Anthem
- “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.” ― Dalai Lama XIV, The Art of Happiness
- “Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.” ― Joanne Harris, Chocolat
- “Everybody in the world is seeking happiness—and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn’t depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.”
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
What other beautiful definitions of ‘happiness’ do you know? Do let us know in the comments section below!
