
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Happiness
President Saddam Hussein's Speech on National Day (1981)
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Happiness
Delusion for a Dragon Slayer (1966)
Context: "Heaven is what you mix all the days of your life, but you call it dreams. You have one chance to buy your Heaven with all the intents and ethics of your life. That is why everyone considers Heaven such a lovely place. Because it is dreams, special dreams, in which you exist. What you have to do is live up to them."
"I—" started Griffin, but the wizard cut him off with a blink.
"No, listen, please, because after this, all the magic stops, and you have to do it alone.
“You create your own Heaven, and you have the opportunity to live in it, but you have to do it on your own terms, the highest terms of which you are capable. So sail this ship through the straits, navigate the shoals, find the island, overcome the foam-devil that guards the girl, win her love, and you’ve played the game on your own terms."
1990s, Speech at Ohio Wesleyan University (1997)
“Live among men as if God beheld you; speak with God as if men were listening.”
sic vive cum hominibus tamquam deus videat, si loquere cum deo tamquam homines audiant.
Source: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter X: On living to oneself, Line 5.
“You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings”
Eat, Pray, Love (2006)
Context: 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.