Victory in Defeat, p. 36.
The Unknown Eros and Other Poems (1877)
“For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life.”
Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World (1995)
Source: Masters of the Maze (1965), Chapter 4 (p. 57)
"Obstacles to Happiness", p. 78
Awareness (1992)
Context: Happiness is our natural state. Happiness is the natural state of little children, to whom the kingdom belongs until they have been polluted and contaminated by the stupidity of society and culture. To acquire happiness you don't have to do anything, because happiness cannot be acquired. Does anybody know why? Because we have it already. How can you acquire what you already have? Then why don't you experience it? Because you've got to drop something. You've got to drop illusions. You don't have to add anything in order to be happy; you've got to drop something. Life is easy, life is delightful. It's only hard on your illusions, your ambitions, your greed, your cravings. Do you know where these things come from? From having identified with all kinds of labels!
“Life is not meant to be easy, my child but take courage: it can be delightful.”
Pt. V; see also the later phrasing of Malcolm Fraser, "life wasn't meant to be easy"
1920s, Back to Methuselah (1921)
“A cheerful life is what the Muses love,
A soaring spirit is their prime delight.”
From the Dark Chambers of Dejection Freed, l. 13 (1814).
