Related quotes
“It is the pursuit of happiness that brings us happiness, and not the happiness achieved.”
A message he left on his website to his fans, dated September 18th, 2003
2003
United Nations Bulletin Vol. XVI, No. 4 (15 February 1954)
1770s, Declaration of Independence (1776)
Context: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
“It's a great game - the pursuit of happiness.”
“It’s better to be happy than in pursuit of it.”
Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)
“Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
Commonly attributed, but source unknown. note: Uncertain
1851
Notebooks, The American Notebooks (1835 - 1853)
Context: Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.