Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America
To the Republican Citizens of Washington County, Maryland (31 March 1809)
1800s, Post-Presidency (1809)
Quotes about happiness page 19
“Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy too.”
Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra
Source: Manuscript Found in Accra
“Happy will the house be in which the relationships are formed from character.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) American novelist, short story writer, designer
"A First Word" <br class="br"> A Backward Glance http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200271.txt (1934)
Emily Giffin Something Borrowed
Source: Something Borrowed
“Well, if I can't be happy, I can be useful, perhaps.”
Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) American novelist
“It was a time when only the dead smiled, happy in their peace.”
Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) Russian modernist poet
Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist
Variant: Nobody's life is filled with perfect little moments. And if it were they wouldn't be perfect little moments. They would just be normal. ow would you know happiness if you never experienced downs?
Source: P.S. I Love You
“this might be the happy ending without the ending”
David Levithan The Realm of Possibility
Source: The Realm of Possibility
“Happiness does not come from consumption of things.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World
“Time is given us to be happy and for no other reason […] When we waste time, we waste happiness.”
L. Frank Baum (1856–1919) Children's writer, editor, journalist, screenwriter
“You want us to fly off to save the world on Happy The Dragon?”
Rick Riordan book The Lost Hero
Source: The Lost Hero
“How were we to know we were happy?”
Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid's Tale
Variant: We thought we had such problems. How were we to know we were happy?
Source: The Handmaid's Tale
“I do not know what makes a writer, but it probably isn't happiness.”
William Saroyan (1908–1981) American writer
Source: The Bicycle Rider In Beverly Hills (1952)
Joss Whedon (1964) American director, writer, and producer for television and film
"This explains Joss perfectly." at Whedonesque.com (15 February 2006)
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames
“happiness aint got no Ph. D. or no certain amount of zeroes behind it!”
Terry McMillan book A Day Late and a Dollar Short
Source: A Day Late and a Dollar Short
“Happiness, not in another place but this place… not for another hour, but this hour.”
Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist
“Be mild, and cleave to gentle things,
thy glory and thy happiness be there.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Romantic poet
“Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.”
Raymond Carver (1938–1988) American short story author and poet
Christina Dodd (1957) American writer
Source: Rules of Attraction
“What were you like," I asked her. "we're you happy? Or were you smiling because they told you to?”
Gabrielle Zevin book Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
Source: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
“Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give.”
Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon
Tweet https://twitter.com/realbencarson/status/395168268920836096 (29 October 2013)
“Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness.”
Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer
“One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.”
Rita Mae Brown (1944) Novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
“Youth hasn't got anything to do with chronological age. It's times of hope and happiness.”
Wallace Stegner book Crossing to Safety
Source: Crossing to Safety
“You were my wonderfully bespoke original guide to happiness.”
Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist
Source: How to Fall in Love
“I'm not a very happy person," I told him."But sometimes I can trick myself into thinking I am.”
David Levithan (1972) American author and editor
Source: Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd
Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist
Source: Weirdos From Another Planet: Calvin & Hobbes Series: Book Six: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection
“(Man in bar) Can you imagine a world without men? (Sylvia) No crime, and lots of happy, fat women.”
Nicole Hollander (1939) Cartoonist
Source: Sylvia cartoon strip, pp. 212-213
Ernestine Gilbreth Carey book Belles on Their Toes
Source: Belles on Their Toes
“Albums that remind me of my childhood happiness make me incredibly sad now.”
Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
“Very little is needed to make a happy life.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
ἐν ὀλιγίστοις κεῖται τὸ εὐδαιμόνως βιῶσαι
VII, 67
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII
“Happiness, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.”
Ambrose Bierce book The Devil's Dictionary
The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Anne Morrow Lindbergh book Gift from the Sea
Letter to Corliss Lamont on her engagement (1928)
Bring Me a Unicorn (1971)
Source: Gift from the Sea
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist
Source: The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
“A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
“Whoever said you can't buy Happiness forgot little puppies.”
Gene Hill (1928–1997) American author
“You will never find happiness until you stop looking for it.”
Willie Nelson (1933) American country music singer-songwriter.
Source: The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart
“I have given up considering happiness as relevant.”
Edward Gorey (1925–2000) American writer, artist, and illustrator
Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat
Source: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection
“Most men are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer
“Do things that make you happy within the confines of the legal system.”
Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress
Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding
“Happiness is a Slurpee and a hot pink straw.”
Jenny Han (1980) American writer
Source: It's Not Summer Without You
“But I am happy. And happiness, I have decided, is a noble ambition.”
Seth Grahame-Smith (1976) US fiction author
Source: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
“No man is happy who does not think himself so.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave
Source: Meditations
Russell Hoban (1925–2011) American British novelist, children's writer and illustrator
Source: A Birthday for Frances
Mark Haddon book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Source: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
“Farewell happy fields,
Where joy forever dwells: Hail, horrors, hail.”
John Milton book Paradise Lost
Source: Paradise Lost
Gretchen Rubin (1966) American writer
Source: The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
“Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?”
William Makepeace Thackeray Vanity Fair
Come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out. Vol. II, ch. 27.
Source: Vanity Fair (1847–1848)