The Happiness Project Quotes
“Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.”
-Robert Louis Stevenson
“I think that it is useless to fight directly against natural weaknesses. One has to force oneself to act as though one did not have them in circumstances where a duty makes it imperative; and in the ordinary course of life one has to know these weaknesses, prudently take them into account, and strive to turn them to good purpose; for they are all capable of being put to some good purpose.”
-Simone Weil, Waiting For God
“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly-that is what each of us is here for.”
-Oscar Wilde
“She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it)."
-Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
“Every man is, no doubt, by nature, first and principally recommended to his own care; and as he is fitter to take care of himself, than of any other person, it is fit and right that it should be so."
-Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
“The sacrifice of pleasures is of course itself a pleasure."
-Muriel Spark, Loitering With Intent
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To see things in their true proportion, to escape the magnifying influence of a morbid imagination, should be one of the chief aims of life."
-The Map of Life, William Edward Hartpole Lecky
"Forever -- is composed of nows --"
- Emily Dickinson
"After all, a vacation is not a matter of place or time. We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay at home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for a while. But no amount of travel will give us rest and recreation if we carry our work and worries with us."
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, essay September 1919
"Stay, stay at home, my heart and rest; Home-keeping hearts are the happiest, For those that wander they know not where Are full of trouble and full of care; To stay at home is best."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."
- George Moore
"The disturbers of happiness are our desires, our griefs, and our fears."
- Samuel Johnson
"The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
- Buddha
"It is so many years before one can believe enough in what one feels even to know what the feeling is."
- William Butler Yeats
"In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it: They must not do too much of it: and they must have a sense of success in it."
- John Ruskin
"To be mature you have to realize what you value most. It is extraordinary to discover that comparatively few people reach this level of maturity. They seem never to have paused to consider what has value for them. They spend great effort and sometimes make great sacrifices for values that, fundamentally, meet no real needs of their own. Perhaps they have imbibed the values of their particular profession or job, of their community or their neighbors, of their parents or family. Not to arrive at a clear understanding of one’s own values is a tragic waste. You have missed the whole point of what life is for."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest."
- William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
"There is something in living close to the great elemental forces of nature that causes people to rise above small annoyances and discomforts."
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, essay, February 1917
-Robert Louis Stevenson
“I think that it is useless to fight directly against natural weaknesses. One has to force oneself to act as though one did not have them in circumstances where a duty makes it imperative; and in the ordinary course of life one has to know these weaknesses, prudently take them into account, and strive to turn them to good purpose; for they are all capable of being put to some good purpose.”
-Simone Weil, Waiting For God
“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly-that is what each of us is here for.”
-Oscar Wilde
“She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it)."
-Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
“Every man is, no doubt, by nature, first and principally recommended to his own care; and as he is fitter to take care of himself, than of any other person, it is fit and right that it should be so."
-Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
“The sacrifice of pleasures is of course itself a pleasure."
-Muriel Spark, Loitering With Intent
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To see things in their true proportion, to escape the magnifying influence of a morbid imagination, should be one of the chief aims of life."
-The Map of Life, William Edward Hartpole Lecky
"Forever -- is composed of nows --"
- Emily Dickinson
"After all, a vacation is not a matter of place or time. We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay at home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for a while. But no amount of travel will give us rest and recreation if we carry our work and worries with us."
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, essay September 1919
"Stay, stay at home, my heart and rest; Home-keeping hearts are the happiest, For those that wander they know not where Are full of trouble and full of care; To stay at home is best."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."
- George Moore
"The disturbers of happiness are our desires, our griefs, and our fears."
- Samuel Johnson
"The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
- Buddha
"It is so many years before one can believe enough in what one feels even to know what the feeling is."
- William Butler Yeats
"In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it: They must not do too much of it: and they must have a sense of success in it."
- John Ruskin
"To be mature you have to realize what you value most. It is extraordinary to discover that comparatively few people reach this level of maturity. They seem never to have paused to consider what has value for them. They spend great effort and sometimes make great sacrifices for values that, fundamentally, meet no real needs of their own. Perhaps they have imbibed the values of their particular profession or job, of their community or their neighbors, of their parents or family. Not to arrive at a clear understanding of one’s own values is a tragic waste. You have missed the whole point of what life is for."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest."
- William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
"There is something in living close to the great elemental forces of nature that causes people to rise above small annoyances and discomforts."
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, essay, February 1917