Henry David Thoreau

"The man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest."

--Henry David Thoreau

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Jean Paul Richter

"The test of pleasure is the memory it leaves behind."

--Jean Paul Richter

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Charles De Monstesquieu

"Constant idleness should be included in the tortures of hell, but it is, on the contrary, considered to be one of the joys of paradise."

--Charles De Monstesquieu

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Leo Tolstoy

"We only live for ourselves when we live for others."

--Leo Tolstoy

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John Ruskin

"Do not seek pleasure everywhere, but always be ready to find it."

--John Ruskin

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Samuel Smiles

"The secret of happiness? Enjoy small pleasures."

--Samuel Smiles

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Sir Roger L’Estrange

"It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water, they are good servants but bad masters."

--Sir Roger L’Estrange

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George Bernard Shaw

"You have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it."

--George Bernard Shaw

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Viktor E. Frankl

"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked."

--Viktor E. Frankl

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Proverbs 3:13-18

Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is the tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.

--Proverbs 3:13-18

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Bertrand Russell

"One should respect public opinion insofar as it is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."

--Bertrand Russell

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in our own sunshine."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

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George Bernard Shaw

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can."

--George Bernard Shaw

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John Ruskin

"The will of God for us is to live in happiness and take an interest in the lives of others."

--John Ruskin

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Jermey Bentham

"A person becomes happy to the same extent to which he or she gives happiness to other people."

--Jermey Bentham

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George Washington

"There is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness."

--George Washington

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Thich Nhat Hanh

"Remember that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making the person at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life."

--Thich Nhat Hanh

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Channing Pollock

"Happiness is a way station between too much and too little."

--Channing Pollock

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Charles Swindoll

"Attitude to me, is more important than facts. It is more important that the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude."
--Charles Swindoll

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Benjamin Disraeli

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."

--Benjamin Disraeli

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B. Eugene Griessman

"Modern man thinks he loses something -- time -- when he does not do things quickly, yet he does not know what to do with the time he gains except kill it."

--B. Eugene Griessman

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Mihaly Csikszentmihayli

"Contrary to what we usually believe, the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times--although such experiences can be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile."

--Mihaly Csikszentmihayli

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Rutherford B. Hayes

"Learn to know yourself to the end that you may improve your powers, your conduct, your character. This is the true aim of education and the best of all education is self-education."

--Rutherford B. Hayes

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Jimmy Stewart

"The secret of a happy life is to accept change gracefully."

--Jimmy Stewart

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Barbara Bush

"You don’t just luck into things as much as you’d like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it’s friendships or opportunities."

--Barbara Bush

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Arnold Bennett

"You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your mortal soul. Its right use, its most effective use, is a matter of highest urgency."

--Arnold Bennett

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Dale Carnegie

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon--instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."

--Dale Carnegie

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

"What must I do is all that concerns me -- not what people think. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own;-- but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Mary Cholomondeley

"Every year I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the powers we have not used, the selfish prudence which will miss nothing, and which, shirking pain, misses all happiness as well."

--Mary Cholomondeley

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Fulton Ousler

"We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow."

--Fulton Ousler
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