How To Be Happy? : Quotes By Wise People

All of us want to be happy and many times are looking for happiness in wrong place, including myself. Here at Happy Heart and Mind , I am always looking for ways to make heart and mind happy by finding a balance between our heart and mind. I am sure you do that too.

Here are some quotes by wise and famous people to make you feel great and inspired to have a better day TODAY!
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“The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be”
-Marcel Pagnol (French Writer, Producer and Film Director, 1895-1974)

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“When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy.”
– Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

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“Just think how happy you would be if you lost everything you have right now, and then got it back again.”
-Frances Rodman

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“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
– Albert Einstein (German born American Physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

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“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
– Tom Bodett

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“Happiness is what happens to us when we try to make someone else happy.”
-Unknown

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“A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.”
– Hugh Downs
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“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”
– Dale Carnegie (American lecturer, author, 1888-1955)

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“You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.”
– Epicurus (Greek philosopher, BC 341-270)

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“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.”
– Alice Walker (American writer, b.1944)

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“The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure is occupation.”
– George Bernard Shaw (Irish literary Critic, Playwright and Essayist. 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1856-1950)

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“You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren’t happy in one place, chances are you won’t be happy anyplace.”
– Ernie Banks

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“Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.”
– Dr. Robert Anthony (Self-help author)

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“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking”
– Marcus Aurelius quotes (Roman emperor, best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy, AD 121-180)

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“Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger (Austrian born American Actor and Governor)

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“Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
– Abraham Lincoln (American 16th US President (1861-65), who brought about the emancipation of the slaves. 1809-1865)

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“The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.”
– Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

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“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”
– Andrew Carnegie

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“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
– Gautam Buddha

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“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”
-Carl Jung

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“Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.”
– Linus Pauling

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“Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more.”
– David Steindl-Rast

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“The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind.”
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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Hope you enjoyed it ant inspired!

Your turn: What is your happiness Quote?

Image Source:

Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

39 comments

  1. Angela Artemis says:

    Hi Preeti,
    Great post! I love all the quotes especially the one by Guatama Buddha.

    My favorite quote is this one: Be like the Sun and you shall warm the Earth. Anonymous

    I try to live by that.

  2. taurian says:

    In the end what matters is

    Did you live well?
    Did you love well?
    Did you let go?

    Hope you had a wonderful Diwali Preeti 🙂

  3. Farnoosh says:

    Lovely, inspiring, and beautiful collection of quotes, Preeti. A good few I had heard but it was worth a re-read – and a few I learned, which I loved. You made my day! Things we think about the most….so true. Thank you for pulling this together, Preeti and I hope you are doing well and it’s not yet cold where you are…Wish I could say the same….brrrr..!!!

  4. Dawn says:

    A wonderful and inspiring list.

    I don’t really have a favorite “happiness” quote but I do have a number of quotes I love pinned to my wall. The one that always gives me goose bumps when I read it is by Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee Nation.

    “When it comes your time to die,
    be not like those whose heads are filled with the fear of death,
    so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
    Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”

  5. The Vizier says:

    Hi Preeti!

    I feel happy just by reading your happy post! 🙂

    Everyone is looking for ways to be happy, so these selection of quotes are timely suggestions on how to do so.

    ““The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be”
    -Marcel Pagnol”

    I think Marcel Pagnol was right. Happiness is a matter of perception. Since perception is subjective, by changing it, we can become happier.

    ““They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
    – Tom Bodett”

    Basically, Tom has summed up my view of happiness in this simple but profound sentence.

    ““Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
    – Gautama Buddha”

    What is happiness if we keep it only for ourselves? I love this quote because it represents a fundamental truth of life. It is something that we would do well to bear in mind.

    Thank you for sharing this post! 🙂

  6. Henway says:

    Great quotes! I actually think finding happiness is a dead-end. There really is no such thing as being happy – just excited. When you find yourself moving towards a goal with passion, with incredible focus, flow, and not worrying about the future/past, that’s happiness to me. But you aren’t consciously saying to yourself, Hey I’m happy – you’re too busy chasing that goal.

  7. Aileen says:

    Preeti, I love this post – I love these quotes! I have a few favorites, which you listed above… this is one of them “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

  8. ZenGirl says:

    Henway,

    Happiness can be double edge sword, we are talking about same thing here. I like happiness that from passion and our inner desires. That seemed to be always long lasting for me. Chasing after happiness without focus or passion will not work in long run.

  9. ZenGirl says:

    Irving,

    I am happy to hear you are happy to read this happiness quote post! 🙂 My thought was a mouthful 🙂 I really like how you broke each quotes you liked and shared your opinion. Happiness is sharing and caring about people! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

  10. ZenGirl says:

    Dawn,

    I like the quote you shared. It is really profound. I also like the idea of having a quote wall, to look at whenever we need an inspiration! Great idea, I may do that. Thanks for sharing.

  11. ZenGirl says:

    Farnoosh,

    I am glad you liked the quotes, many times I am feeling down and I read quotes by wise people and it seems to lift up my mood and inspires me to do something about it, so I thought why not I share these gems.

    I am doing fine, just crazy busy with kids and life. it is getting rainy and cold here in California too, so I hear you. Stay warm!

  12. ZenGirl says:

    Taurian,

    These are some great and profound questions to ask ourselves, I really liked it.

    I had a great and quite Diwali, we went to temple and did Pooja at home. I hope you had a wonderful diwali too.

  13. ZenGirl says:

    Angela,

    Thank you. These quotes I have in small paper and it lifts me up when I am down and read it. I love Buddha and his teaching too. I like the quote you shared, it is very inspiring. I think you do live like that, as I am inspired by you always.

  14. Lizzie Manuel says:

    Great post! I would just like to add up another quote :

    “The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.” James M. Barrie

  15. Dia says:

    Hi Preeti,

    Very nice quotes! I like all of them especially this one, “Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.” by Alice Walker Thanks for sharing all those inspiring quotes my friend 🙂

  16. Armen Shirvanian says:

    Hi Preeti.

    That one regarding how happy we would be if we imagined that we lost everything we had and got it back sure does make sense. I like my table, for example. If it was not here, and then I got this table, I would be quite glad. It’s a good table/desk. When I imagine things this way, suddenly most of what I have seems pretty cool. We can’t let ourselves get spoiled or we lose our valuable motivation.

  17. Frank says:

    To me there is nothing more inspiring than the words spoken by others in the past that still ring true with the situations I face today. I love them all. Good quotes make me happy.

  18. ZenGirl says:

    Armen,

    I like ““Just think how happy you would be if you lost everything you have right now, and then got it back again.”, It certainly true for me. I hope you never have to lose your good table/desk ever! 🙂 Sometimes losing things and people we love, we realize the value of it.

  19. ZenGirl says:

    Dia,

    I am glad you liked it. I think happiness comes from within us, but often we (myself included) looking for happiness in outward. Like your new avatar pic!

  20. Betsy Bargain says:

    Some great collected wisdom, Preeti. Thanks for sharing it. I found this one that I like: “Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.” George Santayana

  21. ZenGirl says:

    Vaishali,

    I am so glad you like it, Now I feel so better reading your comment, and I always find something yummy and healthy to eat when I read your blog. Thank you.

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