As a writer, reader, child-at-heart, I have always loved quotes, since I was a child. I love concise statements that can say more in a few words or lines than I can in an entire essay. I like the fact that they are memorable, insightful, and packed with information, like a motivational zip file.
Some quotes leave you somber. Some quotes leave you inspired. Some quotes leave you with a desire to find that special someone you've put off looking for. And some are just down-right fun. Warning here however, these may warm you belly and wrap your heart in fresh-just-out-of-the-oven-buttered-mother-hugs hole filler soul. So sit back and enjoy.
"Laughter is the shortest thing between two people"--Victor Borge
"A good laugh is sunshine in the house."--William Makepeace Thackeray
"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face."--Victor Hugo
"A day without laughter is a day wasted."--Charlie Chaplin
"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter."--Mark Twain
"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us."--Ashley Montagu
"You'll always find what you look for; so look for Happiness.--Unknown
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action."--Benjamin Disraeli
"Happiness is a how, not a what; a talent, not an object."--Herman Hesse
"Happiness is not a station to arrive at, but a manner of traveling."--Margaret Lee Runbeck
"Happiness, not in another place, but this place...not for another hour, but this hour..."--Walt Whitman
"Happiness, at best, is an illusory goal. It is not a destination; it is a manner of traveling. Happiness is not an end in itself. It is a by-product of working, playing, loving, living."--Haim Ginott
"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
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature."--Marcus Aureleus
"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself."--Og Mandino
"There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all."--Anonymous
"In the sphere of material things, giving means being rich. Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much."--Erich Fromm
"The foolish person seeks happiness in the distance, the wise person grows it under his feet."--James Oppenheim
"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness."--Charles H. Spurgeon
"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
"No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has."--Henry Ward Beecher
"Be thankful for what you have you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."--Oprah Winfrey
"Happiness consists not in having, but of being, not of possessing, but of enjoying. It is the warm glow of a heart at peace with itself."--Norman Vincent Peale
"The constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."--Ben Franklin
"Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves."--Helen Keller
"Happiness is like a cat. If you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you. It will never come. But if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it rubbing up against your legs and jumping into your lap."--William Bennett
"Happiness is a butterfly which when pursued is just out of grasp... But if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."--Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Happiness is not found by searching for it, because you find it only when you realize you already have it."--David Charles
"My opinion is that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it."--Chuang Tzu
"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness. Not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it."--William Feather
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."--Guillaume Apollinaire
"It is one of the strange ironies of this strange life [that] those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest people."--Brutus Hamilton
"Every exit is an entry somewhere else."--Tom Stoppard
"Smile... It increases your face value!"--Robert Harling
"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."--Buddha
"Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible."--Norman Vincent Peale
"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own."--Ben Sweetland
"Getters generally don't get happiness; givers get it. You simply give to others a bit of yourself a thoughtful act, a helpful idea, a word of appreciation, a lift over a rough spot, a sense of understanding, a timely suggestion. You take something out of your mind, garnished in kindness out of your heart, and put it into the other fellow's mind and heart."--Charles H. Burr
"Someday you will find out that there is far more happiness in another's happiness than in your own. It is something I cannot explain, something within that sends a glow of warmth all through you."--Honore de Balzac
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."--Dalai Lama
"Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants."--Esther de Waal
"Happiness is not having what you want, it's wanting what you have."--Spencer Johnson
"Happiness does not consist in things themselves but in the relish we have of them...."--Francois, duc de La Rochefoucauld
"Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy."--Wayne Dyer
"I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed."--Dalai Lama
"I think I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others."--Booker T. Washington
"You find yourself refreshed in the presence of cheerful people. Why not make an honest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy."--Lydia M. Child
"Cheerfulness: the more it is spent, the more of it remains."--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."--Chinese proverb
"Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain."--Helen Keller
"Children are a poor man's riches."--English proverb
"Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present -- which seldom happens to us."--Jean De La BruyFre
"Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been."--Mark Twain
"To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own, this is happiness."--J.B. Priestley
"We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining--they just shine."--Dwight L. Moody
"It doesn't take a lot to make me happy. I take pleasure from everything I do."--Oprah Winfrey
"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats."--Iris Murdoch
"Declare a happiness day. Do what makes you feel good, useful, and fulfilled. Save unpleasant tasks, difficult people, and negative thoughts for tomorrow."--Unknown
"The greatest happiness in the world is to make others happy."--Luther Burbank
"Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people brings happiness."--Rabbi Harold Kushner
"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."--Groucho Marx
"There are two days in the week about which and upon which I never worry. Two carefree days, kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday...And the other ... is Tomorrow."--Robert Jones Burdette
"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes is certain for those who are friends."--Richard Bach
"Become a connoisseur of happiness. Hang out with optimistic people. Watch how they respond to life. Ask them what makes them happy."--Unknown
Jeff is CEO of InnerProjection.com: working with students and parents using the proprietary Success, Design and Preparation
system creating a plan to ensure being of the 30% of college grads who
don't waste 10 to 15 years or leave 100s of thousands of dollars on the
table.
Previous to owning Inner
Projection, Jeff worked as a computer programmer and in tech. support,
but hated it enough to move from his home in Connecticut to do stand up
comedy in Boston where he worked with such comics as Bill Burr, Dan
Cook, and Billy Martin and wrote for people like Mz. Michagan who
needed material for her ventriloquism act. He then moved to Los Angeles
to do more stand up, but found being a college professor more
fulfilling. He's married with 3 children.
Looking for a fast paced, fun, inspirational read?: Black Body Radiation and the Ultraviolet Catastrophe (Amazon.com).
» left by sue thom from nj (1 year 245 days ago.)
hi jeff,
excellently presented, and great uplifting
tips to get us out of ourselves, and into others.
thanks for sharing,
best regards,
sue Respond to this comment
» left by Teresa Ortiz(11,116) Teresa Ortiz (1 year 245 days ago.)
Hi Jeff, thanks forthe smile and sharing these quotes. I love the Groucho Marx quote!!
Yes, laughter, laughter, laugheter. I agree, it's great thearpy, and without it, I'd be dead. Literally. I suffered great depression as a youth. Only my writing and humor kept me alive. It's why I did standup comedy for five years. I still use it in my classes. I don't know how anyone can live life without humor or laughter in their day. A laugh a day keeps the devil away. Respond to this comment
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