The 90 Best Quotes on Happiness and Joy

Discover the principles that govern pleasure, satisfaction and bliss through the best phrases of happiness and joy.

Reviewed and approved by the psychologist Elena Sanz.

Written by Josberth Johan Benitez Colmenares

Last update: 10 March, 2023

More than a purpose for living, for millions of people around the world, happiness is the meaning of life in itself. Everyone wants to achieve happiness, but few know the path that leads to it. If you want to ensure that your days are filled with more joy and satisfaction, we invite you to read the best quotes on happiness and joy.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), happiness is closely related to mental well-being. Indeed, those who perceive themselves to be more unhappy usually also report more episodes of anxiety, depression, and other related disorders. Let’s take a look at what leading writers, philosophers, and thinkers think in the following quotes on happiness and joy.

The best quotes on happiness and joy

Of all the concepts that are bandied about in our society today, happiness is one of the most misunderstood. Everyone thinks they know what it is – at least until someone asks them about its definition or characteristics. We’ll already warn you that it’s not our intention that you learn everything about it by the end of this article, but you may discover a different perspective that you hadn’t considered. 

Indeed, there are many ways to approach happiness and all the concepts associated with it (satisfaction, joy, pleasure, success, and so on). Let’s take a tour of the following quotes on happiness and joy to see what some of those who spent time philosophizing on this subject thought.

1. “There’s a kind of sweet innocence in being human, in not having to be only happy or only sad, in the nature of being able to be broken and whole at the same time” (C. JoyBell)

As we will discover throughout our selection of quotes on happiness and joy, there’s no such thing as a state of complete happiness. Just as there are happy moments, there are also sad ones.

This doesn’t mean that you should give in to pessimism during bad times. Life is a middle ground, so learn to embrace all its nuances as part of it.

2.”Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is not found in finishing an activity, but in doing it.” (Greg Anderson)

And therein lies one of the biggest problems in our society: speeding up the road in order to enjoy what lies at the end of it.

You will often get more satisfaction from appreciating the scenery and the adventure of the journey than you do from arriving at your destination. Don’t rush, enjoy each thing you do. Otherwise, you will never encounter true pleasure.

3. “There’s room in your life for all of the things that matter: for family and friends, love and generosity, fun, and joy. Without these, you will burn out mid-career and wonder where your life went.” (Jonathan Sacks)

Many people set aside happiness as a second-rate goal because they pursue other goals in their lives (work, for example). There’s nothing in this world that, with a little organization, prevents you from combining other important things in your life.

Just as you must make room for joy and happiness, you must also make room for love, your family, and fun, among other things. Otherwise, you can’t say that you are truly enjoying life. Usually, those who omit to dedicate space for all these things do so on the basis of excuses.

4. “The joy of living comes from our encounters with new experiences, and so there’s no greater joy than to have an infinitely changing horizon, each day having a new and different sun.” (Christopher McCandless)

Living in our comfort zone is very easy. We’re not saying it’s wrong to do so, just know that many of the opportunities that lead to joy or happiness are found outside of it.

The new experiences you add to your life, the challenges, problems, and adventures, whether planned or unplanned, always offer you another chance at happiness.

5. Quotes on happiness: “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’s far better to take things as they come with patience and equanimity.” (Carl Jung)

After all, how would you know that you’re happy if you hadn’t had to experience sad times in the past? It’s all part of a scale, one that, at times, you can tip in your favor towards the side of happiness.

As we will see with other phrases on happiness and joy, this state is not simply granted; it’s something you must earn based on actions.

6. “There’s no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow men and sensing that their presence is an addition to your comfort.” (Charlotte Brontë)

We come across one of the concepts that give meaning to happiness: love. According to the English author, part of being happy consists of being loved by those around you. Your partner, your family, and your friends contribute to watering your internal plant of happiness.

If you’re in this situation right now, you can wisely say that you are a happy person (you maybe just haven’t seen it that way until now!).

7. “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” (Marianne Williamson)

Often people undervalue what they have or what they are achieving in life by always wanting to get something better.

However, living this way is a perfect recipe for unhappiness. The moment you begin to appreciate the things you have, you have taken your first big step toward contentment and true happinesss.

8. “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” (Franklin Roosevelt)

To make an achievement happen, you must work hard to achieve it. You must plan, work hard, and sometimes fail, get up, and go for it again. Thus, we can include effort as one of the building blocks of happiness.

Without it, you can never fully embrace happiness. Likewise, you must strive in one way or another to perpetrate this state of joy and keep it from fading from your grasp.

9. “Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the laughter of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make the moments happy, not the big events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps.” (Sharon Draper)

In short, this quote reminds us that the opposite of what we’re used to associating with happiness is actually key. It doesn’t always come in a new house, a late model car, a dream job, or the perfect partner.

On the contrary, you find it every day in small fleeting moments that sometimes go unnoticed. You just have to be ready to recognize and enjoy it.

10. Quotes on happiness: “We can’t control the world. We can only (barely) control our own reactions. Happiness is largely a choice, not a right or a privilege.” (David C. Hill)

Stay with these words. If you do, you will have learned a great lesson from our happiness and joy quotes. Don’t think that you will be happy because this is a right that is due to you just for being alive, for being born, or for being a person.

Not at all. Either you conquer it with hard work, or your wait will be endless. More than a right, happiness is a privilege or a gift that very few are willing to grant themselves.

11. “The world is full of people who seek spectacular happiness while rejecting contentment.” (Doug Larson)

How many times have you rejected a small dose of happiness because you expect a stampede of it? Many times, you just haven’t realized it most of the time. As you’ve learned in the happiness and joy quotes above, it always comes in small doses.

If you’re willing to accept only the big harvests, you’ll never fully satisfy your appetite. Life is about making choices, so make sure you don’t turn your back on those little moments or things that bring you drops of satisfaction.

12. “Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something external to yourself to make you happy in the future.” (Earl Nightingale)

This is one of the best short quotes about happiness and joy, as it teaches you two things in a couple of words: don’t always postpone your happiness to the future, and don’t put it on someone other than yourself.

Unfortunately, both of these mistakes are repeatedly made in society. If you indefinitely postpone your happiness for later, then you will die without even finding it. Meanwhile, if you rely exclusively on someone else for you happiness, when they’re gone, you will be hopelessly unhappy.

13. “We tend to forget that happiness comes not as a result of getting something we don’t have, but of recognizing and appreciating what we have.” (Frederick Keonig)

Appreciating what we have, in this way, is another key to living a happy life. So far, it’s a constant in our phrases about happiness and joy, so you should remember this teaching for life. Remember for a moment that many of the things you have today were things you once longed for in the past. 

14. “Happiness and sadness run parallel. When one is resting, the other tends to take over.” (Hazelmarie Elliott)

So, although you should take a break to enjoy your happiness, you should never let your guard down because it takes less time to crumble than it takes to build.

Indeed, if after achieving it on the basis of effort you expect to rest and that it will always remain close to your life, your rest will result in the loss of it.

15. Quotes on happiness: “Life is a series of challenges. It presents a lot of difficulties, but the people who can take the hits and keep going are the ones who really have a lot of success and a lot of joy in their life and a lot of stories to tell.” (Josh Turner)

Given the number of obstacles and challenges we face in our lives, we often believe that we’re not meant to be happy. Think that these are not unique to you.

All human beings have to face these challenges, it’s just that will, determination, courage and perseverance makes some can overcome them faster.

16. “Genuine happiness comes from within and often comes from spontaneous feelings of joy.” (Andrew Weil)

…So spontaneous that you don’t take it for granted that they are related to happiness. There’s nothing wrong with looking for happiness on the outside, but keep in mind that it will always be incomplete if it’s not accompanied by inner happiness.

Sooner or later, this imbalance will end up ruining your life or what you have painstakingly achieved. Being at peace with your feelings, emotions, and your psychological well-being, for example, is part of it.

17. “Joy always descends upon us like evening dew, then hits us like a hailstorm.” (John Paul)

This is another metaphor from our phrases on happiness and joy that aims to teach you to appreciate, enjoy and rejoice in the small manifestations of happiness. Most of them are unexpected, which encourages us to value them more highly.

18. “Your success and happiness are within you. Decide to keep yourself happy and together with joy you will form an invincible barrier against adversity.” (Helen Keller)

It all begins with a decision: the decision to be happy. Saying it out loud or thinking about it will not bring you this feeling, but if you seal the decision that from now on you will do everything possible to achieve it.

The planning, the hard work, and the harvest of the first successes always come later. The beginning is always in the decision. So what about you? Have you already decided that you deserve to be happy?

19. “A happy life must to a large extent be a quiet life, for it’s only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dares to live.” (Bertrand Russell)

We meet again in our phrases of happiness and joy with a sister concept: quietness. Although they are of course different ideas, they keep some similar characteristics.

To such an extent that every happy person usually qualifies his life as calm and vice versa. Think about it carefully. Maybe these words are just what you need to read to discover that your life is happier than you expected.

20. Quotes on happiness: “From time to time, it’s good to pause in our search for happiness and simply be happy.” (Guillaume Apollinaire)

Many people are tirelessly dedicated to the pursuit of happiness. When they find a place that provides them with a little bit of it, they abandon it to immediately search for something better.

If you do this, your search will be meaningless, and its aftermath can drain your life both physically and psychologically. Sometimes you just have to stop to simply be happy.

21. “We all find joy and radiance and a reason to go on even in the most dreadful circumstances. Even in chaos and madness, there’s still a beauty that comes simply from the vitality of another human spirit.” (Ishmael Beah)

Remember these words the next time you have to go through an unfortunate time. Even in the darkest of places you will always find a light that will give you a reason to be happy. You just have to be willing to find it and decide that it is worth stepping out of the darkness to get closer to the light.

22. “Three great essentials for happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” (Joseph Addison)

Undoubtedly one of the best short phrases about happiness and success. Something to do, something to love, and something to look forward to is a recipe that can help you to direct your life toward these states.

Keep in mind that it is something to love, not someone. While of course the company of a person is not excluded, this something encompasses much more than a human being. Your life can have meaning as long as love is part of it, no matter where it’s placed.

23. “If you look to others for satisfaction, you will never be satisfied. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize that nothing is missing, the world belongs to you.” (Lao Tse)

These words offer you two keys to being happy: avoid comparing yourself with the happiness and achievements of others and do not place this feeling only around money. Of course, money is one of the means by which you can procure the comfort that allows us to feel happiness; however, it should not be the only one.

24. “As people turn faster and faster in the pursuit of merely personal happiness, they exhaust themselves in the futile effort of pursuing themselves.” (Andres Delbanco)

Many entertain themselves in the pursuit of happiness and do not realize that happiness is found in themselves. Sometimes we have the things we want in front of our faces, but we don’t focus our eyes enough to realize that they are there.

25. Quotes on happiness: “There are two things to aspire to in life: first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.” (Logan P. Smith)

Although it may seem so, they are two very different things. Enjoying the things you get in life is a step you should never skip. The effort and work behind it is something you should appreciate.

In this way, it’s a way of congratulating yourself for everything that you’ve had to do in the process. Try to apply this advice to even the smallest things.

26. “Happiness is a constant work in progress because problem-solving is a constant work in progress. Solutions to today’s problems will lay the foundation for tomorrow’s problems, and so on. True happiness occurs only when you find the problems you enjoy having and enjoy solving them.” (Mark Manson)

This is another quote about happiness and joy that goes against what’s commonly believed. The effort to maintain it is constant work – not just for a couple of days, months or years, but it’s perpetuated so that happiness itself does as well.

27. “When you’re happy look deep into your heart and you will find that it’s only what has given you pain that is giving you joy. When you’re sad look again into your heart, and you will find that you are indeed weeping for that which has been your delight.” (Khalil Gibran)

Although we find exceptions, of course, in general, these words are true to the letter. Many of the things that bring you happiness require some kind of effort, sweat, commitment or dedication in order to obtain them.

Conversely, many of the things that make you sad actually relate to moments, people, or objects that brought you happiness until very recently.

28. “When you are happy you find pure joy in your life. There are no regrets in this state of happiness, and that is an object worth striving for in all areas of your life.” (Suze Orman)

We include among our quotes on happiness and joy the fact that happiness is a state that should manifest itself in several areas of your life.

If you want to say out loud that you are happy, then this feeling should wash over many important things in your life. Work, your relationship, your health, economic stability and social relationships are a good example.

29. “Happiness always seems small when you have it in your hands, but let it go, and you will learn how big and precious it really is.” (Maxin Gorky)

Although when you do it will be too late to enjoy it, and it’s just at that moment when you will be flooded with sadness. This is why we tell you that you must know how to appreciate the happiness you find in every moment. Only then will you be sure to fully appreciate it.

30. Quotes on happiness: “The world is filled with a lot of fear, a lot of negativity and a lot of judgment. I just think people need to start shifting toward joy and happiness. As corny as it sounds we need to make a change.” (Ellen DeGeneres)

It’s not about turning your back on these feelings, or the bad things in life. It’s just that it’s much more productive for you to face life from a more positive prism, with happiness and joy, than to do it from the opposite sidewalk.

31. “For happiness you need security, but joy can bloom like a flower even from the cliffs of despair.” (Anne M. Lindbergh)

Even at times when you have every reason in the world not to be happy. You will always have excuses, obstacles, and situations that will prevent you from being happy. You just have to have the self-confidence, self-assurance, and courage to face these to conquer this longed-for feeling.

32. “It’s a simple but sometimes forgotten truth that the greatest enemy of joy and high hopes is the cultivation of retrospective bitterness.” (Robert Menzies)

He who only sows within himself unhappiness, bitterness, contempt, apathy, disinterest, and pessimism, cannot expect life to give him back the opposite.

Although being positive, facing life with happiness, and trying to be cheerful doesn’t guarantee that life will return the same, at least it doesn’t require a greater amount of effort than in the first case. One attitude can make an abysmal difference to your emotional well-being.

33. “If you really want to receive joy and happiness, then serve others with all your heart. Lift their burden and your own burden will be lighter.” (Ezra Taft Benson)

Through these words, we begin the phrases on happiness and joy that encourage you to help others so that your own happiness may flourish.

Some find true joy and pleasure in helping others, whether in small or large actions. If this is your case, it’s one of the ways to achieve happiness that also rewards society.

34. “We can’t be happy if we expect to live at the highest peak of intensity all the time. Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.” (Thomas Merton)

If your philosophy of life points in the opposite direction, you will never be able to say that you are in a state of complete happiness. It is like a roller coaster, it has highs and lows, and then it goes straight ahead. You have to learn to deal with them, since they are part of life itself.

35. Quotes on happiness: “Many people miss their share of happiness. This is not because they never found it, but because they never stopped to enjoy it.” (William Feather)

Words that keep in tune with other phrases of happiness and joy that we’ve already pointed out. More than reaching for this feeling, you must make sure you enjoy it. Sometimes you may catch hold of it, but you’re not ready to take 100% advantage of it. When this happens, all the effort you have put in is wasted.

36. “Since you get more joy by giving joy to others, you should think hard about the happiness you can give.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

This is partly because it’s no use for you to be happy if those around you are unhappy. If your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues are also happy, some of this feeling will rub off on you.

You don’t need a lot of work to get your circle to achieve this state. Sometimes all it takes is a smile and a lot of positivity to bring about change.

37. “All you need to do is turn on the news and, in five minutes, you’ll be depressed with the state of the world. Choosing joy is a fully active choice. It doesn’t just happen. You can’t just say I want to be happy. You have to do something.” (Billy Porter)

So, by avoiding some things and choosing others over them you can sow the seed that in a short time will blossom into happiness. It’s all a matter of priorities.

While there are of course things that are not up to your choices, sometimes you can choose to move away from things that bring you unhappiness and toward things that make you happy instead.

38. “The belief that we can rely on shortcuts to happiness, joy, ecstasy, and comfort, rather than entitlement to these feelings through the exercise of personal virtues and strengths, leads to legions of people who, in the midst of great wealth, are starving spiritually.” (Martin Seligman)

Along the road to happiness, you will encounter many shortcuts. Some of these are profitable for you, others may be detrimental in the long run.

A shortcut is not always the shortest way to the goal, always remember that. Life is a series of choices, and you can always decide whether you want to take one or stick to your original plan.

39. “If there were in the world today a large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desire the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.” (Bertrand Russell)

We often don’t realize it because people don’t shout it out loud, but there are many people who only desire the unhappiness of others. Surround yourself with those who are willing to accompany you on the road to happiness and give you words of encouragement and advice, and keep away those who are only an obstacle during your advancement.

40. Quotes on happiness: “Just as a cautious businessman avoids investing all his capital in a single investment, wisdom would probably also exhort us not to anticipate all our happiness in one part.” (Sigmund Freud)

This reminds us that we must learn to distribute our share of happiness in many things. This is a mistake of those who practice pathological attachment in a relationship. When it comes to an end, the world seems to crumble in the absence of that which brought them happiness.

41. “Joy can only be real if people regard their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” (Leo Tolstoy)

Without some form of planning in your life, you will just go through it lost, aimless, and without any purpose to pursue.

The same is true of happiness. You must define the objects that make you happy; only then will you be able to achieve them. If you don’t know you will do nothing but repeat to yourself that you are unhappy without knowing why.

42. “Happiness is like a butterfly. When we pursue it, it’s always just beyond our reach, but if you sit quietly, it may land upon you.” (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

This is one of the best metaphors you can read from our quotes on happiness and joy. It’s the perfect example of how futile it is to chase happiness when all you have to do is sit back and enjoy it.

Yes, at times you will have to work hard to make it light up your life. However, at others, you may be standing right next to it and your obsession with grabbing it prevents you from realizing it.

43. “Too often in life something happens and we blame other people for not being happy, satisfied, or fulfilled. But we all have choices and we make the decision to accept people or situations or not to accept them.” (Tom Brady)

Just as the meaning of happiness lies in yourself, so does the meaning of unhappiness. Except in some cases, you can never blame others for the reasons for your unhappiness.

You are the master of your life, your decisions, and your destiny. Your actions, and only your actions, have the final say in setting aside unhappiness and opting for contentment.

44. “The wonderful richness of human experience would lose some of its gratifying joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The climb to the top of the hill would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to cross over.” (Helen Keller)

After all, if it were that easy to achieve happiness all people would be happy. If you think about it a little, most things that are truly worthwhile require dedication, hard work, and overcoming difficulties.

45. Quotes on happiness: “When you treat yourself with the kindness and high regard you would give to one of your spiritual heroes, your body becomes the epicenter of quiet joy rather than a battleground for the ego.” (Debbie Ford)

In short, the best place to cultivate happiness and joy is within yourself. It’s not outside or in others others: it’s inside yourself.

After all, if you’re not happy with yourself and if you don’t value your effort, practice self-love, and respect your own integrity, how can you expect to do so with others? The answers to many questions are sometimes found within all of us.

46. “Man likes to tell his troubles, but not his joys. If you counted them as you should, you would see that every lot has happiness enough.” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

This is an important reflection that you should rescue from our phrases about happiness and joy. We all have to go through difficult moments in our lives, but we also have good moments that bring us happiness.

If you concentrate only on the former, it’s natural to think that your life is full of misfortunes. It’s a good idea to be objective when evaluating your last years in a balanced way.

47. “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” (W. P. Kinsella)

Pay attention to these words, because although they refer to similar ideas, they are very different. It’s true that success is one of the first manifestations that are taken to value happiness. This consists of achieving those things that you have planned for your life.

However, happiness is much more than obtaining what you have fought for. As we have already explained in other comments, being happy is about wanting, appreciating, and valuing what you get. Ths is not only about the things you have planned for, but also the things you haven’t.

48. “No one is in control of your happiness except yourself. Therefore, you have the power to change anything about your life that you wish to change.” (Barbara DeAngelis)

As long as you put your mind to it and are willing to fight for it, it’s possible. The path that leads to happiness is not a rose garden, but inaction will never allow you to walk it. Sometimes you just have to have the courage and willingness to decide to take the first step.

49. “Make choices that bring love and joy to your body. It’s not about perfection; it’s about love and gratitude for an amazing body that works hard and deserves your respect.” (Alysia Reiner)

We haven’t mentioned this in the previous quotes of happiness and joy, but happiness is also about being in harmony with your own body. By this, we don’t mean that the feeling is associated with a perfect body – far from it.

Being at ease with your body, accepting it, and not denying it is part of achieving happiness. Making the choices that lead to taking care of it, too. That’s why exercising and eating a healthy diet is one more expression of loving and appreciating your body.

50. Quotes on happiness: “What we get out of this adventure is pure joy. And joy is, after all, the goal of life. We do not exist to simply earn a living.” (George L. Mallory)

This is true even though many associate earning a living with happiness. As you have already learned, you can only say that you are happy when this feeling overflows several aspects of your life, not just one.

Of course, it’s impossible for every single course of living to be happy. However, nothing prevents you from trying to achieve as much balance as you can toward this state.

51. “I believe that contentment or any sustained period of joy that does not inspire thoughts that lead to action almost immediately is useless.” (Henry Rollins)

Thus, you can’t be happy in your head alone. You have to materialize those thoughts into reality, something you can do through action. If you leave this requirement aside, your daydreams will never cross the border of reality.

52. “There are two ways to be happy: decrease our needs or increase our means; the result is the same and each man must decide for himself and do what is easier.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Reduce your aspirations for life and increase the means by which you want to achieve your dreams. The former is an easy decision, the latter requires hard work and a lot of effort. In the end, the choice is always yours; you must choose that which you believe will bring you the greatest happiness.

53. “In general, the happiest people seem to be those who have no particular reason for being happy, except that they are happy.” (William R. Inge)

This is something you’ve surely noticed at various times in your life. Sometimes we meet people who are happy without any tangible reason to be happy.

This is because they have learned to drink happiness from several sources, and not only from one. It is only through this method that they obtain abundance.

54. “Most people would rather be sure that they are miserable than risk being happy.” (Robert Antohony)

This is because being happy always demands a certain risk. The first, and perhaps the most important, is disappointment or failure. Failure at the moment of being happy is always a possibility, one as real as a triumph. Knowing this before you start the race will exonerate you from unexpected frustrations.

55. Quotes on happiness: “I learned that men and women who lead a wholehearted life really allow themselves to soften into joy and happiness. They allow themselves to experience it.” (Brene Brown)

This is another one of the quotes about happiness and joy that points you to an indispensable lesson in your search for this feeling. Those who are truly happy are not shouting to the four winds that they are; they only try to enjoy it themselves or among those who compose their circle. Sometimes it pays to be cautious when choosing with whom you share your achievements.

56. “Great joy, especially after a sudden change of circumstances, tends to be silent and dwells more in the heart than on the tongue.” (Henry Fielding)

Words that are in tune with the previous sentence. When you feel true joy, it’s enough to feel it within you. By this, we do not mean that you repress it, but that you avoid doing it with everyone.

As we have already warned you, there are those who enjoy making others unhappy. THus, it’s better not to risk having one closer than you think.

57. “If you want to experience joy in your life you have to be able to step outside of yourself and be part of a cause that is much bigger than yourself; one that brings greater good to a greater community.” (Srikumar Rao)

In other words, find a purpose that helps others to be happy.

We’ve already pointed out that for some this represents one of the sources of happiness. If you do this within your community you can benefit directly, for there is nothing that increases your satisfaction more than to see that those around you are also happy.

58. “There’s something terribly morbid in modern sympathy for pain. One should also sympathize with beauty and the joy of living. The less said about the sores of life, the better.” (Oscar Wilde)

Our society has put pain under the spotlight as the sole protagonist of the spectacle. However, pain is just another emotion, one as important as joy, happiness, and all the others.

Life is not only black and white; it has its many grays. However, it’s always better to rescue its lighter parts than those that are darker.

59. “Many people have a mistaken idea of what constitutes true happiness. It’s not achieved through self-gratification, but through faithfulness to a worthy purpose.” (Helen Keller)

Being faithful to a worthy purpose is another of the lessons you can glean from our quotes on happiness. It should always pursue what you want to achieve, what takes your breath away, and what you long for more than anything else in life.

If you know how to point your compass towards it and you’re willing to overcome the difficulties, it won’t be long before you can reach it.

60. Quotes on happiness: “You will never be happy if you keep looking for what happiness is all about. You will never live if you search for the meaning of life.” (Albert Camus)

Those who constantly ask themselves what happiness is are destined to spin in an eternal loop. The same thing happens with the question of what is the meaning of life. Instead of wondering what it is, it’s better to stop, live, and be happy.

61. “The real secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” (William Morris)

In this case, we’re talking about a genuine interest – not a feigned one. After all, these details are a part of what life itself is.

Living is not just about taking a walk during vacations, enjoying yourself with your loved ones, or playing with your pet. Every minute of your life, no matter what you do with them, should be faced with the utmost optimism of happiness.

62. “Our ability to extract happiness from aesthetic objects or material goods seems in fact to depend critically on first satisfying a more important range of emotional or psychological needs, among them the need for understanding, love, expression, and respect.” (Alain De Botton)

In short, you must first work from within before you get credit for happiness from without. Any harvest of success, no matter what it is, comes from satisfying emotional needs. If not, it’s a lifelong burden that will irremediably sabotage your progress sooner or later.

63. “The happiness of life is made up of the little charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment.” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

This reminds us of little things that we often take for granted, or that we let pass without appreciating what they mean. It’s only when we don’t have that kiss, that smile, that look, or that compliment that we feel how much we miss them.

Don’t wait until this moment comes to give yourself over to regret. Instead, make sure you enjoy them as best you can.

64. “Happiness is the experience of loving life. To be happy is to be in love with that momentary experience. And love is looking at someone or even something and seeing the best in him/her. Love is happiness with what you see. So love and happiness are really the same things, just expressed differently.” (Robert McPhillips)

This is a quote about the relationship between love and happiness we’ve already displayed in other quotes about happiness and joy. In this case, the author considers that both are nothing more than different manifestations of the same feeling.

If you think about it, every happy person enjoys love in one way or another, and whoever is in love will always qualify his present as very happy.

65. Quotes on happiness: “Don’t waste your time with anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.” (Roy T. Bennett)

One of the worst mistakes you can make in life is to realize at the end of your days that you’ve wasted your time with feelings that never brought you good things. You decide with what attitude to face problems, so you can always choose to face them with more positive emotions.

66. “If you wish it, each day can be filled with more joy than the last. If you want it, even the most seemingly random events can work in your favor.” (Ralph Marston)

As long as the desire is accompanied by actions that favor it. Everything starts with willingness; this should always be your starting point.

67. “To be happy you must imagine that everything you have is a gift and that you are the chosen one to receive it, even though you worked to the end for every detail.” (Robert Brault)

You can start by being grateful for being alive. For many people, this is the main reason to be happy: life and health. These are two gifts that we take for granted, so much so that we don’t even stop to think about them.

68. “Happiness is the result of the relative strength of positive and negative feelings rather than an absolute amount of one or the other.” (Norman Bradburn)

Both are two sides of the same coin, which operate like yin and yang. It’s not possible to completely repress negative feelings; they will always be there.

The key is to find the balance and that you are the one who can choose when you can appeal to one or the other. The opposite would be for them to control you.

69. “Well, the greatest joy definitely comes from doing something for someone else, especially when it was done without thinking of something in return.” (John Wooden)

In the comments on this subject, we haven’t pointed out this important detail: when you do something for others, you should never do it with the mind that you will receive something in return. Your only goal should be doing good, nothing else. This will allow you to feel true happiness.

70. Quotes on happiness: “To have great happiness, you must first have great pain and unhappiness; otherwise, how would you know when you are happy?” (Leslie Caron)

If it weren’t for pain, you wouldn’t be able to tell that you’re going through a good time at all. Paradoxical as it may sound, it is the sad moments that make us remember, yearn and strive to return again to the summit of happiness.

71. “If you want to be happy, set a goal that controls your thoughts, frees your energy, and inspires your hopes.” (Andrew Carnegie)

Control your thoughts to the extent that you direct them towards emotions that will make you happy and free your energy so that you can use them for actions that will lead you to fulfill your goals.

72. “You can’t judge what should bring joy to others, and others cannot judge what should bring joy to you.” (Alan Cohen)

This is undoubtedly one of the phrases about happiness and joy that should be taken into account more often. What makes you happy does not have to make others happy, and vice versa. Not questioning the object of happiness is a rule that those who wish to pursue this state must put on.

73. “There’s only one cause of unhappiness: the false beliefs you have in your head, beliefs so widespread, so commonly held, that it never occurs to you to question them.” (Anthony de Mello)

Banishing common negative beliefs is not an easy road to travel, since setting aside prejudices is not something you can achieve by snapping your fingers. If you really want to be happy, however, thi is the only option you have on the table.

74. “The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It’s not that we seize them, they seize us.” (Ashley Montagu)

This is an interesting analogy that we didn’t include in the happiness and joy quotes above. Sometimes you are not meant to embrace happiness, but it will embrace you. When it does, it will always be an unexpected moment.

75. Quotes on happiness: “There’s only one way to happiness, and that is to stop worrying about things that are beyond the power of our will.” (Epictetus)

Worry about the things that you can control, that are your responsibility; not that of others. After all, you can’t control what others do or say.

It seems so simple and easy to assimilate, but this is the source of billions of worries around the world. Of course, such incidents have a direct impact on your unhappiness.

76. “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile is the source of your joy.” (Thich Nhat Hanh)

So you should try to smile more often. Close your eyes for a few minutes and honestly answer one question: how often do you smile?

77. “You can light a thousand candles with a single candle, and the life of that candle will not be cut short. Happiness never diminishes when it’s shared.” (Buddha)

This a a reminder so you can make it one of your goals to procure the happiness of others with your own. It will cost you nothing and you will also benefit indirectly. If those around you also radiate light, you will have less room to fall into darkness.

78. “The two enemies of happiness are pain and boredom.” (Arthur Schopenhauer)

You can’t control the former (at least not entirely), but you can do many things to counteract the latter. For many people, the source of their unhappiness lies in having nothing to do. If this is your case, you just have to distribute your time with things that cause you pleasure and joy.

79. “You can be happy wherever you are.” (Joel Osteen)

This is a reminder that will lead you not to anchor your happiness to a geographical space. We can return to a place, but not to the moment. Since happiness is always about creating new moments that give you the satisfaction you can be happy no matter where you are.

80. Quotes on happiness: “The reason people find it so difficult to be happy is that they remember the past to be better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be.” (Marcel Pagnol)

Is this the source of all dissatisfaction? For many, yes, without the slightest doubt. Remember these words and try to meditate on them outside this space to find out if you are one of those who fall into this deadly trap.

81. “The fool seeks happiness at a distance, the wise man cultivates it under his feet.” (James Oppenheim)

There’s a difference between postponing your happiness for the future and doing things today that will procure you to find it later. Today you have to sow the seed that tomorrow you will reap.

Whether with small or big actions, it is the only way to progress towards it. Achieving this state takes time, so you must be patient along the way.

82. “Most of us are only as happy as we decide to be.” (Williams Adams)

Saving the details you can’t control, happiness always starts with deciding to be happy. It’s not something you can decide at the drop of a hat, as sometimes the odds will be against you.

83. Quotes: “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often, we look so long at the closed door that we don’t see the one that has opened for us.” (Helen Keller)

It may be bigger or smaller than the previous one, but it will always be there. You just have to be on guard to spot it and hurry to open it. Remember that opportunities have an expiration date, they do not last forever.

84. “Most of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances.” (Martha Washington)

We will always find reasons not to move forward. However, many people who have achieved success, happiness, or satisfaction began with unfavorable circumstances and ended up imposing themselves on the basis of their disposition.

85. Quotes on happiness: “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls bloom.” (Marcel Proust)

Surround yourself with them and be a part of their happiness. Remember, too, that many of them have no one to water their garden. You can be one of them, so you return what they have given you.

86. “The first recipe for happiness is to avoid meditating too long on the past.” (Andre Maurois)

The past brings us all the negative beliefs, excuses, and obstacles that will prevent us from walking the path. Leave the past in the past; what matters is today.

87. “Happiness is something that comes into our lives through doors we don’t even remember leaving open.” (Rose Lane)

It’s in this that the allegory of sowing a seed to reap its fruit in posterity makes sense. The more seeds you sow, the more fruit you will reap.

88. “Happiness is where we find it, but it’s seldom where we seek it.” (J. Petit Senn)

Although these words may hide a paradox, many of our readers will surely attest to them. Sometimes happiness is not where you have looked for it, but you find it in spaces you had not even considered exploring.

89. “Happiness consists in living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation.” (Leo Tolstoy)

Perhaps therein lies one of the keys to living a life that satisfies you completely. This is one of the short quotes on happiness and joy that should be memorized.

90. “Optimism is a magnet for happiness. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be attracted to you.” (Mary Lou Retton)

We’d like to end our selection of happiness and joy quotes by reminding you that optimism is a card that always plays in your favor when it comes to happiness and pleasure. It’s one that you always have in your pocket; you just have to be willing to play it all the time.

With that last comment, we’ll close the reflections on happiness through these amazingquotes. Make sure to write down the ones you liked the most and apply them as a philosophy of life!