four boys laughing and sitting on grass during daytimePhoto Credit: Robert Collins

Happiness is... what? We are all involved in the pursuit of happiness and it can mean something different to each of us. And something different at different points in our lives. So it is something to periodically re-ponder - what does happiness mean to me and am I happy and how important is that to me?

Here is a large collection of the best happiness quotes we could find for you to reflect upon and enjoy.

Our hope is that some will resonate with you and thus brighten your day! Please share widely and spread the happy!

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

--Gautama Buddha

A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.

--Helen Keller

The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it.

--Jacques Yves Cousteau

A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.

--Seneca

There are so many ways to seek and find pleasure, but only one way to search and gain happiness; which is through your mind.

--Edmond Mbiaka

Happiness is not always through success. Equally, the constant pursuit of success is sure unhappiness. But we have to find the balance.

--Amy Chua

The single most important factor in our long-term happiness is the relationships we have with our family and close friends.

--Clayton Christensen

I always had a larger view. I'm interested in real life -- my family, my friends. I have tried never to define myself by my success, whatever that is. My happiness is way beyond roles and awards.

--Amy Adams

Life is about making your own happiness -- and living by your own rules.

--Aimee Mullins

One's happiness depends less on what he knows than on what he feels.

--Liberty Hyde Bailey

Happiness is a habit -- cultivate it.

--Elbert Hubbard

To be happy you must be your own sunshine.

--Charles Edward Jerningham

Happiness is the soul in peace.

--Edward Counsel

Happiness doesn't care how you get there.

--Ernie J. Zelinski

Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.

--Roy Goodman

A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness.

--Bernard de Fontenelle

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.

--James Oppenheim

True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

--Helen Keller

The true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

--William Morris

Beauty comes from the happiness within.

--Liv Tyler

Happiness and love are just a choice away.

--Leo Buscaglia

Happiness is a choice. Choose to be happy.

--Tia Mowry

Happiness is a decision.

--Michael J. Fox

You are the key to happiness.

--Robert Holden

Compassion is one of the principal things that make our lives meaningful. It is the source of all lasting happiness and joy.

--Dalai Lama

Life isn't about money, it's about moments.

--David Castain

Your success and happiness lies in you.

--Helen Keller

Inner bliss is ultimate happiness.

--Debasish Mridha, MD

Live with the objective of being happy.

--Anne Frank

Look for happiness under your own roof.

--Gretchen Rubin

The real happiness is self-contentment.

--Napz Cherub Pellazo

Find joy in the ordinary.

--Max Lucado

There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.

--Freya Stark

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

--Mother Teresa

No joy can equal the joy of serving others.

--Sai Baba

Happiness is wanting what you have.

--Tim Ferriss

Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.

--Aldous Huxley

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

--Denis Waitley

A simple line painted with the brush can lead to freedom and happiness.

--Joan Miro

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

--Dalai Lama

A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.

--Dalai Lama

One joy scatters a hundred griefs.

--Chinese Proverb

True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing.

--Seneca

There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.

--Gautama Buddha

Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.

--Baruch Spinoza

Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth... Happiness comes from giving, not getting.
If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also.
To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.

--John Templeton

The goal of all goals is happiness, and our emotions are like road signs on that journey toward the goal of happiness.

--Deepak Chopra

If my heart can become pure and simple, like that of a child, I think there probably can be no greater happiness than this.

--Kitaro Nishida

A happy life consists in tranquility of mind.

--Cicero

You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation.

--Bette Davis

Many people think that if they were only in some other place, or had some other job, they would be happy. Well, that is doubtful. So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can and don't put off being happy until some future date.

--Dale Carnegie

Happiness can be thought, taught and caught... but not bought.

--Harvey MacKay

To live long and achieve happiness, cultivate the art of radiating happiness.

--Malcolm Forbes

Nothing real stands between you and your happiness, only illusion and confusion.

--Robert Holden

Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.

--Jim Rohn

An act of goodness is of itself an act of happiness.

--Maurice Maeterlinck

Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.

--Mary Lou Retton

Be happy with what you have. Be excited about what you want.

--Alan Cohen

Learn to be happy in any and all circumstances, whether you're experiencing pleasure or pain, whether there's loss or gain, whether the world loves you or hates you. Learn to be happy.

--Frederick Lenz

The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.

--Socrates

Everywhere you go, take a smile with you.

--Sasha Azevedo

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

--John Keats

Longer Version:

A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.


Perfectionism is the enemy of happiness. Embrace being perfectly imperfect. Learn from your mistakes and forgive yourself, you'll be happier. We make mistakes because we are imperfect. Learn from your mistakes, forgive yourself, and keep moving forward.

--Roy T. Bennett

Happiness is not a goal -- it's a by-product of a life well lived.

--Eleanor Roosevelt

Longer Version:

Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product. For what keeps our interest in life and makes us look forward to tomorrow is giving pleasure to other people.


Laughter is poison to fear.

--George R.R. Martin

We don't even ask happiness, just a little less pain.

--Charles Bukowski

Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.

--Martin Luther King Jr.

Smile more. Smiling can make you and others happy.

--Roy T. Bennett

Sometimes life knocks you on your ass... get up, get up, get up! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.

--Steve Maraboli

Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.

--Steve Maraboli

Do not set aside your happiness. Do not wait to be happy in the future. The best time to be happy is always now.

--Roy T. Bennett

Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn't calculate his happiness.

--Fyodor Dostoevsky

Stop comparing yourself to other people, just choose to be happy and live your own life.

--Roy T. Bennett

Always find opportunities to make someone smile, and to offer random acts of kindness in everyday life.

--Roy T. Bennett

The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.

--Bette Midler

Top 15 Things Money Can't Buy
Time. Happiness. Inner Peace. Integrity. Love. Character. Manners. Health. Respect. Morals. Trust. Patience. Class. Common sense. Dignity.

--Roy T. Bennett

I've got nothing to do today but smile.

--Simon and Garfunkel

The secret to happiness is to put the burden of proof on unhappiness.

--Robert Brault

If you ever start taking things too seriously, just remember that we are talking monkeys on an organic spaceship flying through the universe.

--Joe Rogan

Happiness is always the serendipitous result of looking for something else.

--Dr. Idel Dreimer


Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world.

--Orhan Pamuk

Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.

--Mildred Barthel

Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

--Norman MacEwan

Joy is more divine than sorrow; for joy is bread, and sorrow is medicine.

--Henry Ward Beecher

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.

--Unknown Author

Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.

--Aristotle

There are two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.

--Jodi Picoult

There is great happiness in not wanting, in not being something, in not going somewhere.

--Jiddu Krishnamurti

Happiness is a choice and a skill and you can dedicate yourself to learning that skill and making that choice.

--Naval Ravikant

If we would just slow down, happiness would catch up to us.

--Richard Carlson

You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent their making a nest in your hair.

--Chinese Proverb

Happiness is a place between too much and too little.

--Finnish proverb

The secret of being happy is accepting where you are in life and making the most out of everyday.

--Unknown Author

Cheerfulness is the very flower of health.

--Unknown Author

Happiness is not out there, it's in you.

--Unknown Author

Be happy. It really annoys negative people.

--Ricky Gervais

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

--Janet Lane

Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth.

--Unknown Author
four boys laughing and sitting on grass during daytime

Thanks for checking our selection of quotes on happiness! Please share and spread the happy! Wishing you a very bliss-filled and fortunate day!