What Is Happiness? 10 Ideas About What Makes Us Happy From 10 Famous People

Happiness IS…. (It Depends Who’s Giving You The Answer)

Charles Schulz, who often contemplated the meaning of happiness through his Peanuts comic strip, once did an entire book on the subject, “Happiness is a Warm Puppy.”

For some, maybe happiness can be summed up so simply.

Happiness is an elusive quest for so many of us. For centuries great minds have contemplated what constitutes happiness.

From Random House Webster’s Quotationary edited by Leonard Roy Frank (1998) Random House, here are interesting insights from ten noted people about what makes us happy.

“Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product  of other activities.” Aldous Huxley (1945) from Religion and Time

“Human happiness konsists in having what yu want, and wanting what yu hav.” Josh Billings (1874) from Everybody’s Friend or or Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia  and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor

“There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.” George Sand (1862) from a letter to Lina Calamatta

“It is not enough to be happy: It is also necessary that others not be.” Jules Renard (1894) written in his journal

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Helen Keller (1957) from The Open Door

“The secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is – to live dangerously! Build your cities on Vesuvius! Send your ships into uncharted seas!”  Friedrich Nietzsche (1882) from The Gay Science

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” Booker T. Washington (1901) from Up From Slavery; An Autobiography

“I believe four ingredients are necessary for happiness; health, warm personal relations,sufficient means to keep you from want, and successful work.” Bertrand Russell (1964) from an interview in Redbook magazine

“True happiness is not found in any other reward than that of being reunited with God.” Thomas Merton (1955) from No Man Is An Island

“A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” Jane Austen (1816) from Mansfield Park

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