Happiness :)

[lliam]

M
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"To be healthy, wealthy, happy and successful in any and all areas of your life you need to be aware that you need to think healthy, wealthy, and happy and successful thoughts twenty-four hours a day and cancel all negative, destructive, fearful and unhappy thoughts. These two types of thought cannot coexist if you want to share in the abundance that surrounds us all." ~ Sydney Madwed

"If we only wanted to be happy it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, which is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are." ~ Montesquieu

"Don't cry when the sun is gone, because the tears won't let you see the stars." ~ Violeta Parra

"Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so. ~ John Stuart Mill

"Happiness is not so much in having or sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." ~ Norman MacEwan

"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

"Happiness is not a possession to be prized. It is a quality of thought, a state of mind." ~ Daphne Du Maurier

"The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness." ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

"Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower, and draws all good things toward you. Allow your love to nourish yourself as well as others. Do not strain after the needs of life. It is sufficient to be quietly alert and aware of them. In this way life proceeds more naturally and effortlessly. Life is here to Enjoy!" ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

"Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep." ~ William Maxwell

"Success is getting and achieving what you want. Happiness is wanting and being content with what you get." ~ Bernard Meltzer

"Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will." ~ Dan Millman

"No burden is so heavy for a man to bear as a succession of happy days." ~ Max Muller

"Happiness is a matter of one's most ordinary everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with self. To be damned is for one's ordinary everyday mode of consciousness to be unremitting agonizing preoccupation with self." ~ Iris Murdoch

"Most of us experience happiness when we are enjoying life and feeling free, enjoying the process and products of our creative and intellectual processes, enjoying the ecstasy of transcendent oneness with the universe." ~ James Muriel

"Happiness is not a matter of events; it depends upon the tides of the mind." ~Alice Meynell

"It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while." ~ Don Marquis

"Happiness is the interval between periods of unhappiness." ~ Don Marquis

[Junebug]

Happiness is 40 degree temperatures this moring for my run..... and the gradual thawing predicted for New England!
June

[lliam]

N
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"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us. Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing--sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death--can take that love away." ~ Henri Nouwen

"Too many wish to be happy before becoming wise." ~ Susanne Curchod Necker

"What a man really wants is creative challenge with sufficient skills to bring him within the reach of success so that he may have the expanding joy of achievement." ~ Fay B. Nash

"Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy." ~ Cynthia Nelms

"Happiness adds and multiplies, as we divide it with others." ~ A. Nielsen

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh." ~ Nietzsche

[lliam]

O
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"Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness." ~ George Orwell

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; The wise grow it under his feet." ~ James Oppenheim (1882-1932).

"Happiness is the harvest of a quiet eye." ~ Austin O'Malley

"A good disposition is a virtue in itself, and it is lasting; the burden of the years cannot depress it, and love that is founded on it endures to the end." ~ Ovid (circa AD

[lliam]

I say Chaps an email from an admirer...

Silver lining
================

Dear Lliam,

Having read the culture connections on Beethoven Radio website about happiness, I’d like to tell you about our past two months. It started off badly when I fell, breaking my right arm in two places next to the shoulder, an awkward place where they can’t apply plaster. You have only a sling for support – and lots of painkillers.
I am 73, my husband is 80 and he has been marvellous. For all our married life (54 years), I have happily waited on him hand and foot, but he took over and did everything: the shopping, cleaning and cooking (with help from our three wonderful girls).

But it was his care of me personally that surprised me most. Dressing and undressing me; getting me into bed and up again in the morning; showering and shampooing me, all the while causing me as little pain as possible.
It has been an enriching experience for both of us and I have enjoyed his loving care.
My husband said that though he could not have wished me the pain, he thoroughly enjoyed those four weeks, during which he found the time passed so quickly (even though he had given up his morning round of golf).
Overall, it really has been a happy experience.

Lliam, keep posting those lovely thoughts on b.com

Regards,

Phyllis Ollerenshaw

Romiley,

Cheshire.

[shostakovich]

Congratulations, Lliam, for brightening some down days. I'm also going to post a series of ideas on this board, but not nearly so uplifting. Fair and balanced??
Your pal, Shos

[lliam]

Originally posted by shostakovich:
Congratulations, Lliam, for brightening some down days. I'm also going to post a series of ideas on this board, but not nearly so uplifting. Fair and balanced??
Your pal, Shos

Cheer's Shos

[lliam]

P
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"Happiness is neither fleeting nor eternal by nature; the only mortal emotion that transcends happiness is joy, and joy can be eternal." ~ Shane S Pond

"Happiness: a way station between too little and too much." ~ Channing Pollock

"True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment." ~ William Penn

"Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself." ~ Plutarch

"Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second." ~ Logan Pearsall

"Happiness is a by product of an effort to make someone else happy." ~ Gretta Brooker Palmer

"As happy a man as any in the world, for the whole world seems to smile upon me!" ~ Samuel Pepys

"Happiness in your life depends on satisfaction with yourself." ~ Ric Peters

"Happiness doesn't come from doing what we like to do but from liking what we have to do." ~ Wilfred A. Peterson

"The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. And they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others." ~ William Lyon Phelps

"If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow." ~ William L. Phelps

"Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself." ~ Plutarch

Amusement is the happiness of those who cannot think." ~ Alexander Pope

"Happiness is a sunbeam which may pass through a thousand bosoms without losing a particle of its original ray; nay, when it strikes on a kindred heart, like the converged light on a mirror, it reflects itself with redoubled brightness. It is not perfected till it is shared." ~ Jane Porter

"Our happiness in this world depends on the affections we are able to inspire." ~ Duchess Prazlin

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~ Marcel Proust

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." ~ Marcel Proust

"The happy man is not he who seems thus to others, but who seems thus to himself." ~ Publius Syrus

"If you cannot renounce the world the genius of happiness will never salute you." ~ Prutz

"Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it." ~ Jacques Prevert

[lliam]

R
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"When we cannot find contentment in ourselves it is useless to seek it elsewhere." ~ La Rochefoucauld

"Happiness is not a goal. it is a by-product". ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same." ~ Francesca Reigler

"A joy that's shared is a joy made double." ~ John Ray

"It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere." ~ Agnes Repplier

"The journey to happiness involves finding the courage to go down into ourselves and take responsibility for what's there: all of it." ~ Richard Rohr

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best." ~ Theodore I. Rubin

"Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can only be felt if you don't set any condition." ~ Arthur Rubinstein

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling." ~ Margaret Lee Runbeck

"The key to happiness is accepting one unpleasant reality every day." ~ Russell

"The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good." ~ Bertrand Russell

"The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile." ~ Bertrand Russell

"Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy." ~ Bertrand Russell

"Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change." ~ Bertrand Russell

"If all our happiness is bound up entirely in our personal circumstances it is difficult not to demand of life more than it has to give." ~ Bertrand Russell

[lliam]

S
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"Our happiness is greatest when we contribute most to the happiness of others." ~ Harriet Shepard

"My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am doing right?" ~ Charles M Schulz

"Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation." ~ William H. Sheldon

"Happiness is nothing more than health and a poor memory." ~ Albert Schweitzer

"The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy." ~ Ben Stein

"I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun." ~ Charles R. Swindoll

"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness." ~ Charles Spurgeon

"Joy comes from using your potential." ~ Will Schultz

"Joy is the happiness of love--love aware of its own inner happiness. Pleasure comes from without, and joy comes from within, and it is, therefore, within reach of everyone in the world." ~ Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

"Happiness is a gift that keeps on giving." ~ Shonda

"True happiness is...to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future." ~ Seneca

"Where fear is, happiness is not" ~ Seneca

"Happiness is the object and design of our existance, and will be the end thereof; persue the path that leads to it." ~ Joseph Smith Jr

"Happiness is the root of all emotion." ~ Tom G. Stevens, PhD

"Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make pursuant to our individual organization." ~ Marquis De Sade

"A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one's life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted." ~ George Santayana

"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval." ~ George Santayana

"Happiness is the only sanction of life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment." ~ George Santayana

"Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness." ~ George Santayana

"True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new." ~ Antoine de St Exupery

"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have." ~ Rabbi H. Schachtel

"A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature." ~ Marcus Annaeus Seneca

"The joy that isn't shared dies young." ~ Anne Sexton

"But O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes." ~ William Shakespeare

"This is the true joy of life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." ~ George Bernard Shaw

[lliam]

T
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"He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened." ~ Tao Te Ching

"Don't go for happiness, go for truth!" ~ Charles Tart

"Grief can take care if itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with." ~ Mark Twain

"There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself." ~ Henry David Thoreau

"A person will be called to account on Judgement Day for every permissible thing he might have enjoyed but did not." ~ Talmud

"Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society." ~ William Makepeace Thackeray

"If you want to be happy, be." ~ Leo Tolstoy

"You never enjoy the world aright, till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars." ~ Thomas Traherne

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up." ~ Mark Twain

"There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one: keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy." ~ Mark Twain

[lliam]

U
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"Don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened." ~ Source Unknown

"Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer." ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness is not a destination you arrive. It it the journey you take to get there." ~ Source Unknown

"To accept ourselves as who we are and allow love into our lives, and to commit to being who we truly are, is the beginning of true happiness." ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times." ~ Source Unknown

"Experience is often what you get when you were expecting something else." ~ Source Unknown -Anonymous

"Enjoy life ... This is not a rehearsal." ~ Source Unknown

"There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all." ~ Source Unknown

"Some cannot sing, but the orchard is full of birds and we can all listen." ~ Source Unknown

"If you know someone who tries to drown their sorrows, you might tell them sorrows know how to swim." ~ Anonymous

"Happiness is a frog in my garden." ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness is good for the body but sorrow strengthens the spirit. ~ Source Unknown

"It is kind of happiness to know to what extent we may be unhappy." ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness is just an illusion caused by the temporary absence of reality. ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness: An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another." ~ Source Unknown

"Next to temperance, a quiet conscience, a cheerful mind and active habits, I place early rising as a means of health and happiness." ~ Source Unknown

"The thing that counts most in the pursuit of happiness is choosing the right companion. ~ Source Unknown

"May there always be work for your hands to do, May your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane, May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you." ~ Source Unknown

Smiling is infectious, you catch it like the flu, When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too. I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin-- When he smiled I realized, I'd passed it on to him. I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth, A single smile, just like mine, could travel round the earth. So, if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected-- Let's start an epidemic quick and get the world infected! ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness is found along the way, not at the end of the road." ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness is like a butterfly: You can chase after it, and it will illude you; But you can turn your attention to other things, And it will come and sit softly on your shoulder." ~ Source Unknown

"A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks." ~ Source Unknown

"Happiness is not having what you want. It's wanting what you have." ~

[lliam]

Y
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"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you you need to do, in order to have what you want." ~ Margaret Young

"Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing." ~William Butler Yeats

"The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach." ~ Lin Yutang

[lliam]

Z
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"Happiness is perfume, you can't pour it on somebody else without getting a few drops on yourself." ~ James Van Der Zee

"People who never achieve happiness are the ones who complain whenever they're awake, and whenever they're asleep, they are thinking about what to complain about tomorrow." ~ Adam Zimbler

[lliam]

Thoughts on Friendship from the Famous, the Not So-Famous.
=================================================

"Friendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all affections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by time" Mary Wollstonecraft (British feminist writer 1759-1797)

"Friendship is by its very nature freer of deceit than any other relationship we can know because it is the bond least affected by striving" (Francine Du Plessix Gray, Polish-born U.S. author)

"Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed" Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

"Friendship is one of the most tangible things in a world which offers fewer and fewer supports" Kenneth Branagh (b. 1960)

"Friendship is nothing else than an accord in all things, human and divine, conjoined with mutual goodwill and affection, and I am inclined to think that, with the exception of wisdom, no better thing has been given to man by the immortal gods" Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C. )

"The firmest friendship is based on an identity of likes and dislikes" Gaius Sallustius Crispus (c. 86-35/34 B.C.)

"The essence of friendship is total magnanimity and trust" Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

"The language of Friendship is not words, but meanings. It is an intelligence above language" Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"A true friend sticks closer than one's nearest kin" Bible (Hebrew, Proverbs 18:24)

"All is said and done, friendship is the only trustworthy fabric of the affections" Miles Franklin (Australian author 1879-1954)

"The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover." Joseph Addison (British essayist 1672-1719)

"All love that has not friendship for its base,Is like a mansion built upon the sand" Ella Wheeler Wilcox (U.S. poet 1855-1919)

"Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one" Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

"Friendship! mysterious cement of the soul! Sweetener of life!" Robert Blair (Poet 1699-1746)

"Men talk, but rarely about anything personal. Male relationships are based on shared activities. Female friendships are usually based on self-disclosure -- talking about intimate aspects of their lives" Bettina Arndt (20th century Australian journalist. "Private Lives")

"Friendship is a sheltering tree" Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

"A good marriage is based on the talent for friendship" Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone" Orson Welles (1915-1984)

"I have been looking for a person who disliked gravy all my life; let us swear eternal friendship" Sydney Smith (British clergyman, writer 1771-1845)

"When other friendships have been forgot, Ours will still be hot" Cole Porter (U.S. songwriter 1893-1964)

"As uncommon a thing as true love is, it is yet easier to find than true friendship" Francois, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)

"Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold; But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold" Oliver Wendel Holmes (1809-1894)

"A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature. Essays. First Series. Friendship" Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882

"A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair" Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

"The only way to have a friend is to be one. Essays. First Series. Friendship" Ralph Waldo Emerson

[lliam]

Recipe for Happiness
-------------------------
• 2 Heaping Cups of Patience
• 1 Heartful of Love
• 2 Hands of Generosity
• Dash of Laughter
• 1 Headful of Understanding
• Sprinkle with Kindness
• Add Plenty of Faith
Mix well.
Spread over a lifetime.
Serve to everyone.

[Serenity]

Nice thread Lliam; it was buried, glad you resurrected it. Positive feelings are always a good thing. I'm not sure how to organize the information and quotes you provide in a useful way that I can apply to my life. That would require some thought.

Happiness is the feeling I get when I achieve an important goal, something personally valuable. Long term, it is probably the feeling you get from achieving your closest, fundamental beliefs and values.

So take time to contemplate about the things you most cherish and plan your life toward them; set goals to take steps toward them. Your daily life will be renewed with purpose and the horizon will feel palpable.