How important is happiness?
Many philosophers, both ancient and modern, have implied that happiness is the very reason we are alive.
Moreover, in a philosophical sense, being happy is the main reason people are able to achieve their goals and make a difference in others’ lives.
When we are happy, we are the better versions of ourselves. Happiness enhances our creativity, boosts our mental and physical health, raises our energy levels, and broadens our compassion.
In numerous scientific studies, it has been proven that being unhappy has fatal consequences. It’s been shown that unhappiness is the leading cause of mental and physical illnesses and even death.
Take happiness away, and the world gets dour, mean, sickly, and angry people whose negativity suck any happiness whenever they’re around. And this kind of negativity can be contagious.
But how can one achieve happiness? The following are the basic steps:
Tip: You can repeat points 2 and 3 multiple times until you’ve developed good habits in all areas of your life.
The Secret of Happiness
This is a question people often ask. “What is the secret to happiness?”
The first key to the secret is what happiness isn't.
Happiness isn't about what you own, it is rather a state of being. Being positive about life makes you happier. Being negative brings you down. We need to stop taking things for granted, stop complaining, and take control of our lives and our emotions.
The secret of happiness? Only you have the power to make yourself happy.
No one else can do it for you. Not everything in our lives will go exactly as we plan. When we start to focus on the outcomes of our setbacks, it can lead us to become miserable, rather than happy.
The key to happiness is within us.
Today, we’ve selected 81 profound happiness quotes to help you find joy in your life. It is our hope that these words from the wise will inspire you to believe that it is within you to manifest happiness.
In this post, we feature short happy quotes, happy and inspiring quotes, quotes about happiness and love, and funny happiness quotes.
First, let’s dive into short happy quotes. The authors of these quotes define what happiness truly means in ten words or less. We hope they will inspire you to see the joy in your own life.
Short Happy Quotes
- “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”– Marthe Troly-Curtin
- “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”– Mahatma Gandhi
- “Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.”– Eleanor Roosevelt
- “There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
- “Happiness? That’s nothing more than health and a poor memory.”– Albert Schweitzer
- “Enjoy the little things.”– Unknown
- “Happiness is a warm puppy.”– Charles M. Schulz
Happiness is a warm puppy.”– Charles M. Schulz
- “Happiness held is the seed. Happiness shared is the flower.”– John Harrigan
- “Do small things with great love.”– Mother Theresa
- “Happiness can exist only in acceptance.”– George Orwell
- “True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.”– Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- “A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit, and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?”– Albert Einstein
- “When ambition ends, happiness begins.”– Thomas Merton
- “Happiness depends upon ourselves.”– Aristotle
- “Whoever is happy will make others happy.”– Anne Frank
Whoever is happy will make others happy.”– Anne Frank
- “If you want to be happy, be.”– Leo Tolstoy
- “Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.”– Colette
- “Happiness ain't a thing in itself – it's only a contrast with something that ain't pleasant.”– Mark Twain
Many people attend workshops, seminars, or classes on how to be happy, searching for the specific formula for happiness.
Moreover, there are others who think that happiness will automatically follow only after they’ve achieved their goals and dreams.
These things are all fruitless quests. There are no specific formulas for achieving happiness. Happiness is not a set point on the map that you can locate through GPS.
You can choose to be happy now, regardless of your current circumstance.
The following happy inspirational quotes remind all of us about where true happiness can be found.
Happy Inspirational Quotes
- “Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence.”– Aristotle
- “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”– Abraham Lincoln
- “Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” – Guillaume Apollinaire
- “The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.”– Richard Bach
- “Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.”– Lou Holtz
- “Happiness isn't what you find at the end of the road. It's right here. Right now.”– Unknown
- “True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one’s self.”– Joseph Addison
- “Happiness, not in another place but this place… not for another hour, but this hour.”– Walt Whitman
Happiness, not in another place but this place… not for another hour, but this hour.”– Walt Whitman
- “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 that has been opened for us.”– Helen Keller
- “You do not find the happy life. You make it.”– Camilla E. Kimball
- “Happiness isn't what you find at the end of the road. It's right here. Right now.”– Unknown
- “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”– John Lennon
- “For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”– Mahatma Gandhi
- “Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.”– Frank Tyger
- “If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, focus on living fully in the present.”– Roy T. Bennett
If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, focus on living fully in the present.”– Roy T. Bennett
- “The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” – Tony Robbins
- “Happiness can be found even in the darkest time if one only remembers to turn on the light.”– Albus Dumbledore
- “Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”– Joseph Addison
- “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”– Benjamin Franklin
- “The most important thing is to enjoy your life — to be happy — it’s all that matters.”– Audrey Hepburn
- “It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion to crave for happiness in this life.”– Henrik Ibsen
- “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”– Andrew Carnegie
- “If you only have one smile in you, give it to the people you love.”– Maya Angelou
- “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”– Marcel Proust
Remember the giddy feeling that comes when you are in love? It’s such a heady feeling that we all equate with being happy.
However, it is not only romantic love that activates our sense of happiness. We experience joy when we are involved with something that we are passionate about.
Self-love is another path that can reveal true happiness. Through it, we acknowledge that we are worthy of being loved and cared for as much as we do these for others.
Quotes About Happiness and Love
- “You, of all people, deserve a happy ending.”– Sylvain Reynard
- “The happiness you feel is in direct proportion with the love you give.”– Oprah Winfrey
- “Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.”– Bertrand Russell
- “There is only one happiness in this life — to love and be loved.” – George Sand
- “Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world.”– Orhan Pamuk
- “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”– Victor Hugo
- “You know it’s love when all you want is that person to be happy, even if you’re not part of their happiness.”– Julia Roberts
- “The only thing we never get enough of is love, and the only thing we never give enough of is love.”– Henry Miller
- “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”– Robert A. Heinlein
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”– Robert A. Heinlein
- “Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.”– Vincent Van Gogh
- “We are most alive when we’re in love.”– John Updike
- “One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”– Sophocles
- “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”– Charles M. Schulz
How is your happiness level today?
Even if we aim for daily happiness, there are moments that get us down.
The funny happiness quotes below aim to cheer you up. These humorous takes on life help ease the burden we carry by reminding us that the bleak times are only temporary, and we’ll be seeing the sun again.
Funny Happiness Quotes
- “Be happy. It drives people crazy.”– Unknown
- “Money does not make you happy. I now have $50 million, but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.”– Arnold Schwarzenegger
- “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”– George Burns
- “I’m happy. Which often looks crazy.”– David Henry Hwang
- “One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.”– Rita Mae Brown
- “All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.”– John Gunther
- “No matter where life takes me, you'll find me with a smile — presumed to be happy, always laughing like a child. I never thought life could be this sweet! It's got me cheesing from cheek to cheek!”– Mac Miller
- “It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed.”– Kin Hubbard
It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed.”– Kin Hubbard
- “Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.”– Hosea Ballou
- “If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem.”– Richard Bach
- “Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad.”– Norm Papernick
- “If you ever find happiness by hunting for it, you will find it, as the old woman did her lost spectacles, safe on her own nose all the time.”– Josh Billings
- “I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.”– J. D. Salinger
- “Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde
- “If only we’d stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.”– Edith Wharton
- “It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how.”– Dr. Seuss
- “When someone told me I lived in a fantasy land, I nearly fell off my unicorn.”– Unknown
- “Be happy. It really annoys negative people.”– Ricky Gervais
- “I’d rather be happy than right any day.”– Douglas Adams
- “Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.”– Joanne Harris
Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.”– Joanne Harris
- “Be a Fruitloop in a world of Cheerios.”– Unknown
- “Happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain.”– Thomas Hardy
- “Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.”– Mark Twain
- “Don't worry. Be happy.” – Bobby McFerrin
- “I have chosen to be happy because it's good for my health.” – Voltaire
Final Thoughts on Happiness Quotes
Did any of the quotes above resonate with you? We’d love to hear your thoughts and stories about your own adventure in living a happy life. Please share your experiences in the comments below.
Also, if you loved any of the artworks featured in this post, we appreciate your sharing it through your favorite social media.
When we’re happy, the whole world benefits.
You can be happy now. Believe that it is a state you can achieve.
To help you get started on the path to true happiness, check out this post for a definitive list of awesome, positive habits to apply in your daily life.
In addition, you can head over to this post to check out more than a thousand affirmations to help you beat negative thinking for good.
And if you want more inspirational quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:
- 81 Buddha Quotes on Happiness, Life, Love, Death, and Change
- 63 Inspirational Quotes About Life and Happiness [New for 2023!]
- Deepak Chopra Quotes on Gratitude, Mindfulness, Life, Change, Healing and Happiness
Finally, if you want to use these quotes to make a lasting change to your life, then watch this free video that details the 7-minute habit for planning your day to focus on what's truly important to you..
