William James

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

To fill the hour – that is happiness.

Happiness and unhappiness are in the heart and spirit of each one of us: If you feel unhappy, then place yourself above that and act so that your happiness does not get to be dependent on anything.

If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.

We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.

How often, for example, have you said or heard someone else say, “All I really want in this life is to be happy”? It sounds like a commonsense answer, but as a life goal, it is destined for failure. My dog, Barkley, wants to be happy. Does that mean that the two of you want the same things? I don’t think so. I’ll bet everything I own that you and Barkley define happiness very differently. So unless you’re willing to settle for someone scratching your belly and letting you sleep under the coffee table, you might want to be a little more precise about what you as a unique individual really want.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

While I am opposed to all orthodox creeds, I have a creed myself; and my creed is this. Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so. This creed is somewhat short, but it is long enough for this life, strong enough for this world. If there is another world, when we get there we can make another creed.

The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.

The unhappiest man on earth is the one who has nothing to do.

A lifetime of happiness? No man alive could bear it; it would be hell on earth.

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.

But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.

Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted.