Happiness is a practice, not just a feeling
41 Inspiring Happiness Quotes to Brighten Your Day
Happiness quotes to start your day with a smile
The secret to happiness is one of the most elusive questions of all time. Everybody wants to know how to be happy, but the truth is that life will always have up and downs, and nobody can be happy all the time. The true secret is finding things to appreciate in everyday life. You can always make small changes to be happier at home, or work to spread joy and kindness to others.
But sometimes when life has you down, it takes the wisdom of inspirational quotes to pick you back up again. From smile quotes to gratitude quotes, a well-timed reminder of the good things in life can be all you need. Ahead, we’ve rounded up our favorite happiness quotes that always help us approach the day with a smile.
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” —The Dalai Lama
“I think happiness is overrated. Satisfied, at peace—those would be more realistic goals.” —Brad Pitt, actor
“I’ve always thought people would find a lot more pleasure in their routines if they burst into song at significant moments.” —John Barrowman, actor
“People say that money isn’t the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.” —Joan Rivers, comedian
“I think self-knowledge is a key to happiness. We can build happy lives only on the foundation of our own natures, our own values and our own interests.” —Gretchen Rubin, author
“Personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications are not your life.” —J.K. Rowling, novelist
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy.” —Stephen Fry, actor and writer
“Children are happy because they don’t have a file in their minds called ‘All the things that could go wrong.'” —Marianne Williamson, spiritual teacher
“I’ve got nothing to do today but smile.” —Paul Simon, musician
“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.” —The Dalai Lama
“Happiness is like a cloud—if you stare at it long enough, it evaporates.” —Sarah McLachlan, musician
“I often surprise myself by saying, ‘Wow, this is it. I guess I’m happy. I got a home I love. A career that I love. I’m even feeling more and more at peace with myself.’ If there’s something else to happiness, let me know. I’m ambitious for that too.” —Harrison Ford, actor
“Be happy in your body. It’s the only one you’ve got, so you might as well like it.” —Keira Knightley, actress
“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” —Steven Kloves, screenwriter
“The good news is that going blind is not going to make you as unhappy as you think it will. The bad news is that winning the lottery will not make you as happy as you expect.” —Daniel Gilbert, social psychologist
“In order to have great happiness, you have to have great pain and unhappiness—otherwise, how would you know when you’re happy?” —Leslie Caron, actress and dancer
“Don’t you think it’s better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?” —Audrey Niffenegger, writer
“Maybe happiness didn’t have to be about the big sweeping circumstances, about having everything in your life in place. Maybe it was about stringing together a bunch of small pleasures.” —Ann Brashares, author
“Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.” —Joanne Harris, author
“A mathematical formula for happiness: reality divided by expectations. There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality or lower your expectations.” —Jodi Picoult, author
“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.” —Steve Maraboli, speaker and author
“You can’t be really happy unless you’re unhappy sometimes.” —Lauren Oliver, author
“A solved problem creates two new problems, and the best prescription for happy living is not to solve any more problems.” —Russell Baker, humorist
“One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.” —Rita Mae Brown, feminist author
“If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem.” —Richard Bach, author
“Every day is a new day, and you’ll never be able to find happiness if you don’t move on.” —Carrie Underwood, singer
“If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the world belongs to you.” —Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher
“You cannot judge what should bring others joy, and others cannot judge what should bring you joy.” —Alan Cohen, author
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” —Albert Camus, author
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” —Marcel Proust, author
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, author
“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” —Winnie the Pooh
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” —Oprah Winfrey, talk show host
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” —Buddha
“Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” —Margaret Lee Runbeck, author
Happiness quotes can make the journey a little easier.
“There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.” —Stephen Chbosky, writer
We hope these quotes on happiness brightened your day!
