- 50 quotes about happiness that will brighten your day
50 quotes about happiness that will brighten your day
Happiness — it’s the one thing we all seek in life, yet it’s tough to define. Of course, that hasn’t stopped plenty of people from trying. Countless poets, philosophers, psychologists and artists have endeavored to pin down the meaning of — and secret to — happiness throughout history. While there’s no one answer, there are plenty of different approaches we can all use to enrich our lives. That’s why we’ve compiled 50 of the best happiness quotes and turned them into professionally designed quote cards. Whether you post them on your social media feed, use them as your phone or desktop wallpaper or print them out for your office, these poignant words are sure to inspire, uplift and motivate you.
1. A great reminder that they’re not always the same thing
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.
— Dale Carnegie
2. There’s nothing more fulfilling than giving to someone else
The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.
– Mark Twain
3. You can learn to be happy in any circumstances
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
– Robert Louis Stevenson
4. A beautiful metaphor to inspire us to stop chasing
Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
– Nathaniel Hawthorne
5. A simple yet profound classic
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
– Abraham Lincoln
6. Compassion is always the key
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
– Dalai Lama
7. It does more than any cosmetic ever can
Happiness is the best makeup.
— Drew Barrymore
8. Sometimes, we just need to remind ourselves how lucky we are
The mere sense of living is happiness enough
— Emily Dickinson
9. True joy can only come from within
The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are
— Goldie Hawn
10. A humorous take on defining happiness
Happiness? That’s nothing more than good health and a poor memory.
– Albert Schweitzer
10. Because happiness is an inside job
Some days, you just have to create your own sunshine.
— Sam Sundquist
11 Sometimes, we just need to go with the flow
Happiness is letting go of what you think your life is supposed to look like.
— Unknown
12. A cute quote that’s guaranteed to bring smiles
If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
—Roald Dahl
13. A great reminder that it’s okay to slow down sometimes
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
— Marthe Troly-Curtin
14. Nobody else can create it for us
Happiness depends upon ourselves.
— Aristotle
15. An excellent philosophy to live by
Be happy with what you want. Be excited about what you get
— Alan Cohen
16. Often, it comes from where we least expect it
Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.
—Samuel Johnson
17. It truly is the best medicine
We don’t laugh because we’re happy – we’re happy because we laugh.
— William James
18. It’s so simple, yet so true
If you want to be happy, be.
– Leo Tolstoy
19. An excellent reminder to practice gratitude
We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
– Frederick Keonig
20. The best things in life truly are free
Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.
– Hosea Ballou
21. It’s all about staying in the present
How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now, and there will never be a time when it is not now.
– Gerald Jampolsky
22. It starts as an inside job
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
– Marcus Aurelius
23. Don’t forget to enjoy the process
Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
— Greg Anderson
24. Work can be a source of joy, if we allow it to be
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.
— Frank Tyger
25. It can only come from within
Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers’ gardens.
– Douglas Jerrold
26. One of the guru’s most iconic quotes
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
– Mahatma Gandhi
27. A wonderful quote for celebrating birthdays
Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.
― John Lennon
28. Sometimes, we just need to find joy in the mundane
The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.
— Henry Ward Beecher
29. Positivity breeds more positivity
Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you.
— Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
30. An inspiring quote to help you find that light at the end of the tunnel
Happiness comes in waves. It’ll find you again.
—Unknown
31. Fake it until you make it
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
32. It’s a skill we can all learn with practice
Happiness is a how; not a what. A talent, not an object.
—Herman Hesse
33. For when your path in life feels unclear
Happiness is something that comes into our lives through doors we don’t even remember leaving open.
—Rose Lane
34. An eye-opening reminder to stay in the now
Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy.
—Leo Buscaglia
35. An admirable life goal
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
— Mother Theresa
36. The more you spread happiness, the more it blooms
Happiness held is the seed. Happiness shared is the flower.
– John Harrigan
37. It’s about more than just material objects
It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.
– Charles Spurgeon
38. Sometimes, you just need to know how to look for it
The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.
— Thich Nhat Hahn
39. Once you find it, don’t let go
It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.
— Lucille Ball
40. A great reminder that it’s all about the voyage itself
Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
— Margaret Lee Runbeck
41. Perfection doesn’t exist, but happiness can
Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.
— Unknown
42. Because ruminating on the past can be an obstacle to happiness
If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.
— Morris West
43. Like a rare jewel, we should never take it for granted
Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.
—Maxim Gorky
44. The secret is finding pleasure in the work itself
Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results.
— Dennis Waitley
45. Never underestimate the power of a smile
It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
46. All the tools you need to be happy are already within you
Be happy with what have and are, be generous with both, and you won’t have to hunt for happiness.
— William E. Gladstone
47. Sometimes, we just need to let go
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of your will.
— Epictetus
48. You just need to reach out and grab it
Happiness is there for the taking — and making.
— Oprah Winfrey
49. It’s all about the little things
One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.
— Iris Murdoch
50. There’s beauty to be found in the unknown
True happiness is an acceptance of life as it is given to us, with its diminishment, mystery, uncontrollability and all.
— Michael Gellert
Whether you download these inspiring quotes as they are, or customize them in Canva, they’re sure to brighten your day and make you smile every time you see them.
Written by
Emma Norris
