What is happiness? What is the feeling of happiness? What does it mean to be happy? Everyone has already experienced a sense of happiness, everyone has ever been happy. But how to describe it in words?

What follows is a descriptive explanation and then a selection of inspiring quotes about happiness that are my favorites.

What is happiness?

According to Wikipedia, the term happiness is used in the context of mental or emotional states, including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. It is also used in the context of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, eudaimonia, flourishing and well-being.

According to Daniel Kahneman happiness is “what I experience here and now.”

According to Ruut Veenhoven happiness is “overall appreciation of one’s life as-a-whole.”

According to Oxford English Dictionary, the Definition of Happiness is “The state of being happy.”

The word happiness is mostly used in the following circumstances:

– a current experience of feeling happy emotions (pleasure, joy, satisfaction) or a more general sense of emotional state as a whole.

– being satisfied with life in general (good quality of life and well-being).

Inspirational Quotes About Happiness

Many famous and lesser-known people have written about it, and I made the selection of quotes. Below are 35 inspirational quotes about happiness that are among my favorites.

“The true secret of happiness lies in the taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” William Morris

“The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.” William Saroyan

“The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage.” Carrie Jones

“Nobody really cares if you’re miserable, so you might as well be happy.” Cynthia Nelms

“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” Dale Carnegie

“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” Joseph Addison

“Happiness is a well-balanced combination of love, labour, and luck.” Mary Wilson Little

“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

“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

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” Dalai Lama XIV

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

“Take responsibility of your own happiness, never put it in other people’s hands.” 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

“Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” W. P. Kinsella

“Happiness is only real when shared.” Jon Krakauer

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” Marcus Aurelius

“The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up.” Mark Twain

“Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn’t calculate his happiness.” Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.” Steve Maraboli

“I’d far rather be happy than right any day.” Douglas Adams

“Whoever is happy will make others happy.” Anne Frank

“I think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and they reflect that happiness.” Drew Barrymore

“Happiness is not a goal…it’s a by-product of a life well lived.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“Children are happy because they don’t have a file in their minds called “All the Things That Could Go Wrong.” Marianne Williamson

“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” Martha Washington

“I heard a definition once: Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I’d invented it, because it is very true.” Audrey Hepburn

“Seize the moments of happiness, love, and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here.” Leo Tolstoy

“I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that.” Robin Williams

“Do not look for happiness outside yourself. The awakened seek happiness inside.” Peter Deunov

“Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.” Sri Ramana Maharshi

“Be happy for no reason, like a child. If you are happy for a reason, you’re in trouble, because that reason can be taken from you.” Deepak Chopra

“The secret of happiness: Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it.” Daniel C. Dennett

“You can’t think your way to happiness, you need to let happiness come to you.” Maxime Lagacé

“Life is about the journey, about the splendor of living in the moment, about the happiness that ensues from the sheer joy of being alive.” Dipa Sanatani

My thought about happiness

In this selection of inspirational quotes about happiness, 35 people described in their own words what happiness is. And if I add in my own words – happiness is that ecstatic feeling when everything is most right, and it couldn’t be better.

Have you ever written anything about happiness? Do you have any unique explanation of what happiness is and what it means to be happy? I will be happy if you share your thoughts with me in the comments. You can also tell which one is your favorite quote from the ones listed, or add one that isn’t in this post.

All the best,

Nina