QUOTATIONS

"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." Groucho Marx

Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think. Dale Carnegie

If we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings, how happy we would be.

Think big thoughts and relish small pleasures.

(Italy's "black widow", Patrizia Reggiani, who is serving a 26 year prison sentence for hiring a hit man to kill her husband, heir to Gucci fashion fortune) "I'd rather weep in a Rolls Royce than be happy on a bicycle".

The three essentials of happiness are : something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for.

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.

Quotes about Happiness

ANECDOTES

At the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona an animal rights group protests day before by running the same route, naked: "all humour begins with ceasing to take yourself seriously"

Radio program claiming they were testing a heat carrying radio wave (put your jug up close to radio)(many called to say got warmer)
National Radio birdcall got taken out by shotgun

The Simpsons - Bart blackboard ("I must not surprise the incontinent")

Bob Jones essay contest $1000 on subject of "The World would be a Better Place if B. Comm students got a daily flogging" winner argued that it would keep god amused and stop him perpetrating other practical jokes like sending killer tornadoes through churches - BJ consoled losers by announcing that all judges drunk at time.

Dave Barry humor - male brain devoted to solving deep philosophical questions like "What size TV set do I need?(answer a bigger one)"

An Auckland NZ guy who built a rocket powered engine in his shed ... to cool beer. On the basis that if you were sitting in a tin shed with a rocket engine roaring away and generating a lot of heat, what you really need is... A cool beer

One therapist suggested it's perception - 9 good things happen to you in a day; 1 bad, but bad things tend to overwhelm perception of good - suggest keep happiness diary, recording all the things to be grateful about

In 60's people took acid to make world weird; now world is so weird that take prozac to make normal

Anecdotes about happiness

ARTICLES

When we focus on chasing our wants, our level of happiness actually drops. The more we focus on what we don't have, the more deprived we feel. Wants vs Needs

Much could be done if we thought with precision. Indeed, Albert Ellis and Alfred Korzybski, the founder of General Semantics (GS), both viewed the language we used as capable of creating reality distortions and needless disturbances. For example, the verb to be is a catalyst for overgeneralizations. Tell yourself "I am unlovable," and you've created a distressful false attribution from an overgeneralization. What does unlovable mean? Can this be universally true for all time? Asking and factually answering questions of this kind, can lead to clarity and relief from needless cognitive tensions that come from reality distortions Clear Thinking

Science has all the answers, right? Wrong. But it has a pretty good sense of things, a lot of the time*. So what does science have to say about the pursuit of happiness? A lot.

Imagine that you woke up tomorrow morning to discover $1 million under your mattress. Leaving aside the obvious lumpiness issue, take a moment to think: What would you do with that cash?

I began researching what really makes people happy and content. I found that it has nothing to do with fame or money and everything to do with the health of our relationships and our interest in our own work. Serving people rather than trying to impress them is the foundation. So I created a life plan for myself, then shared it with others and found that it helped them heal and recover from a life of pursuing success. Now I consider it my life's work and, interestingly enough, it fills my life with a deep sense of meaning. article and article

"Passive following" on Facebook triggers states of envy and resentment in many users, with vacation photos standing out as a prime trigger. 'They Are Happier and Having Better Lives Than I Am'

More Articles on Happiness

BOOKS

The New Testament mentions happiness just 7 times and never in a happy context. But we're not happy at the moment. "I'm happy" doesn't mean "I'm having fun". Remember all the fun you've had. When it was really fun it didn't end up making anybody very happy. "I'm happy" is equivalent to "I'm content" which means "I won't complain because no-one listens to me." The Declaration of Independence reads "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", not "Life Liberty and Whoopee".Choosing "pursuit" rather than plain "happiness" is a reminder of what happens to the poor suckers who, in their pursuit of happiness, catch the thing. America's legion of minor, temporary tabloid stars can tell the rest of the story, if they survive their stardom. Maybe they'd have been better to have left the word happy out of it altogether, then we cd say things like "Wealthy Birthday" "Drunken days are here again" and "Sexually aroused to meet you". Don't Vote It Just Encourages The Bastards

Force yourself to smile - if you want to cheer yourself up, behave like a happy person, even if you don't feel like it. 59 Seconds

One of the truths I had had to accept during my years on the couch was that pleasure was not bad, that it was natural for people to desire pleasure, that denying oneself pleasure was not healthy. This was contrary to the teachings of my mother - so it was no easy task to realize and accept that I liked men. A Round Heeled Woman

When he has paid his taxes, his life insurance, his medical insurance, accident insurance, retrained himself in the latest marketable skills, saved for his kids education, paid alimony, bought the house and car which his status absolutely requires he buy within the rules of his particular tribe, given up alcohol abuse, nicotine, extramarital sex and recreational drugs, learned to be hyper-careful of what he says or does with members of the opposite sex, the average Westerner may - and often does - wonder where his life went. He may also - and invariably does - feel cheated when he discovers existentially that all the worrying and all the insurance payments have availed him not a jot or tittle in protecting him against fire, burglary, flood, earthquake, tornado, the sack, terrorist activity, or his spouse's precipitate desertion with the kids, the car and all the spare cash in the joint bank account. Bangkok 8

Civilization is "better" - modern states have higher standard of living and longer lives, but much less social support, which we've identified as the source of most human happiness. Guns Germs and Steel

There's a funny thing about vacations: we often experience one of the biggest increases in happiness in the weeks before the vacation begins. This seems odd - after all, the purpose of a vacation is to go away and be happy - but it speaks to the power of anticipation. Vacations are great, but looking forward to that sunny beach while trapped in an office cubicle can be nearly as exciting and interesting as the beach itself.

We often think about giving gifts to others as increasing the happiness of the recipient. Our research, however, shows that gift giving offers benefits to an unexpected group: the givers themselves. We consistently find that spending money on other people - whether buying gifts for friends or donating to charity - provides people with much more happiness than spending that money on themselves. Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending

More Books about Happiness

LIMERICKS

There was a young fellow named Fred
Adept at getting girls into bed
But by and large
He much preferred Marge
Because Marge was so easy to spread

More Limericks About Food

SONGS

Imagine me and you, I do
I think about you day and night, it's only right
To think about the girl you love and hold her tight
So happy together


More Songs About Happiness