How sad a sight is human happiness to those whose thoughts can pierce beyond an hour!
—Edward Young, 1741Quotes
Where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment.
—George Santayana, c. 1905He who would be happy should stay at home.
—Greek proverbA large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.
—Jane Austen, 1814I take it as a prime cause of the present confusion of society that it is too sickly and too doubtful to use pleasure frankly as a test of value.
—Rebecca West, 1939Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930Human happiness never remains long in the same place.
—Herodotus, c. 430 BCOne has to spend so many years in learning how to be happy.
—George Eliot, 1844There is no greater disaster than not to know contentment.
—Laozi, c. 550 BCAll those who suffer in the world do so because of their desire for their own happiness.
—Shantideva, c. 750Happiness, whether in business or private life, leaves very little trace in history.
—Fernand Braudel, 1979There will always be a lost dog somewhere that will prevent me from being happy.
—Jean Anouilh, 1934One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.
—Iris Murdoch, 1978