321/365 - More selfless to act happy (Gretchen Rubin)

“The belief that unhappiness is selfless 

and happiness is selfish

 is misguided.

 It's more selfless to act happy.

 It takes energy, generosity, 

and discipline 

to be unfailingly lighthearted,

 yet everyone takes the happy person for granted.

 No one is careful of his feelings 

or tries to keep his spirits high.

 He seems self-sufficient;

 he becomes a cushion for others. 

And because happiness seems unforced, 

that person usually gets no credit.”

  Gretchen Rubin

The Happiness Project

320/365 - Courage and Work (Honoré de Balzac)

“All happiness depends on courage 

and work.”

  Honoré de Balzac

319/365 - Hiw own happiness (Charles Dickens)

“Sadly, sadly, the sun rose;

 it rose upon no sadder sight

 than the man of good abilities 

and good emotions, 

incapable of their directed exercise,

 incapable of his own help 

and his own happiness,

 sensible of the blight on him, 

and resigning himself 

to let it eat him away.”

Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities

318/365 - The Creator of your experience (Leo Babauta)

“The way I define happiness

 is being the creator of your experience, 

choosing to take pleasure

 in what you have, 

right now,

 regardless of the circumstances,

 while being the best you that you can be.”

  Leo Babauta

317/365 - Is Ignorance bliss? (Jonathan Safran Foer)

“...is ignorance bliss,

 I don't know,

 but it's so painful to think, 

and tell me, 

what did thinking ever do for me, 

to what great place did thinking ever bring me?

 I think and think and think,

 I've thought myself out of happiness 

one million times,

 but never once into it.”

Jonathan Safran Foer

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

316/365 - Determined to be Cheerful (Martha Washington)

“I am still determined

 to be cheerful and happy,

 in whatever situation I may be;

 for I have also learned from experience

 that the greater part of our happiness 

or misery depends upon our dispositions, 

and not upon our circumstances.”

Martha Washington

315/365 - The purpose of Government (Thomas Jefferson)

“The purpose of government 

is to enable the people of a nation

 to live in safety and happiness.

 Government exists

 for the interests of the governed, 

not for the governors.”

Thomas Jefferson

314/365 - Guarded by Dragons (Alexandre Dumas)

“Happiness is like those palaces in fairytales 

whose gates are guarded by dragons: 

We must fight in order to conquer it.”

Alexandre Dumas

313/365 - The Joy of achievement (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement

 and the thrill of creative effort.”

 Franklin D. Roosevelt

312/365 - Seize the moments (Leo Tolstoy)

“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

311/365 - From within (Helen Keller)

“Happiness does not come from without,

 it comes from within”

  Helen Keller

310/365 - What Sunshine is the Flowers (Joseph Addison)

“What sunshine is to flowers, 

smiles are to humanity.

 These are but trifles,

 to be sure; 

but scattered along life's pathway,

 the good they do is inconceivable.”

  - Joseph Addison

309/365 - True Children (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

“Age does not make us childish,

as some say;

it finds us true children.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

308/365 - Make peace (Doris Mortman)

“Until you make peace

with who you are,

you'll never be content

with what you have.”

Doris Mortman

307/365 - Be brave (Mary Tyler Moore)

“You can't be brave

if you've only had wonderful things happen to you.”

Mary Tyler Moore

306/365 - Upon ourselves (Aristotle)

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

Aristotle

305/365 - Storm of life (Hunter S. Thompson)

“So we shall let the reader

answer this question for himself:

who is the happier man,

he who has braved the storm of life

and lived

or he who has stayed securely on shore

and merely existed?”

Hunter S. Thompson

304/365 - Hope (Alfred Tennyson)

“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering 'it will be happier'...”

Alfred Tennyson

303/365 - You can't wait for inspiration (Jack London)

“You can't wait for inspiration.

You have to go after it with a club.”

Jack London

302/365 - To do what we want (Ayn Rand)

“Why do they always teach us

that it's easy and evil

to do what we want

and that we need discipline

to restrain ourselves?

It's the hardest thing in the world--

to do what we want.

And it takes the greatest kind of courage.

I mean, what we really want.”

Ayn Rand

301/365 - Select your thoughts (Elizabeth Gilbert)

“You need to learn how to select your thoughts

just the same way you select your clothes every day.

This is a power you can cultivate.

If you want to control things in your life so bad,

work on the mind.

That's the only thing

you should be trying to control.”

Elizabeth Gilbert

(Eat, Pray, Love)

300/365 - When my Heart was touched (Edgar Allan Poe)

“I was never really insane

except upon occasions when my heart was touched.”

- Edgar Allan Poe

299/365 - The word 'disabilities' (Fred Rogers)

“Part of the problem

 with the word 'disabilities'

 is that it immediately suggests 

an inability to see or hear 

or walk or do other things 

that many of us take for granted.

 But what of people

 who can't feel?

 Or talk about their feelings?

 Or manage their feelings

 in constructive ways?

 What of people

 who aren't able to form close

 and strong relationships? 

And people 

who cannot find fulfillment 

in their lives, 

or those who have lost hope,

 who live in disappointment

 and bitterness 

and find in life no joy,

 no love? 

These, it seems to me, 

are the real disabilities.”

  - Fred Rogers

The World According to Mister Rogers:

 Important Things to Remember

298/365 - The search for contentment (Elizabeth Gilbert)

“As I focus on diligent joy, 

I also keep remembering

 a simple idea

 my friend Darcey told me once --

 that all the sorrow and trouble

 of this world 

is caused by unhappy people.

 Not only in the big global
 Hitler-'n'-Stalin picture,
but also on the smallest personal level.

 Even in my own life,
I can see exactly
where my episodes of unhappiness
have brought suffering
or distress or (at the very least)
inconvenience
 to those around me.

 The search for contentment is,
 therefore,
not merely a self-preserving
and self-benefiting act,
 but also a generous gift to the world.

Clearing out all your misery
gets you out of the way.

 You cease being an obstacle,
not only to yourself
but to anyone else.

 Only then are you free
to serve and enjoy
other people.”

- Elizabeth Gilbert
  Eat, Pray, Love

297/365 - Risk being happy (Robert Anthony)

“Most people 

would rather be certain

 they're miserable,

 than risk being happy.”

  - Robert Anthony

296/365 - To stand up to our friends (J.K. Rowling)

“It takes much bravery

 to stand up to our enemies

 but we need as much bravery 

to stand up to our friends.”

- J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

295/365 - Why isn't that enough (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

“My God,

 a moment of bliss.

 Why, isn't that enough

 for a whole lifetime?”

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

White Nights

294/365 - If you wish to be happy (Christopher Paolini)

“If you wish to be happy, Eragon,

 think not of what is to come

 nor of that which you have no control over 

but rather of the now

 and that which you are able to change" 

- Christopher Paolini

Oromis to eragon 

293/365 - True Happiness (Thich Nhat Hanh)

“Many people think excitement

 is happiness.... 

But when you are excited 

you are not peaceful. 

 True happiness

 is based on peace.”

  - Thich Nhat Hanh

  The Art of Power

292/365 - Time does not turn in a circle (Milan Kundera)

“And therein lies the whole of man's plight. 

Human time does not turn in a circle;

 it runs ahead in a straight line.

 That is why man cannot be happy: 

happiness is the longing for repetition.”

  - Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

291/365 - While I'm alive (Leo Tolstoy)

“Pierre was right when he said

 that one must believe 

in the possibility of happiness 

in order to be happy,

 and I now believe in it.

 Let the dead bury the dead,

 but while I'm alive,

 I must live and be happy.”

- Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace