Quotes to inspire and reflect

Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.

He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.

Never despair; but if you do, work on in despair.

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainty that just to be alive is a grand thing.

I love my past. I love my present. I'm not ashamed of what I've had, and I'm not sad because I have it no longer.

Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.

One feels inclined to say that the intention that man should be happy is not included in the plan of Creation.

They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.

Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.

Total absence of humor renders life impossible.

The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself.

There is no happiness where there is no wisdom.

If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.

Happiness is not an accident. Nor is it something you wish for. Happiness is something you design.

To fill the hour, and leave no crevice ... that is happiness.

I like a man who grins when he fights.

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.

Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.

He that thinks he can afford to be negligent is not far from being poor.

He who is plenteously provided for from within, needs but little from without.

Our necessities never equal our wants.

It is impossible to read the daily press without being diverted from reality. You are full of enthusiasm for the eternal verities life is worth living, and then out of sinful curiosity you open a newspaper. You are disillusioned and wrecked.

It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

The gratification of wealth is not found in mere possession or in lavish expenditure, but in its wise application.

Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want.

Pleasure that is obtained by unreasonable and unsuitable cost, must always end in pain.

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.

Remember this that very little is needed to make a happy life.

Enlightenment means taking full responsibility for your life.

I can usually judge a fellow by what he laughs at.

Be happy. It's one way of being wise.

If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.

They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations.

Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.

If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.

When someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy.

What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?

Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.

Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting.

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.