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Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Leo Tolstoy
There are many ways for people to be unhappy, but happy people have common characteristics. That’s why a good way to be happy is to learn the common characteristics of happy people and apply them.
So I studied what the great minds in history say about being happy. I went through hundreds of quotes on being happy and extracted the best lessons out of them. Not only are these lessons useful, they are also timeless in nature.
Here I’d like to share what I learned with you. Without further ado, here are 17 timeless secrets of happy people:
So I studied what the great minds in history say about being happy. I went through hundreds of quotes on being happy and extracted the best lessons out of them. Not only are these lessons useful, they are also timeless in nature.
Here I’d like to share what I learned with you. Without further ado, here are 17 timeless secrets of happy people:
1. Forget the past
One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.
Rita Mae Brown
You won’t be happy if you carry the burden of the past. Did you make mistakes? Did you have terrible experiences? Whatever they are, you should let them go. There’s nothing you can do about the past, so you’d better let them go and focus your energy on the present.
2. Take responsibility for your life
The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of
Freedom, Courage.
Thucydides
But, as the quote above says, freedom takes courage. Freedom to choose requires the courage to take responsibility for your life. You shouldn’t blame someone else when something goes wrong. Take the responsibility and you have the power to choose.
3. Build relationships
Life’s truest happiness is found in friendships we make along
the way.
Unknown
Relationships is where we can get true happiness in life. The reason is simple: only through relationships can we love and be loved. Make relationships your top priority and you are on your way to true happiness.
4. Develop multiple passions
The more passions and desires one has, the more ways one has
of being happy.
Charlotte-Catherine
Passions lead you to happiness. So not only should you discover your multiple passions, you should also expand yourself to new passions. This way you will create new ways to happiness.
The key to expanding to new passions is curiosity. If you are curious, you will have an endless stream of exciting things waiting for you.
The key to expanding to new passions is curiosity. If you are curious, you will have an endless stream of exciting things waiting for you.
5. Build your character
Character is the basis of happiness and happiness the sanction
of character.
George Santayana
Building your character is essential for happiness. When you are true to yourself and others, you will be in peace.
The way to start building character is by making promises and keeping them. For example, you make promise to yourself that you won’t smoke. When you keep it, you are building your character. Or you make promise to others to be punctual. When you keep it, you build your character.
6. Be who you are
The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to
be what he is.
Desiderius Erasmus
7. Live your life purpose
The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for
a purpose.
William Cowper
8. Count your blessings
Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what
they already have.
Unknown
9. Have positive mind
It is not the place, nor the condition, but the mind alone that
can make anyone happy or miserable.
Roger L’Estrange
10. Work creatively
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of
creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
11. Start with what you have
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise
grows it under his feet.
James Oppenheim
12. Change
They must often change who would be constant in happiness or
wisdom.
Confucius
13. Use your talents
True happiness involves the full use of one’s power and talents.
Douglas Pagels
14. Beware of small things
The happiness of most people we know is not ruined by great
catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly
destructive little things.
Ernest Dimnet
15. Distill your ambitions
Where ambition ends happiness begins.
Author Unknown
16. Make others happy
Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is my favorite secret of happiness. The way to being happy is to make others happy first. The more you help other people and make them happy, the more you will be happy. Happiness doesn’t come through selfishness but through selflessness. You reap what you sow.
17. Practice compassion
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you
want to be happy, practice compassion.
The Dalai Lama
But of course, it requires practice. Start with thinking about the people around you. Look at their needs and find ways to meet them. Even if you don’t do it out of compassion in the beginning, your compassion will grow over time.
All in all, this quote by Aristotle can summarize the lessons above:
HAPPINESS DEPENDS UPON OURSELVES. IT'S YOU WHO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE HAPPY IN LIFE.
I choose to be happy. What about you?