Philosophy on joy
16 passages from 11 thinkers — Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Albert Camus, Baruch Spinoza, Buddha and others — on joy.
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of.”
“I was assailed by memories of a life that wasn't mine anymore, but one in which I'd found the simplest and most lasting joys.”
“Maman used to say that you can always find something to be happy about.”
“The majority of mankind and people who lack refinement conceive it to be pleasure, and hence they approve a life of sensual enjoyment. (Bk. 1, Chapter III)”
“Nature is satisfied with little; and if she is, I am also.”
“All laws which can be broken without any injury to another, are counted but a laughing-stock, and are so far from bridling the desires and lusts of men, that on the contrary they stimulate them.”
“Can there be joy and laughter When always the world is ablaze? Enshrouded in darkness Should you not seek a light?”
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, And the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
“Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.”
“He is happy, whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent, who can suit his temper to any circumstances.”
“You ask particularly after my health. I suppose that I have not many months to live; but, of course, I know nothing about it. I may add that I am enjoying existence as much as ever, and regret nothing.”
“The thirst after happiness is never extinguished in the heart of man.”
“The world of the happy is quite different from the world of the unhappy. (6.43)”
“You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.”