Nathaniel Hawthorne Quotes

Unending joy is actually closer to us than our own skin, and there is nothing we have to do or get or be to experience it. All we have to do is stop driving it away.

Find patience in the breath of life.

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.

You don't always have to be doing something. You can just be, and that's plenty.

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.

The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.

Peace is when time doesn't matter as it passes by.

Existence itself does not feel horrible; it feels like an ecstasy, rather, which we have only to be still to experience.

With a warm drink, in a rocking chair and family and friends around, I am working on finding peace and joy in the moments we have been given. It doesn't have to all make sense. I don't have all the answers.

I'm at a point in my life where I have something solid now. I'm a peaceful person, and I want to be surrounded by peace no matter what I'm doing.

Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.

Joy descends gently upon us like the evening dew, and does not patter down like a hailstorm.

Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted.

Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still.

Happiness is the harvest of a quiet eye.

The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase: if you pursue happiness you'll never find it.

I am happy with what comes, I don't have expectations of any stature.

The key is to be Zen-like and be happy with what one has.

Nothing makes me feel better - calmer, clearer and happier - than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It's actually something deeper than mere happiness: it's joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as 'that kind of happiness that doesn't depend on what happens.

At some point, you gotta let go, and sit still, and allow contentment to come to you.

All mankind's unhappiness derives from one thing: his inability to know how to remain in repose in one room.

Who can wait in stillness while the mud settles?

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bent arm for a pillow - I have still joy in the midst of all these things.

Look for joy in your life; it's not always easy to find.