Laura Jane Grace Quotes

Ever since I was a kid, I've always thought it very important to be happy inside. There's a lot of bad things happening in the world, but it's important to try to stay happy and appreciate what you've got, and don't look externally for the happiness.

Stop what you are doing long enough to enjoy the sunset, listen to a special song that lifts you up, or pick up the phone and share some special thought with a caring friend.

The first person who ever told me that happiness was work was this manic-depressive artist I knew when I was in my 20s. I was like, 'What are you talking about? Happiness just happens. That's even the root of that word. How could it be work?'

A lot of the problems I had with fame I was bringing on myself. A lot of self-loathing, a lot of woe-is-me. Now I'm learning to see the positive side of things, instead of, like, 'I can't go to Kmart. I can't take my kids to the haunted house.'

I've realized I can't waste any moment being unhappy.

All you need to do is turn on the news, and in five minutes, you're depressed with the state of the world. Choosing joy is a completely active choice. It doesn't just happen. You can't just say, 'I want to be happy.' You have to take action.

If you spend your whole life being depressed about life, you're wasting it.

Happiness is an inside job.

The best thing for your psyche as you try to accomplish anything, really, is to just concentrate on all the little things. And not just as a means to an end, but truly enjoy them.

Sometimes I'll think, 'That was a really nice day. I ate well, I exercised, I called some friends, wasn't working too hard,' but I rarely have one of those.

If you have everything you want in life, including money, fame and being asked out on dates by 20 cute boys, and you are still unhappy then you have to go deep within yourself to fix the issue.

I try to be happy. I try to face things without regret or make sure that I'm happy with things and leave nothing unsaid if I can.

All I can focus on is what I can control and that's being happy. My own happiness.

I don't want to get all self-help on everyone. But I definitely think there was a period in my life where I thought I would feel the same way, forever. And every day felt like 'Groundhog Day,' where I was super, super depressed.

You know, why at the end of your life should you assemble thousands of pages of 'Why am I so sad, why am I so depressed?' Instead, assemble thousands of pages of why you're so content.

My whole life, I've wanted things before I was ready. I was always pushing for the next job, the next success. I was so focused on achieving and the path that I was missing some great point about life.

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

Once a week, I like to slip into a deep existential depression where I lose all my sense of oneness and self-worth.

I've found joy, peace and perspective. Those are very good things to have.

Many of us feel stress and get overwhelmed not because we're taking on too much, but because we're taking on too little of what really strengthens us.

Depression opens the door to beauty of some kind.

Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.

If you have a little sensibility or a heart, you have all the reason to be depressed once in a while. But the depression is like a motor for creation. I need a little bit of depression, a bit of acid in my stomach, to be able to create. When I'm happy, I just want to dance.

The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.

'Thank you power' is writing down the moments that are good in your life so that you can go back and reflect on them - so you've got this sort of repository of good stuff in your past.