Gretchen Rubin Quotes

Happiness. We're tearing our hair out to try to find a definition of it, for heaven's sake. Is it joy? People will tell you that it isn't, that joy is a fleeting emotion, a moment of happiness, which is always welcome, mind you. And then what about pleasure, huh? Oh, yes, that's easy, everybody knows what that is, but there again it doesn't last. But is happiness not the sum total of lots of small joys and pleasures, huh?

What is called happiness is an abstract idea, composed of various ideas of pleasure; for he who has but a moment of pleasure is not a happy man, in like manner that a moment of grief constitutes not a miserable one.

Happiness is a privilege.

You cannot achieve happiness. Happiness happens and is a transitory stage.

I suspect that happiness is not a state but rather a transition.

Happiness never becomes a habit.

I suppose happiness is something one enjoys, but I suspect that happiness is not a state but rather a transition.

Happiness: there are a series of rules, and if you fail to follow them, your conscious mind will refuse to accept the idea that you're happy.

Happiness is a hardy annual.

Would I have been happier? Maybe. But then, happiness was overrated.

If by happiness you mean instead an ordinary contentment, then yes - I'm fairly contented. Not satisfied - contented.

And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.

Happiness is the most important thing.

Happiness. It comes on unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really, any early morning talk about it.

happiness has always seemed to me a great achievement.

The world of the happy is quite different from that of the unhappy.

Happiness is the ultimate goal...The mistake we make is not going for happiness first. If we did, everything else would follow.

Happiness: being able to forget or, to express in a more learned fashion.

To be happy - that's all that matters.

[Happiness is] a ghost, it’s a shadow. You can’t really chase it. It’s a by-product, a very pleasant side effect to a life lived well.

If happiness were easy, everybody would feel it all the time, and it wouldn't seem like such an elusive prize.

Better to be happy than wise.

I'm not basically a happy person, but I have all kinds of joy.

I've come to believe that seeking happiness is not a frivolous pursuit. It's honorable and necessary. And most people forget even to thing about it.

I'd rather have happiness than money.