William Stafford Quotes

Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.

The money, the fame, if that comes, that's fantastic. But at the end of the day, my aim is to go to sleep at night content and have a purpose, and to know that I'm not swapping my life for money and some mind-numbing boring job, making easy money and protecting my brain.

As you get older you learn some balance and mediation in your life - that's where I am right now. I feel pretty comfortable about things.

I'm aware of what's missing from my life.

But because many endeavor to get knowledge rather than to live well, they are often deceived and reap little or no benefit from their labor.

It's important to feel settled and balanced in life, and that has been tough for me to do.

I have no regrets in my life whatsoever.

Life is all about the spirit.

Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.

The most happy man is he who knows how to bring into relation the end and beginning of his life.

Learning lessons is a little like reaching maturity. You're not suddenly more happy, wealthy, or powerful, but you understand the world around you better, and you're at peace with yourself. Learning life's lessons is not about making your life perfect, but about seeing life as it was meant to be.

The soul's joy lies in doing.

I've got a lot of opportunities, a lot of love in my life, a lot of things going for me. Still, it's not complete. I know this is not the whole thing. There's much more.

I love life because what more is there?

The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

I have a very good life, so I have nothing to complain about. Sometimes, I just have existential angst.

My private measure of success is daily. If this were to be the last day of my life would I be content with it? To live in a harmonious balance of commitments and pleasures is what I strive for.

I have a more developed sense of my priorities. Life has so much more meaning now.

All I will say is we get wiser as we get older. And that what I am looking for in life is the same as I always have; happiness, peacefulness and joy. And that's all I'm going to say about that because otherwise I'd get into trouble

That man lives happy and in command of himself, who from day to day can say I have lived. Whether clouds obscure, or the sun illumines the following day, that which is past is beyond recall.

Happiness is impossible, and even inconceivable, to a mind without scope and without pause, a mind driven by craving, pleasure, or fear. To be happy, you must be reasonable, or you must be tamed. You must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world and what things in it can really serve you. To be happy, you must be wise.

I don't know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn't make you happy.

Happiness is the highest form of wisdom.

The things that make us happy make us wise.

Make peace with the knowledge that you can't have everything you want. Why? Because it's more important for us to get everything we need.