Pursuit Of Happiness Quotes

“A man wants to earn money in order to be happy, and his whole effort and the best of a life are devoted to the earning of that money. Happiness is forgotten; the means are taken for the end.”
― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

“We are on strike, we, the men of the mind.

We are on strike against self-immolation. We are on strike against the creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. We are on strike against the dogma that the pursuit of one's happiness is evil. We are on strike against the doctrine that life is guilt.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“Learn to say no to demands, requests, invitations, and activities that leave you with no time for yourself. Until I learned to say no, and mean it, I was always overloaded by stress. You may feel guilty and selfish at first for guarding your down- time, but you’ll soon find that you are a much nicer, more present, more productive person in each instance you do choose to say yes.”
― Holly Mosier

“The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“God put Santa Claus on earth to remind us that Christmas is 'sposed to be a happy time.”
― Bil Keane, Jeffy's Lookin' at Me

“In pursuit of happiness, smart people often end up dumbing down themselves.”
― Erol Ozan

“Happiness is the most tired word in any language.”
― Erol Ozan

“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of production and trade...”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“Pursuing happiness, and I did, and I still do, is not at all the same as being happy--which I think is fleeting, dependent on circumstances...If the sun is shining, stand in it---yes, yes, yes. Happy times are great, but happy times pass--they have to because time passes. The pursuit of happiness is more elusive; it is life-long, and it is not goal-centered. What you are pursuing is meaning--- a meaningful life. There's the hap-- the fate, the draw that is yours, and it isn't fixed, but changing the course of the stream, or dealing new cards, whatever metaphor you want to use---that's going to take a lot of energy. There are times when it will go so wrong that you will barely be alive, and times when you realise that being barely alive, on your own terms, is better than living a bloated half-life on someone else's terms. The pursuit isn't all or nothing--- it's all AND nothing.”
― Jeanette Winterson

“I'm not in pursuit of happiness, I'm happiness in pursuit; ready to happen everywhere I go.”
― Bernard Kelvin Clive

“Thinking is man’s only basic virtue, from which all the others proceed. And his basic vice, the source of all his evils, is that nameless act which all of you practice, but struggle never to admit: the act of blanking out, the willful suspension of one’s consciousness, the refusal to think - not blindness, but the refusal to see; not ignorance, but the refusal to know. It is the act of unfocusing your mind and inducing an inner fog to escape the responsibility of judgment - on the unstated premise that a thing will not exist if only you refuse to identify it, that A will not be A so long as you do not pronounce the verdict ‘It is.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it—that no substitute can do your thinking—that the vilest form of self-abasement and self-destruction is the subordination of your mind to the mind of another, the acceptance of an authority over your brain, the acceptance of his assertions as facts, his say-so as truth, his edicts as middle-man between your consciousness and your existence.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map.
The map has more than one route. More than one destination. The map that is the unfolding self is not exactly leading anywhere. The arrow that says YOU ARE HERE is your first coordinate. There is a lot that you can't change when you are a kid. But you can pack for the journey . . .”
― Jeanette Winterson, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

“Man has been called a rational being, but rationality is a matter of choice — and the alternative his nature offers him is: rational being or suicidal animal. Man has to be man — by choice; he has to hold his life as a value — by choice; he has to learn to sustain it — by choice; he has to discover the values it requires and practice his virtues — by choice.
A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“Logic is the art of non-contradictory identification. A contradiction cannot exist. No concept man forms is valid unless he integrates it without contradiction into the total sum of his knowledge. To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one’s thinking; to maintain a contradiction is to abdicate one’s mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

“From the beginning, Judeo-Christian principles have been the foundation for American public dialogue and government policy. They serve as the solid basis for political activism in support of a better socioeconomic environment. Found in American homes, truth from the Hebrew Christian Bible has enabled individual liberty to prevail over secular empires because it is a practical message about reality from man’s Creator.

In their quest for liberty, Americans focused upon the conspicuously self-evident “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” It is the governing character of these principles (laws), such as humility, the Golden Rule, and the Ten Commandments, that leads to success. This is the sure foundation upon which man’s right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” rests. Called “virtue” by America’s Founding Fathers, the impartial and divine element frees man to do what is right. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).”
― David A. Norris, Restoring Education: Central to American Greatness Fifteen Principles That Liberated Mankind from the Politics of Tyranny

“Let people be the pursuits of happiness, you be the pursuit of perfection.”
― Amit Kalantri

“Sensuality is about what makes you come alive.”
― Lebo Grand

“You must try, as my dear colleague the esteemed mythology professor Joseph Campbell used to say, to 'follow your bliss.'"
"Follow my bliss?" It sounded like a slogan in a yogurt commercial.
Aunt Gert nodded again. "You must follow your bliss no matter the circumstances life thrusts upon you."
"But what does that mean? I have responsibilities. I can't just up and leave everything to pursue my own happiness," I protested.
Aunt Gert snorted. "Who said anything about happiness? Don't be a ninny. You are mistakenly equating bliss with happiness. They're not the same thing."
"They're not?" I asked in bewilderment, wondering briefly if anyone in my life had ever called me a ninny before. "What's the difference?"
"Happiness is fleeting, fickle, often based on our circumstances." Aunt Gert waved a hand dismissively. "If you chase happiness, you will more often than not end up disappointed by the very nature of life. Life is hard, brutal at times, and often unfair. But following your bliss, that's entirely different. It means facing your present reality with honesty and courage and, in the midst of it all, continuing to pursue each spark of joy, even if it is a tiny pinpoint in the darkness of your life. Do not give up. Continue to look for the light in your life---it is always present somewhere, some small thing to be grateful for, something to celebrate, a way to give joy to others, a new way to grow. Move toward the light in life; seek it out no matter what. This is the essence of what it means to follow your bliss. You must be honest. Pay attention. Seek joy.”
― Rachel Linden, The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

“Sensuality is what makes you come alive.”
― Lebo Grand

“Broken (The Sonnet)

The most effective people,
On earth are all broken.
The people with most excellence,
Are all broken.
There is no excellence without brokenness,
For brokenness builds character.
Broken, and in agony, that's how we grow,
One who knows pain knows to help another.
Pain is not our enemy,
Pain is what keeps us alert.
To avoid pain is to avoid growth,
To avoid pain is to keep the heart shut.
Embrace pain, and pain will have no hold over you.
Once accepted, in brokenness you'll find yourself anew.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulldozer on Duty

“Happiness happens not by avoiding pain, but by avoiding luxury – by avoiding materialistic obsession.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Find A Cause Outside Yourself: Sermon of Sustainability

“First and foremost, shift your focus from materials to mind - from possession to people - and all the necessary happiness will come chasing after you.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Find A Cause Outside Yourself: Sermon of Sustainability

“Life, liberty and the pursuit, culling, skinning, tanning and sale of the hides of happiness.”
― The Covert Comic a.k.a. John Alejandro King

“Clouds are but herald of sunshine.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amor Apocalypse: Canım Sana İhtiyacım

“Time tells nothing, only tears do.
Time heals nothing, only tears do.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amor Apocalypse: Canım Sana İhtiyacım

“I’m not really interested in being what Americans call ‘happy’.”
― James Baldwin

“Happiness is your internal pursuit! It's an inside job. If you are looking for external factors, your happiness will only be temporary. Enjoy the present moment, enjoy the simple things in life, enjoy now!”
― Rohit Sharma (@rohit_sha)

“The proof of desire is prioritized pursuit”
― Gabriel Ladokun

“The reason we’re all so miserable may be because we’re working so hard
to avoid being miserable.”
― Anna Lembke, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence