The Happiness Project Quotes

“The opposite of happiness is unhappiness, not depression.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“I wasn't as happy as I could be, and my life wasn't going to change unless I made it change.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“day three days a week for six weeks,”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“As Michel de Montaigne observed, "The least strained and most natural ways of the soul are the most beautiful; the best occupations are the least forced."
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― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“We all know the secret of dieting...it's the application that's challenging.
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― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“I wasn't sure how to answer. Could I tell him that one Secret of Adulthood is "Never start a sentence with the words 'No offense'"?”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“Happiness,” wrote Yeats, “is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that, but simply growth.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“The only way I can prove my love is by . . . every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“Gratitude brings freedom from envy, because when you’re grateful for what you have, you’re not consumed with wanting something different or something more.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“spiritual states—such as elevation, awe, gratitude, mindfulness, and contemplation of death—are essential to happiness.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“I’m attracted to belief, and through my reading, I enter into the spirit of belief.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“Most people, the world over, rate themselves as mildly happy.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“Recognizing happy moments keeps me from being overwhelmed when the pain is too much.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“when I'm listening to other people speak, I will listen intently, so that I follow up their comments, laugh at their jokes, engage deeply. No more interrupting or waiting impatiently for my turn.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“I learned another reason not to say critical things about other people: "spontaneous trait transference." Studies show that because of this psychological phenomenon, people unintentionally transfer to me the traits I ascribe to other people...What I say about other people sticks to me -- even when I talk to someone who already knows me.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“When I find myself focusing overmuch on the anticipated future happiness of arriving at a certain goal, I remind myself to "Enjoy now." If I can enjoy the present, I don't need to count on the happiness that is (or isn't) waiting for me in the future.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.” Proverbs 26:20.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“often I put up with a problem for years because I never examined the nature of the problem and how it might be solved.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“I reminded myself, one of my Secrets of Adulthood was “Most decisions don’t require extensive research.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“being happy energizes you, and at the same time, having more energy makes it easier for you to engage in activities—like socializing and exercise—that boost happiness. Studies also show that when you feel energetic, your self-esteem rises. Feeling tired, on the other hand, makes everything seem arduous. An activity that you’d ordinarily find fun, like putting up holiday decorations, feels difficult, and a more demanding task, like learning a new software program, feels overwhelming.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“Whenever you read this, and wherever you are, you are in the right place to begin.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“Working on my happiness wouldn’t just make me happier, it would boost the happiness of the people around me.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“mind: Dr. Andrew Weil, an integrative”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“dilettantism.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“Тяжелым человеком быть легко, легким – тяжело». (Или, как гласит поговорка: «Умереть легко, радоваться жизни тяжелее».)”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“Сделать счастливой себя проще всего, делая счастливыми других. Делать счастливыми других проще всего, будучи счастливой самой.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

“I choose to be happy, in spite of whatever drama that is going on in my life.”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

“These couples ease into arguments instead of blowing up immediately—and avoid bombs such as “You never . . .” and “You always . . .”
― Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun