#pine

To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness - though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless. ↗

— Julian Barnes

#stupidity #stupidity

But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin.' 'In fact,' said Mustapha Mond, 'you're claiming the right to be unhappy.' 'All right then,' said the Savage defiantly, 'I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.' 'Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.' There was a long silence. 'I claim them all,' said the Savage at last. Mustapha Mond shrugged his shoulders. "You're welcome," he said. ↗

— Aldous Huxley

#freedom #happiness #rights #unhappiness #freedom

Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive. ↗

— Joanne Harris

#bittersweet #chocolate #happiness #heart #simplicity

Well, I am happy, and I won't fret, but it does seem as if the more one gets the more one wants… ↗

— Louisa May Alcott

#little-women #louisa-may-alcott #louisa-may-alcott

Anne was always glad in the happiness of her friends; but it is sometimes a little lonely to be surrounded everywhere by happiness that is not your own. ↗

— L.M. Montgomery

#sadness #l-m-montgomery

I start to think there really is no cure for depression, that happiness is an ongoing battle, and I wonder if it isn't one I'll have to fight for as long as I live. I wonder if it's worth it. ↗

— Elizabeth Wurtzel

#cure #depression #fight #happiness #i

Happiness is the best revenge ↗

— Jacki Kane

#revenge

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

#mindfulness #opt-out #peace-of-mind #present-moment #purpose

The most important reason for your “no” is that you need your downtime so you won’t behave like a jerk because you’re depleted. And you don’t want to battle an appetite spiked by the stress of overcommitment. But that’s your secret; others don’t need that information. So just smile, say no, thank you, and keep moving. ↗

— Holly Mosier

#overcoming-obstacles #peace-of-mind #purpose #stress #stress

Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either extreme egotism, selfishness, evil -- or else an absolute ignorance. ↗

— Graham Greene

#evil #happiness #ignorance #selfishness