The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.
Interpretation
Happiness is not determined by age but by the quality of our thoughts.
This quote suggests that the common belief that youth is the peak of happiness is misguided. Instead, true happiness comes from engaging with interesting ideas and experiences, which can increase as we age and gain more wisdom and perspective on life.
In practice
During a graduation speech emphasizing lifelong learning and happiness.
Real happiness is not dependent on external things. The pond is fed from within. The kind of happiness that stays with you is the happiness that springs from inward thoughts and emotions. You must cultivate your mind if you wish to achieve enduring happiness.
Life, with all it's sorrows, cares, perplexities and heart-breaks, is more interesting than bovine placidity, hence more desirable. The more interesting it is, the happier it is.
I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.
The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.
Whenever it is possible, a boy should choose some occupation which he should do even if he did not need the money.
You can be deprived of your money, your job and your home by someone else, but remember that no one can ever take away your honor.
To prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.
Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.
I've spent my life trying to make things simpler. Because I find ultimately that complicated doesn't reach the heart.
Go beyond everything. Don't collect anything. _x000D_ A king does not need to go shopping in his own _x000D_ kingdom. Nor does he beg. _x000D_ Remember, you are the inner reality-pure awareness only. _x000D_ All that arises are appearances in consciousness. _x000D_ Don't bother with all that. Rest only as the awareness. _x000D_ This is the secret.
There are more fools than wise men, and even in a wise man there is more folly than wisdom.
Then, accepting the help of God and of God's signs, he allows his personal legend to guide him toward the tasks that life has reserved for him.
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