It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
Character is the basis of happiness and happiness the sanction of character.
Interpretation
Character and happiness are intrinsically linked; true happiness arises from one’s character.
This quote by George Santayana emphasizes the deep connection between character and happiness in a person’s life. It suggests that the foundation of a fulfilling and happy life is built upon one’s character, implying that virtuous qualities and integrity lead to genuine happiness, while happiness itself validates and reinforces one’s character traits.
In practice
In a speech about personal development, one might share this quote to emphasize the importance of building one’s character.
It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
Seek not happiness too greedily and be not fearful of happiness.
It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only when we are living at 100%-when we are fully using the physical and mental equipment we have been given.
As I get, I give. Giving as you get is critical. It has everything to do with being happy for yourself, and making others happy is the cause of making yourself happy, and it’s the cycle of giving and getting.
Happiness is the settling of the soul into its most appropriate spot.
The happiest time of my life is now.
You might not make it to the top, but if you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous.
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