QuoteProject
I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
Groucho Marx
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Happiness is a choice that depends on our perspective in the present moment.

This quote by Groucho Marx emphasizes the importance of personal agency in determining our happiness. It suggests that while we cannot control past events or predict the future, we can make a conscious decision to embrace the present day with a positive attitude, choosing happiness regardless of external circumstances.

Themes

HappinessChoicePresentMindsetPositivity

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about mental well-being, one could use this quote to inspire the audience to focus on the present.

More from Groucho Marx

Behind every successful man is a woman, behind her is his wife.
Groucho MarxRead
John you say you met in an elevator. Was the elevator going up at the time, or down? This is very important, for going down in an elevator one always has that sinking feeling and for all I know you may have this confused with love. If you were going up, it is clearly a case of love at first sight.
Groucho MarxRead
Firefly: Where is your husband? Mrs. Teasdale: Why, he's dead. Firefly: I'll bet he's just using that as an excuse. Mrs. Teasdale: I was with him to the very end. Firefly: Hmmph. No wonder he passed away. Mrs. Teasdale: I held him in my arms and kissed him. Firefly: Oh I see. Then, it was murder.
Groucho MarxRead
Chico: "Here's the book, it's a dollar" Groucho: "Here's a ten, and shoot the change." Chico: "I don't have change I'd have to give you nine more books.
Groucho MarxRead
Gentlemen, Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot. I implore you, send him back to his father and brothers, who are waiting for him with open arms in the penitentiary. I suggest that we give him ten years in Leavenworth, or eleven years in Twelveworth.
Groucho MarxRead
Die, my dear? Why that's the last thing I'll do!
Groucho MarxRead

Similar quotes

You have so much fun playing games. We all love basketball, so we never want the season to end, 'cause then it's five months of sitting around and watching the playoffs.
Stephen CurryRead
Some of my battles with weight have been very public. But most of them have been internal. Even at my thinnest, when my body was being praised, I wasn't happy with what I saw in the mirror or how I felt about myself.
Janet JacksonRead
I don't have much in the way of money or worldly possessions, I'm not beautiful, intelligent or clever, but I'm happy, and I intend to stay that way! I was born happy, I love people, I have a trusting nature, and I'd like everyone else to be happy too.
Anne FrankRead
Happiness and success in life are not the result of what we have, but rather of how we live. What we do with the things we have makes the biggest difference in the quality of life.
Tony RobbinsRead
The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness. For this were arts invented, sciences cultivated, laws ordained, and societies modeled, by the most profound wisdom of patriots and legislators. Even the lonely savage, who lies exposed to the inclemency of the elements and the fury of wild beasts, forgets not, for a moment, this grand object of his being.
David HumeRead
I've never been lonely. I like myself. I'm the best form of entertainment I have. Let's drink more wine!
Charles BukowskiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.