Happiness, in the ancient, noble sense, means self-fulfillment—and is given to those who use to the fullest whatever talents God … bestowed upon them.
Interpretation
True happiness comes from realizing and utilizing one's talents to their fullest potential.
This quote suggests that happiness is not merely the absence of sadness, but a profound sense of fulfillment that arises from the effective use of one's unique abilities and talents. It implies that individuals who recognize and maximize their potential are more likely to experience genuine joy and satisfaction in life.
In practice
A motivational speaker could use this quote to encourage individuals to pursue their passions.
Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.
I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.
I came to believe it not true that "the coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man only one." I think it is the other way around: It is the brave who die a thousand deaths. For it is imagination, and not just conscience, which doth make cowards of us all. Those who do not know fear are not truly brave.
The fellow who laughs last may laugh best, but he gets the reputation of being very slow-witted.
Words sing. They hurt. They teach. They sanctify. They were man's first, immeasurable feat of magic. They liberated us from ignorance and our barbarous past.
The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make a difference that you lived at all-using the talents that God has given you for the betterment of others.
I was trying not to be happy, hopeful. I did not believe I deserved happiness or even hope, if you knew my soul.
Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.
The belief that we can rely on shortcuts to happiness, joy, rapture, comfort, and ecstasy, rather than be entitled to these feelings by the exercise of personal strengths and virtues, leads to legions of people who, in the middle of great wealth, are starving spiritually.
I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money.
It's fun to have money, but the more money I get, the less interesting it becomes. If you don't have very much, you have to think about it. If you are starving, you become interested in food. If you are struggling to pay the bills, money becomes tragically important.
Why should we build our happiness on the opinons of others, when we can find it in our own hearts?
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