QuoteProject
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.
Helen Keller
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

True happiness comes from within ourselves and our thoughts, not from external sources.

This quote emphasizes that happiness is an internal state rather than something derived from external circumstances or material possessions. It suggests that true joy stems from our own thoughts, feelings, and actions, particularly when we prioritize the well-being of others alongside our own happiness.

Themes

HappinessInternalSelfThoughtsFeelings

In practice

Example use cases

It could be used in a motivational speech about finding inner peace and happiness.

More from Helen Keller

What is worse than having no sight is being able to see but having no vision.
Helen KellerRead
What could be worse than being born without sight? Being born with sight and no vision.
Helen KellerRead
Knowledge is power." Rather, knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge - broad, deep knowledge - is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man's progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life.
Helen KellerRead
Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction. Be heroes in an army of construction.
Helen KellerRead
Our beloved ones have not 'gone to a far country.' It is only the veil of sense that separates them from us, and even that veil grows thin when our thoughts reach out to them.
Helen KellerRead
It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky. Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears.
Helen KellerRead

Similar quotes

Show me another pleasure like dinner which comes every day and lasts an hour.
Charles Maurice De TalleyrandRead
Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.
Stephen CoveyRead
For, if we take an examination of what is generally understood by happiness, as it has respect either to the understanding or the senses, we shall find all its properties and adjuncts will herd under this short definition: that it is a perpetual possession of being well deceived.
Jonathan SwiftRead
Don't postpone your happiness until some perfect future date. Be happy now, tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sri Sri Ravi ShankarRead
That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.
Henry David ThoreauRead
The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.
Dalai LamaRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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