They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.
Interpretation
Pursuing happiness directly can often lead to disappointment, while accepting life as it is can lead to contentment.
Edith Wharton's quote suggests that the relentless pursuit of happiness can distract us from enjoying the present moment. By letting go of the pressure to constantly seek happiness, we may find that we can appreciate and enjoy life's simple pleasures, leading to a more fulfilling experience.
In practice
In a motivational speech about dealing with stress and expectations.
They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each otherβs angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
You're happiest while you're making the greatest contribution.
Obviously, circumstances alone do not make us happy or unhappy. It is the way we react to circumstances that determines our feelings. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is within you. That is where the kingdom of hell is, too.
Hour of nostalgia, hour of happiness, hour of solitude.
Do anything, but let it produce joy. Do anything, but let it yield ecstasy.
And when they went away, leaving comfort behind, I think there were not in all the city four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their breakfasts and contented themselves with bread and milk on Christmas morning.
Happiness is... the grace of being permitted to unfold... all the spiritual powers planted within us.
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