Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.
William HazlittRead
Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being inactive can feel pleasant but leads to unhappiness; we need to take action to find true happiness.
William Hazlitt highlights the paradox of indolence, suggesting that while a state of inaction may seem enjoyable, it ultimately leads to distress. He asserts that both action and thought are essential for fulfilling our innate human desires, implying that engagement in life and activities is necessary for genuine happiness.
Themes
IndolenceHappinessActionThoughtEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming lethargy, this quote can emphasize the importance of taking action.
More from William Hazlitt
All quotes βThe world loves to be amused by hollow professions, to be deceived by flattering appearances, to live in a state of hallucination; and can forgive everything but the plain, downright, simple, honest truth.
William HazlittRead
Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain.
William HazlittRead
We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.
William HazlittRead
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our firends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
William HazlittRead
Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.
William HazlittRead
Similar quotes
I just love life. I love people. I love to write, that's my gift. I love to sing. I have a good attitude. I like to think I shine from the inside.
Dolly PartonRead
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.
Freya StarkRead
As long as we think our lives are not good enough (materially), we will not have happiness. As soon as we realize our lives are good enough, happiness immediately appears. That is the practice of contentment.
Nhat HanhRead
The pleasure of eating should be an extensive pleasure, not that of the mere gourmet. People who know the garden in which their vegetables have grown and know that the garden is healthy will remember the beauty of the growing plants, perhaps in the dewy first light of morning when gardens are at their best. Such a memory involves itself with the food and is one of the pleasures of eating. (pg. 326, The Pleasures of Eating)
Wendell BerryRead
Happiness: being able to forget or, to express in a more learned fashion.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Sorrow happens, hardship happens, the hell with it, who never knew the price of happiness, will not be happy.
Yevgeny YevtushenkoRead