Life, with all it's sorrows, cares, perplexities and heart-breaks, is more interesting than bovine placidity, hence more desirable. The more interesting it is, the happier it is.
Interpretation
Life's challenges and struggles make it more worthwhile and engaging than a peaceful but uninspiring existence.
William Lyon Phelps suggests that the complexities and difficulties of life, despite their burdens, contribute to its richness and desirability. He argues that the essence of happiness lies in the depth of our experiences and challenges, as they provide a more intriguing and fulfilling life compared to a dull, uneventful existence.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience, one might say, 'As William Lyon Phelps wisely noted, life is more interesting with its challenges.'
Real happiness is not dependent on external things. The pond is fed from within. The kind of happiness that stays with you is the happiness that springs from inward thoughts and emotions. You must cultivate your mind if you wish to achieve enduring happiness.
I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.
The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.
The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.
Whenever it is possible, a boy should choose some occupation which he should do even if he did not need the money.
You can be deprived of your money, your job and your home by someone else, but remember that no one can ever take away your honor.
It seemed cruel for a day to dawn so fair and end so foul as this one promised to.
The individual stats, that stuff is fun, but it doesn't last. Somebody else is gonna come along and break your records. But the memories that you take are forever.
Since people are going to be living longer and getting older, they'll just have to learn how to be babies longer.
Everybody complains about getting older, but I find it such a rich time of life. There are negative things about it, I suppose, but more than that, I'm finding it to be a very positive experience in which growth suggests itself in a much more alluring way than it did when I was young - isn't that funny?
Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it.
After traveling through fourteen foreign countries and appearing before all the royalty and nobility I have only one wish today. That is that when my eyes are closed in death that they will bury me back in that quiet little farm land where I was born.
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