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.
I was so intent on trying to find a movie about an interesting life, but I wasn't living an interesting life myself.
It's hard enough to write a good drama, it's much harder to write a good comedy, and it's hardest of all to write a drama with comedy. Which is what life is.
Tears unnumbered ye shall shed.
Most women in my family start to get sick and start dying in their 40s, and I am going to be very happy to become 50 and 60. I love getting older.
Life's not just about being alive, but being well.
It's only a story, you say. So it is, and the rest of life with it - creation story, love story, horror, crime, the strange story of you and I. The alphabet of my DNA shapes certain words, but the story is not told. I have to tell it myself. What is it that I have to tell myself again and again? That there is always a new beginning, a different end. I can change the story. I am the story. Begin.
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