I pay very little regard...to what any young person says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.
Jane AustenRead
I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of finding contentment and joy in one's life, even if it seems undeserved.
In this quote, Jane Austen reflects on the notion of contentment and the human tendency to feel undeserving of happiness. It suggests that one should embrace the joy and happiness they experience and be grateful for it, rather than questioning its legitimacy. The idea is that happiness can sometimes feel unexpected or beyond what one feels entitled to, yet recognizing and accepting that happiness is a vital aspect of a fulfilling life.
In practice
During a motivational speech about finding joy in life despite challenges.
I pay very little regard...to what any young person says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.
Nobody could catch cold by the sea; nobody wanted appetite by the sea; nobody wanted spirits; nobody wanted strength. Sea air was healing, softening, relaxing - fortifying and bracing - seemingly just as was wanted - sometimes one, sometimes the other. If the sea breeze failed, the seabath was the certain corrective; and where bathing disagreed, the sea air alone was evidently designed by nature for the cure.
He certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.
A person who is knowingly bent on bad behavior, gets upset when better behavior is expected of them.
You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.
She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time; but alas! Alas! She must confess to herself that she was not wise yet.
Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all.
What other sport holds out hope of improvement to a man or a woman over fifty? True, the pros begin to falter at around forty, but it is their putting nerves that go, not their swings. For a duffer like [me], the room for improvement is so vast that three lifetimes could be spent roaming the fiarways carving away at it, convinced that perfection lies just over the next rise. And that hope, perhaps, is the kindest bliss of all that golf bestows upon its devotees.
Drink deeply. Live in serenity and joy.
Happiness lies in virtuous activity, and perfect happiness lies in the best activity, which is contemplative
A few weeks after the worst day, I started writing lots of letters. I don't know why, but it was one of the only things that made my boots lighter.
So long as you don't feel life's paltry and a miserable business, the rest doesn't matter, happiness or unhappiness.
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