Art begins when a man, with a purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs.
Leo TolstoyRead
Perhaps it's because I appreciate all I have so much that I don't worry about what I haven't got.
Interpretation
Appreciating what you have can lead to a more content and worry-free life.
In this quote, Leo Tolstoy expresses that a deep appreciation for one's current possessions and experiences can alleviate feelings of anxiety about lacking other things. By focusing on gratitude rather than longing, one can find peace and fulfillment in the present moment, leading to a happier state of being.
In practice
During a motivational speech about finding joy in small things.
Art begins when a man, with a purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs.
Pierre looked into the sky, into the depths of the retreating, twinkling stars. "And all this is mine, and all this is in me, and all this is me!" thought Pierre. "And all this they've caught and put in a shed and boarded it up!
People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing-refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.
It's too easy to criticize a man when he's out of favour, and to make him shoulder the blame for everybody else's mistakes.
Music is the shorthand of emotion. Emotions, which let themselves be described in words with such difficulty, are directly conveyed to man in music, and in that is its power and significance.
A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor β such is my idea of happiness.
Elrond's house was perfect, whether you liked food or sleep or story-telling or singing (or reading), or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness. ... Evil things did not come into the secret valley of Rivendell.
I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
You have so much fun playing games. We all love basketball, so we never want the season to end, 'cause then it's five months of sitting around and watching the playoffs.
Create all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you, --will invite you to add something to the pleasure of others, --or to diminish something of their pains.
You have so much inside you, and the noblest happiness of all. Donβt just wait for a man to come along. Thatβs the mistake so many women make. Find your happiness in yourself.
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