To the generous mind the heaviest debt is that of gratitude, when it is not in our power to repay it.
Benjamin FranklinRead
What is without us has no connection with happiness, only so far as the preservation of our lives and health depends upon it. . . . Happiness springs immediately from the mind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness originates from within ourselves and is not solely reliant on external circumstances.
In this quote, Benjamin Franklin emphasizes that happiness is fundamentally a state of mind, suggesting that external factors only play a minimal role in our overall well-being. While our lives and health are important, true contentment and joy must come from our inner thoughts and attitudes, rather than being dependent on what exists outside of us.
Themes
HappinessMindWell-BeingContentmentInternal
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about finding joy, one might say, 'Remember, as Benjamin Franklin wisely noted, happiness springs from the mind.'
More from Benjamin Franklin
All quotes →He'll cheat without scruple, who can without fear.
Benjamin FranklinRead
[E]very Man who comes among us, and takes up a piece of Land, becomes a Citizen, and by our Constitution has a Voice in Elections, and a share in the Government of the Country.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Let honesty and industry be thy constant companions, and spend one penny less than thy clear gains; then shall thy pocket begin to thrive; creditors will not insult, nor want oppress, nor hungerness bite, nor nakedness freeze thee
Benjamin FranklinRead
I think that a young state, like a young virgin, should modestly stay at home, and wait the application of suitors for an alliance with her; and not run about offering her amity to all the world; and hazarding their refusal. Our virgin is a jolly one; and tho at present not very rich, will in time be a great fortune, and where she has a favorable predisposition, it seems to me well worth cultivating.
Benjamin FranklinRead
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Happiness is a state of non-contradictory joy . . . Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals,_x000D_ seeks nothing but rational values, and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions.
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They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
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And when they went away, leaving comfort behind, I think there were not in all the city four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their breakfasts and contented themselves with bread and milk on Christmas morning.
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I am truly at my happiest not when I am writing an aria for an actor or making a grand political or social point. I am at my happiest when I've figured out a fun way for somebody to slip on a banana peel.
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The choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation.
Benjamin DisraeliRead