Quotes About Joy

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

Never neglect an opportunity to play leap-frog; it is the best of all games, and, unlike the terribly serious and conscientious pastimes of modern youth, will never become professionalized.

The thing I enjoyed most were visits from children. They did not want public office.

Timelessness is the ideal of pleasure.

Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources.

Hooray! Hooray! The end of the world has been postponed!

The superhuman task of transforming present society into a state of peace and joy requires more than ordinary human power; if God himself does not work the change, hope can be cherished only when human power is divinized.

O, ik weet het niet, maar besta, wees mooi. Zeg: kijk, een vogel en leer me de vogel zien. Zeg: het leven is een brood om in te bijten en de appels zien nog rood van plezier, en nog, en nog, zeg iets. Leer me huilen, en als ik huil, leer me zeggen: het is niets.

Reproduction is more pleasurable than death.

Nevertheless, whether in occurrences lasting days, hours or mere minutes at a time, I have experienced happiness often, and have had brief encounters with it in my later years, even in old age.

It was morning through the high window I saw the pure, bright blue of the sky as it hovered cheerfully over the long roofs of the neighboring houses. It too seemed full of joy, as if it had special plans, and had put on its finest clothes for the occasion.

For me, however, that beloved, glowing little word happiness has become associated with everything I have felt since childhood upon hearing the sound of the word itself.

According to Calvin the human voice exceeds all soulless instruments by far. While acknowledging that music is indeed apt to touch the human heart, his fear of contaminating the praise of God overrules this concession.[122] He fears that, by using musical instruments, the correct balance would be disturbed between the joy caused by music and the joy due to the praise of God.[123] It should quickly be added though that Calvin has no objections about playing on musical instruments at home.

For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life.

We may have civilized bodies and yet barbarous souls. We are blind to the real sights of this world; deaf to its voice; and dead to its death. And not till we know, that one grief outweighs ten thousand joys will we become what Christianity is striving to make us.

To be able to throw one's self away for the sake of a moment, to be able to sacrifice years for a woman's smile - that is happiness.

Happiness is a how, not a what: a talent, not an object

There was a sky. There was a body. And a planet underneath it. And it was all lovely. And it did not matter. He had never been happy before. And it did not matter.

She knew, then, that this solemn form of joy, so pure because it had no content, so reliable because it relied on nobody else, was the state for which she would henceforth strive.

He is happy whom the Muses love. For though a man has sorrow and grief in his soul, yet when the servant of the Muses sings, at once he forgets his dark thoughts and remembers not his troubles. Such is the holy gift of the Muses to men.

The ability to make love frivolously is the chief characteristic which distinguishes human beings from beasts.

I doubt whether the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream.

The ability to make love frivolously is the chief characteristic which distinguishes human beings from the beasts.

As he lay down, a slight sigh spilled from his thin lips. Most likely it was just his chest wound having its say. Of course, no one else would ever know for sure. D's sorrow, his joy, and his pain belonged to him alone.