Pursuit of Happiness

"Happiness does not come by pressing a button, as does the electric light; happiness is a state of mind and comes from within. It must be earned. It cannot be purchased with money; it cannot be taken for nothing."

-President Spencer W. Kimball

"I feel like people get lost when they think of happiness as a destination. We're always thinking that someday we'll be happy. You know, we'll get that car or that job or that person in our lives that'll fix everything. But happiness is a mood, and it's a condition, it's not a destination. It's like being tired or hungry; it's not permanent, it comes and goes, and that's okay. And I feel like if people thought of it that way they'd find happiness a lot more often."

-One Tree Hill

"Happiness is a choice, and I'm choosing it."

"In this world, it is very difficult to find a happy person because nobody is fulfilling the conditions for being happy. The first condition is that one has to drop all comparison. Drop all these stupid ideas of being superior and inferior. You are neither superior nor inferior. You are simply yourself! There exists no one like you. Be yourself and be happy with you."

"Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed."

-Storm Jameson

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it."

-Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

"I used to think that happiness comes after the hard part is over. But I have learned that we can be happy while enduring."

"Come what may, and love it. Life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don't sing and bells don't ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seems to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result... I believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life. If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead towards times of greatest happiness."

-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

"The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."

"Nobody can take away your pain, so don't let anyone take away your happiness."

"Everyday is amazing. Even if it's awful. Because everything is for a reason. Because I know that this horrible thing that happens today will bring me something amazing tomorrow."

-Sandra Bullock