Many biblical verses are like inkblot tests, revealing more about us than about the text in question.
Harold S. KushnerRead
The happiest people I know are people who don't even think about being happy. They just think about being good neighbors, good people. And then happiness sort of sneaks in the back window while they are busy doing good.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness comes from focusing on being good to others rather than chasing happiness itself.
This quote emphasizes that the pursuit of happiness is often counterproductive. Instead of fixating on personal happiness, individuals should direct their efforts toward being kind and supportive to their neighbors and community. In doing so, happiness will naturally follow as a byproduct of their good actions and intentions.
Themes
HappinessKindnessGoodnessCommunityNeighbors
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a community event, you might say, 'The happiest people I know are those focused on helping others.'
More from Harold S. Kushner
All quotes →I am quite confident that the most important part of a human being is not his physical body but his nonphysical essence, which some people call soul and others, personality... The nonphysical part cannot die and cannot decay because it's not physical.
Harold S. KushnerRead
That is why we have to make room in our lives for people who may sometimes disappoint or exasperate us. If we hold our friends to a standard of perfection, or if they do that to us, we will end up far lonelier than we want to be.
Harold S. KushnerRead
Pain is a part of being alive, and we need to learn that. Pain does not last forever, nor is it necessarily unbeatable, and we need to be taught that.
Harold S. KushnerRead
Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter.
Harold S. KushnerRead
We cannot live without the knowledge that someone cares about us.
Harold S. KushnerRead
Similar quotes
It is not selfish to be happy. It is your highest purpose. Your joy is the greatest contribution you can make to life on the planet. A heart at peace with its owner blesses everyone it touches.
Alan CohenRead
Money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed. Health is the most enjoyed, but the least envied.
Charles Caleb ColtonRead
There are days when simply seeing feels like happiness itself....You feel so rich, the elation seems almost excessive and you want to share it
Robert DoisneauRead
Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give.
Benjamin CarsonRead
I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
Groucho MarxRead
It dances today, my heart, _x000D_ like a peacock it dances, _x000D_ it dances. _x000D_ It sports a mosaic of passions like a peacock’s tail, _x000D_ It soars to the sky with delight, it quests, _x000D_ Oh wildly, it dances today, my heart, _x000D_ like a peacock it dances.
Rabindranath TagoreRead