Happiness is the result of inner maturity. It depends on us alone, and requires patient work, carried out from day to day. Happiness must be built, and this requires time and effort. In the long term, happiness and unhappiness are therefore a way of being, or a life skill.
Interpretation
Happiness is cultivated through personal growth and effort.
Matthieu Ricard emphasizes that happiness is not a fleeting emotion but a lasting state of being that comes from inner maturity and self-discipline. It requires consistent effort and patience in our daily lives, highlighting that the process of building happiness is as important as the outcome itself.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal development.
Happiness is the main object of our aspirations, whatever name we give to it: fulfilment, deep satisfaction, serenity, accomplishment, wisdom, fortune, joy or inner peace, and however we try to seek it: creativity, justice, altruism, striving, completion of a plan or a piece of work.
True freedom means freeing oneself from the dictates of the ego and its accompanying emotions.
We do all kinds of things to remain beautiful. Yet, we spend surprisingly little time taking care of what matters most - the way our mind functions.
Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment.
Knowledge does not mean mastering a great quantity of different information, but understanding the nature of mind. This knowledge can penetrate each one of our thoughts and illuminate each one of our perceptions.
Empathy is the faculty to resonate with the feelings of others. When we meet someone who is joyful, we smile. When we witness someone in pain, we suffer in resonance with his or her suffering.
Almost all the joyful things of life are outside the measure of IQ tests.
Giving and receiving kindness are easy ways to feel good and to help others feel good too. People, organizations, and societies thrive when they are grounded in a culture of kindness.
I think everyone should go to bed like they have a date at the door.
If you contribute to other peoples happiness, you will find the true meaning of life. The key point is to have a genuine sense of universal responsibility
Such happiness as life is capable of comes from the full participation of all our powers in the endeavor to wrest from each changing situations of experience its own full and unique meaning.
Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meanderings, but leads none of us by the same route.
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