They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Happiness can be shared by either actively spreading it or by reflecting the joy from others.
This quote by Edith Wharton emphasizes the dual nature of spreading happiness. One can either take the initiative to generate happiness like a light or, if they are not in a position to create it themselves, they can still play a vital role by reflecting the positivity and joy of those around them, thereby contributing to the happiness of others in a more passive yet just as important way.
Themes
HappinessJoyLightReflectionPositivity
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a motivational speech about spreading joy in the community.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes βThey seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Edith WhartonRead
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each otherβs angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Edith WhartonRead
The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!
Edith WhartonRead
Similar quotes
All men have happiness as their object: there is no exception. However different the means they employ, they all aim at the same end.
Blaise PascalRead
Gratitude. More aware of what you have than what you don't. Recognizing the treasure in the simple - a child's hug, fertile soil, a golden sunset. Relishing in the comfort of the common.
Max LucadoRead
The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mode of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change; happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up.
Charles MorganRead
Happiness is the ultimate goal...The mistake we make is not going for happiness first. If we did, everything else would follow.
Deepak ChopraRead
Look, really look, at how beautiful this day is. Let go of the worries and anxieties and judgments, and see the beauty.
Ralph MarstonRead
Everyone contributes a word, a sentence, an image, but in the end it all makes sense: the happiness of one becomes the joy of all.
Paulo CoelhoRead