How would you know what happy is if you've never been otherwise.
Interpretation
Experiencing sadness or difficulties helps us appreciate happiness.
Malcolm Forbes' quote suggests that without contrasting experiences, such as sadness or struggle, one cannot fully understand or appreciate the concept of happiness. It emphasizes the idea that our emotions are defined by their opposites and that experiencing a range of feelings enriches our understanding of joy.
In practice
Using this quote in a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
Over the years, I've evolved a somewhat heretical but time-and mind-saving approach to books, articles, editorials that deal with weighty matters. More often than not, by beginning at the end and contemplating the conclusions, one can determine if it's worth going through the whole to get there.
Those who enjoy responsibility usually get it; those who merely like exercising authority usually lose it.
To live long and achieve happiness, cultivate the art of radiating happiness.
The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
If you never budge, don't expect a push.
It's never a good deal when only one party thinks it is.
He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.
Joy is the best makeup. But a little lipstick is a close runner-up.
Happiness is prosperity combined with virtue.
My smile is my favorite part of my body. I think a smile can make your whole body.
Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble and grand. The word my grandfather uses is comfort. So there are cakes and pillows and colors galore, but underneath this more obvious patchwork quilt are places like a quiet room where you can go and hold someone's hand and not have to say anything. Give no story. Make no claim. Where you can live at the edge of your skin for as long as you wish.
Happiness is not out there for us to find. The reason that it's not out there is that it's inside us.
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