And this activity alone would seem to be loved for its own sake; for nothing arises from it apart from the contemplating, while from practical activities we gain more or less apart from the action. And happiness is thought to depend on leisure; for we are busy that we may have leisure, and make war that we may live in peace.

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.

Woe to us if we get our satisfaction from the food in the kitchen and the TV in the den and the sex in the bedroom with an occasional tribute to the cement blocks in the basement!

You must work and do good, not be lazy and gamble, if you wish to earn happiness. Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.

The search for happiness is more important than the need for pain.

A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it; it would be hell on earth.

Everyone has wondered if his or her life will ultimately be a happy one.

The god most Americans say they believe in is just not interesting enough to deny. Thus the only kind of atheism that counts in America is to call into question the proposition that everyone has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Since happiness is nothing else than the enjoyment of the Supreme Good, and the Supreme Good is above us, no one can enjoy happiness unless he rises above himself.

Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labor tends, and of which every desire prompts the prosecution.