59 verified quotes from 39 writers, c. 475 BC to 1923.
Quotes 31 to 59 of 59, page 2 of 2.
Continued from page 1, which has our introduction. Still oldest first.
What “verified” means, and what we leave out: How we verify.
By being happy, we sow anonymous benefits upon the world, which remain unknown even to ourselves, …
Our note: From Stevenson's essay defending leisure.
Verified in the full text of An Apology for Idlers on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #386 · Collected in Virginibus Puerisque, and Other Papers
Painted the same decade: The Daughters of Catulle Mendès, Huguette (1871–1964), Claudine (1876–1937), and Helyonne (1879–1955), Auguste Renoir, 1888
The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.
Our note: The whole of the two-line poem "Happy Thought."
Verified in the full text of A Child's Garden of Verses on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #136
Painted the same decade: La Berceuse (Woman Rocking a Cradle; Augustine-Alix Pellicot Roulin, 1851–1930), Vincent van Gogh, 1889
…happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain
Our note: Elizabeth-Jane's sober thought in the closing pages of the novel, which leads her to value small contentments.
Verified in the full text of The Mayor of Casterbridge on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #143
Painted the same decade: La Berceuse (Woman Rocking a Cradle; Augustine-Alix Pellicot Roulin, 1851–1930), Vincent van Gogh, 1889
It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do
Our note: A humorist on why rest is sweetest when it interrupts something.
Verified in the full text of On Being Idle on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #849 · Collected in Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
Painted the same decade: Shoes, Vincent van Gogh, 1888
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Our note: From Wilde's essay on individualism.
Verified in the full text of The Soul of Man under Socialism on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1017
Painted the same decade: Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary), Paul Gauguin, 1891
Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
Our note: From "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar."
Verified in the full text of Following the Equator on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #2895
Painted the same decade: Serena Pulitzer Lederer (1867–1943), Gustav Klimt, 1899
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
Our note: From "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar."
Verified in the full text of Following the Equator on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #2895
Painted the same decade: The Dream of the Shepherd (Der Traum des Hirten), Ferdinand Hodler, 1896
To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance
Our note: Lord Goring to his butler, Phipps. The play was staged in 1895 and printed in 1899.
Verified in the full text of An Ideal Husband on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #885
Painted the same decade: Serena Pulitzer Lederer (1867–1943), Gustav Klimt, 1899
…for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.
Our note: The Tin Woodman explains why he would rather have a heart than brains.
Verified in the full text of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #55
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
Our note: Muir inviting readers into the wild parks.
Verified in the full text of Our National Parks on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #60929
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise
Our note: The narrator on Buck at full stretch in the chase.
Verified in the full text of The Call of the Wild on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #215
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one
Our note: From Shaw's 'Epistle Dedicatory' to the play.
Verified in the full text of Man and Superman on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #3328
…life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating
Our note: The narrator, as Della cries on the shabby little couch.
Verified in the full text of The Gift of the Magi on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #2776 · Collected in The Four Million
Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.
Our note: From Chesterton's book of essays on his beliefs.
Verified in the full text of Orthodoxy on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #130
Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
Our note: The Rat, taking the Mole out on the river for the first time.
Verified in the full text of The Wind in the Willows on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #289
It's my world, and I don't want any other. What it hasn't got is not worth having, and what it doesn't know is not worth knowing
Our note: The Water Rat explains to the Mole what the river means to him.
Verified in the full text of The Wind in the Willows on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #289
Home! That was what they meant, those caressing appeals, those soft touches wafted through the air, those invisible little hands pulling and tugging, all one way!
Our note: The Mole, passing near his old burrow, feels the pull of home.
Verified in the full text of The Wind in the Willows on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #289
…you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you
Our note: Anne, speaking to the "dear old world" on a lovely evening.
Verified in the full text of Anne of Green Gables on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #45
…looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them
Our note: Anne, looking forward to a picnic.
Verified in the full text of Anne of Green Gables on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #45
It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.
Our note: Anne, making the best of a disappointment.
Verified in the full text of Anne of Green Gables on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #45
It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it?
Our note: Anne, delighted that something she had imagined has really happened.
Verified in the full text of Anne of Green Gables on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #45
…when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.
Our note: Peter explains to Wendy where fairies come from.
Verified in the full text of Peter and Wendy on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #16
Painted the same decade: Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971), Auguste Renoir, 1914
One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever
Our note: The narrator on the rare mornings when life feels endless.
Verified in the full text of The Secret Garden on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #113
Painted the same decade: Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971), Auguste Renoir, 1914
Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where
Our note: A journal entry from Muir's 1869 summer herding sheep in the Sierra Nevada.
Verified in the full text of My First Summer in the Sierra on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #32540
Painted the same decade: Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971), Auguste Renoir, 1914
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.
Our note: Muir in his plea for the wild valleys of the Sierra.
Verified in the full text of The Yosemite on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #7091
Painted the same decade: Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971), Auguste Renoir, 1914
It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones
Our note: Judy Abbott in one of her letters to her unknown benefactor.
Verified in the full text of Daddy-Long-Legs on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #157
Painted the same decade: Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971), Auguste Renoir, 1914
I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy, and that is to live in the now
Our note: Judy Abbott, in another letter.
Verified in the full text of Daddy-Long-Legs on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #157
Painted the same decade: Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971), Auguste Renoir, 1914
…that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great
Our note: Jim Burden, as a boy lying in his grandmother's garden on the Nebraska prairie.
Verified in the full text of My Ántonia on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #242
Painted the same decade: Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971), Auguste Renoir, 1914
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
Our note: From "On Joy and Sorrow."
Verified in the full text of The Prophet on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #58585
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