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No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.

Happiness is dependent on self-discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness. It is much easier to do battle with society and with others than to fight our own nature.

Individually, people are finding that a simpler lifestyle provides greater satisfaction than relentless pursuit of materialism.

The difference of the degrees in which the individuals of a great community enjoy the good things of life has been a theme of declaration and discontent in all ages.

None so little enjoy themselves, and are such burdens to themselves, as those who have nothing to do. Only the active have the true relish of life.

Sometimes the most positive thing you can be in a boring society is absolutely negative.

Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia.

Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating joy.

If you want to experience joy in your life, you have to be able to step outside yourself and become part of a cause that is much larger than you; one that brings a greater good to a greater community.

Happiness is not the same as life satisfaction, while neither are identical to what we might call flourishing.