To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to 'be happy.' But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to 'be happy.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The pursuit of happiness, which American citizens are obliged to undertake, tends to involve them in trying to perpetuate the moods, tastes and aptitudes of youth.
Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.
To be happy is only to have freed one's soul from the unrest of unhappiness.
Happiness includes chiefly the idea of satisfaction after full honest effort. No one can possibly be satisfied and no one can be happy who feels that in some paramount affairs he failed to take up the challenge of life.
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.
As we depend upon our masters, for what we eat and drink and wear, and for all our comfortable things in this world, we cannot be happy, unless we please them.
There is something very unique in American iconography about this notion of the pursuit of happiness.
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.
Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances.