The Many Faces of Happiness

Here are a few thoughts on what makes for a happy life. On page 24, we explore this topic in-depth, including nine strategies to be happier.

“It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes us happy.”

David Steindl-Rast, Catholic Benedictine monk, “Want to Be Happy? Be Grateful,” TEDGlobal 2013 (video), June 2013, ted.com.

“Without good thoughts there is no peace, and without peace there is no happiness.”

Mahatma Gandhi, The Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi: The Voice of Truth (1968).

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion; and if you want yourself to be happy, practice compassion.”

Dalai Lama, in Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (2009).

“In African villages, one would ask in greeting, ‘How are we?’ This understanding sees that someone else’s achievements or happiness is in a very real way our own.”

Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, in 14th Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (2016).

“Happiness is the purpose and design of existence. ‘Men are, that they might have joy’ [2 Nephi 2:25]. Virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping the commandments of God lead to a happy life.”

President David O. McKay, Pathways to Happiness (1964).