Quote of the Day (Honore de Balzac, on Happy People)

“Some day you will find out that there is far more happiness in another's happiness than in your own.”— French novelist Honore de Balzac (1799-1850), Père Goriot (1834)

Quote of the Day (Leo Tolstoy, on the Need to ‘Seize the Moments of Happiness’)

"Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here." ― Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), War and Peace (1869)

Quote of the Day (George Santayana, on Character)

“Character is the basis of happiness and happiness the sanction of character.”—Spanish-born American philosopher, essayist and poet George Santayana (1863-1952), Reason in Common Sense (Vol. 1 of “The Life of Reason”) (1905)

Quote of the Day (George Washington, on ‘Virtue and Happiness’)

“[T]here is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” —President George Washington (1732-1799), “First Inaugural Address,” April 30, 1789

In New York City nearly 235 years ago, George Washington demonstrated the qualities Americans hoped for in their President.

In a New York City courtroom yesterday, a former and still-aspiring occupant of his office was found to be notably wanting in virtue and sense of duty.

It was frustrating to watch this latter individual fill that job with neither a sense of decorum nor of honesty. But maybe now, the “eternal rules of order and right” that Washington hailed will at long last begin to be vindicated.

Song Lyric of the Day (Bacharach and David, on ‘The Blues They Send to Meet Me’)

“But there's one thing I know:
The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me,
It won't be long 'til happiness
Steps up to greet me.”—"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head,” lyrics by Hal David, music by Burt Bacharach, first performed by B.J. Thomas on the “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” Soundtrack (1969) 

Remembering American composer, producer, pianist—and Oscar-winner for this gem of a song—Burt Bacharach (1928-2023).

Quote of the Day (John Milton, on a Carefree State)

“Come, and trip it as ye go
On the light fantastic toe,
And in thy right hand lead with thee,
The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty;
And if I give thee honour due,
Mirth, admit me of thy crew
To live with her, and live with thee,
In unreproved pleasures free;
To hear the lark begin his flight,
And singing startle the dull night,
From his watch-tower in the skies,
Till the dappled dawn doth rise.” —English poet John Milton (1608-1674), “L'Allegro,” in The Complete Poems, edited by John Leonard (1999)

Joke of the Day (Andrew Tarvin, on Those Who Are Happy and Those Who Are Not)

“Forty-seven percent of Americans struggle to stay happy. Of course, it’s even worse in Disney World, where statistically only 1 out of 7 dwarfs is Happy.”—Computer scientist-turned-standup comic Andrew Tarvin quoted in “Works Like a Charm,” Crain’s New York Business, July 10, 2017

Quote of the Day (Poet Mary Oliver, on Why ‘Joy Is Not Made to be a Crumb’)

 “If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.”—Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019), “Don’t Hesitate,” in Swan: Poems and Prose Poems (2010)

Quote of the Day (Caitlin Flanagan, on ‘The Cardinal Rule to Leading a Happy Life’)

“The cardinal rule to leading a happy life is that you must never, under any circumstances, Google yourself.”—American cultural commentator Caitlin Flanagan quoted in Rachel Donadio, “The Anti-Feminist Mystique,” The New York Observer, June 7, 2004

An updated corollary to the “Cardinal Rule”: “Never, under any circumstances, check social media for reactions to your post.”

Quote of the Day (Gabrielle Union, on ‘What Makes Us Happy’)

“Most of us have no clue what makes us happy. We're always supercritical of our spouses or our friends or our co-workers for not magically knowing how to be our friend or how to love us. And it's like, ‘How do you even sign up for that when you haven't even figured it out for yourself?’”—Actress Gabrielle Union interviewed by Molly Lambert, in “Gabrielle Union Isn't Done Talking About Sexual Assault,” The New York Times Magazine, Jan. 14, 2018

Photo of Gabrielle Union taken "To John - With Peace & Love" Global Launch Of The Montblanc John Lennon Edition on September 12, 2010 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. (Photo © Nick Stepowyj)

Quote of the Day (‘Zorba the Greek,’ on True Happiness)

"This is true happiness: to have no ambition and to work like a horse as if you had every ambition. To live far from men, not to need them and yet to love them. To have the stars above, the land to your left and the sea to your right and to realize of a sudden that in your heart, life has accomplished its final miracle: it has become a fairy tale.” ―Greek man of letters Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957), Zorba the Greek (1946)

The image accompanying this post comes from the 1964 adaptation of the Kazantzakis novel, starring Anthony Quinn—pictured here—in the title role.

Quote of the Day (Will Durant, on Speaking Ill of Others)

“To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can't say good and encouraging things, say nothing. Nothing is often a good thing to do, and always a clever thing to say.”—Historian Will Durant (1885-1981), “We Have a Right To Be Happy Today,” Commencement Speech. Delivered at Webb School of Claremont, CA, June 7, 1958

Quote of the Day (David Lee Roth, on Money and Happiness)

“Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it." —Raucous rock-‘n’-roller David Lee Roth quoted in Mike Breen, “Cover Story: Eddie Van Who?” City Beat, May 23, 2002

Quote of the Day (Alice Meynell, on Happiness and the ‘Tides of the Mind’)

“Happiness is not a matter of events; it depends upon the tides of the mind.” —English poet, critic, editor and suffragist Alice Meynell (1847-1922), “The Rhythm of Life,” in The Rhythm of Life and Other Essays (1893)