Spiritual Quotes

Joy/Happiness

Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. —Psalms 5:11 (KJV)

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. —Psalms 30:11 (KJV)

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. —Psalms 118:24 (KJV)

Your enjoyment of the world is never right, till every morning you awake in Heaven; see yourself in your Father's Palace; and look upon the skies, the earth, and the air as Celestial Joys: having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among the Angels. —Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars: and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than so, because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you. Till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God, as misers do in gold, and Kings in scepters, you never enjoy the world.
Till your spirit filleth the whole world, and the stars are your jewels; till you are as familiar with the ways of God in all Ages as with your walk and table: till you love men so as to desire their happiness, with a thirst equal to the zeal of your own: till you delight in God for being good to all: you never enjoy the world. —Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

O let Thy love be in me that Thy joy may be fulfilled in me forevermore. —Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

It is said that on the ocean of life a joyful man makes a good sailor. This is true. The strong, joyful nature will make its way where others fall by the wayside. Joy, spiritual joy, is ours by divine right, and buoys us up and urges us onward to accomplishment. —Charles Fillmore, Teach Us to Pray

Remember first, last, and always, right thinking and right living necessarily results in happiness, and it is therefore within your power to obtain happiness. Anyone that is not happy does not claim their birthright. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

Cultivate the bountiful, cheerful spirit in every thought and act. Then your finances will flow harmoniously, and you will never lack any good thing. —Charles Fillmore, Teach Us to Pray

God is happy, and it is a state natural to us all or we would not strive for it. There must also be a way to reach it. If we have not reached it by the way we have followed, we have but to turn about and seek another way. —Charles Fillmore, Teach Us to Pray

Place...thy happiness in that wherein thou art equal to the Gods. —The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good. — The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

One man finds pleasure in improving his land, another his horses. My pleasure lies in seeing that I myself grow better day by day. —Socrates quoted in The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

This principle is always to be firm, as the foundation of Bliss: God only is my sovereign happiness and friend in the World. Conversation is full of dangers, and friendships are mortal among the sons of men. But communion with God is infinitely secure, and He my Happiness. —Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

The man not endowed with joyous impulses needs to set himself the task of acquiring the habit of happiness. I believe it can be done. To the sad or restless or discontented being I would say: Begin each morning by resolving to find something in the day to enjoy. Look in each experience which comes to you for some grain of happiness. You will be surprised to find how much that has seemed hopelessly disagreeable possesses either an instructive or an amusing side. —Ella Wheeler Wilcox, The Heart of the New Thought

Happiness must come from within in order to respond to that which comes from without, just as there must be a musical ear and temperament to enjoy music. —Ella Wheeler Wilcox, The Heart of the New Thought

Remember, that every time you say to yourself, "I must," you tell a lie, and you commit a crime against yourself. You lay upon yourself a burden and rob yourself of the joy of doing. Every time you catch yourself saying, "I must," deny it.... Sit down in a chair, relax all over and ask yourself solemnly who says you "must." You said it. You are doing all the compelling. Why? Simply because you choose to do this particular thing. There is no compulsion about it. You choose to do it—you want to do it. You are exercising your divine free will to do it. Oh, of course you can say, "If it wasn't for this, that or the other I wouldn't do it." But that does not alter the fact that you can fold your hands and leave it undone if you choose. But you desire to do it. You choose to. You want to. Keep at this practice of logic until you realize that you have thought yourself completely out of the old "must" feelings. As you emerge from the "must" feelings you will find the joy of life filling you, and you will find memory and other faculties regaining the vigor of youth. —Elizabeth Towne, Joy Philosophy

How do you begin each day? At what hour do you rise? How do you commence your duties? In what frame of mind do you enter upon the sacred life of a new day? What answer can you give your heart to these important questions? You will find that much happiness or unhappiness follows upon the right or wrong beginning of the day, and that, when every day is wisely begun, happy and harmonious sequences will mark its course, and life in its totality will not fall far short of the ideal blessedness. —James Allen, Byways of Blessedness

Seek the highest Good, and as you find it, as you practice it and realize it, you will taste the deepest, sweetest joy. —James Allen, Byways of Blessedness

Joy is as an angel so beautiful and delicate and chaste that she can only dwell with holiness. She cannot remain with selfishness; she is wedded to Love. Every man is truly happy in so far as he is unselfish; he is miserable in so far as he is selfish. —James Allen, Byways of Blessedness

Happiness...is what everyone is seeking for, but the majority seek it in things which are evanescent and not real. No happiness was ever found in the senses. There never was a person who found happiness in the senses or in enjoyment of the senses. Happiness is only found in the Spirit. Therefore the highest utility for mankind is to find this happiness in the Spirit. —Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (8 Vol. set), Volume 2

So long as you persist in selfishly seeking for your own personal happiness, so long will happiness elude you, and you will be sowing the seeds of wretchedness. Insofar as you succeed in losing yourself in the service of others, in that measure will happiness come to you, and you will reap a harvest of bliss. —James Allen, Morning and Evening Thoughts