Theme

Philosophy quotes about happiness

Happiness—or flourishing—is a central aim in ethics: what makes a life go well, and whether pleasure alone is enough.

Why this theme matters

Greek eudaimonia, Buddhist analyses of craving, utilitarian happiness, and modern well-being research all contest the meaning of a good life.

In the history of philosophy

Aristotle, Epicurus, the Stoics, and Confucian flourishing ideals remain primary references; later utilitarianism reframed happiness as aggregable preference or pleasure.

Thinkers in this collection

Aristotle , Epicurus , John Stuart Mill , Albert Camus , Bertrand Russell , Jeremy Bentham , Plato , Thomas Hobbes

Frequently asked questions

What is happiness in philosophy?

It may mean pleasure, desire satisfaction, or eudaimonic flourishing through virtue and meaningful activity.

Is happiness the same as pleasure?

Not for most virtue ethicists; pleasure can be part of a good life without exhausting it.

Where are philosophy quotes about happiness?

Browse this theme, then related pages on life, virtue, and desire.

  1. The human good is activity of soul in accordance with virtue.
  2. Of all that wisdom provides for the happiness of a whole life, by far the greatest is the possession of friendship.
  3. It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.
  4. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
  5. The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions…be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.
  6. Next to worry, probably one of the most potent causes of unhappiness is envy.
  7. Envy is itself a terrible obstacle to happiness.
  8. It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.
  9. I say that the noble and good man and woman are happy, and the unjust and wicked are miserable.
  10. For one swallow does not make a spring, nor does one day.
  11. It is perhaps also strange to make the happy person a solitary.
  12. Felicity is a continual progress of the desire, from one object to another.
  13. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
  14. Nothing is miserable unless you think it so.
  15. What a person is contributes more to his happiness than what he has.
  16. It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.
  17. Luck can intervene between a person and the living of the good human life.
  18. The capabilities approach asks not only about people's total or average well-being but about what each person is able to do and to be.
  19. The excellent city is the one in which people cooperate toward the things by which true happiness is attained.
  20. Happiness is the good desired for its own sake; it is never desired for the sake of something else.
  21. Political science inquires into the kinds of voluntary actions and ways of life, and into the happiness that is the end of the human being.