A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one’s life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted.

George Santayana
About This Quote

The great poet William Wordsworth once said: “A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one’s life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted.” This quote captures the idea that true happiness comes from thinking about life and human nature in a way that makes you happy.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. Promise YourselfTo be so strong that nothingcan disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperityto every person you meet. To make all your friends feelthat there is something in them To look at the sunny side of everythingand make your optimism come... - Christian D. Larson
  2. They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. - Tom Bodett
  3. Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. - Bertrand Russell
  4. Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world. - Orhan Pamuk
  5. I know that's what people say-- you'll get over it. I'd say it, too. But I know it's not true. Oh, youll be happy again, never fear. But you won't forget. Every time you fall in love it will be because something in the man... - Betty Smith
More Quotes By George Santayana
  1. Love make us poets, and the approach of death should make us philosophers.
  2. The worship of power is an old religion.
  3. To be happy you must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world.
  4. A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one’s life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted.
  5. There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval
Related Topics