The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is.
Desiderius Erasmus
Saint John Chrysostom 347-407
"Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward and learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude."
Saint Servinus c. 410 – 482
"We must acknowledge that God is happiness itself or we will never know what true happiness is!"
Saint Francis de Sales, 1567-1622
"When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence."
Saint Therese of Lisieux 1873-1897
"You are right – it costs us dear to give Him what He asks. But what a joy that it does cost! It is happiness to bear our crosses, and to feel our weakness in doing so."
Saint John of the Cross 1542-1591
"Oh, how happy is this soul that is ever conscious of God resting and reposing within its breast!"
Jacques Philippe 1947-
"Someone filled with resentment and unhappiness, bitter that life is not as it should be, will be deeply disillusioned. On the other hand, people who are glad for what they have received, and thank God for what befalls them will receive still more, until finally being overwhelmed by God’s generosity."
Thomas à Kempis 1380-1471
"Bring to God a clean and open heart, if you wish to see how sweet the Lord is; though truly you will never attain this happiness unless His grace prepares you and draws you on so that you may forsake all things to be united with Jesus alone."
Saint John Bosco 1815-1888
"Let us work so that we can be happy in time, but let us never forget the sublime end of man, which is to be happy forever in a blessed eternity."
Mechthild of Magdeburg 1208-1282
"The soul is made of love and must ever strive to return to love. Therefore, it can never find rest nor happiness in other things. By its very nature it must seek God, who is love.",
Saint Pio 1887-1968
"There are moments when I think of the severity of Jesus and I start to worry; then I begin to think of His tenderness and I am consoled. It would be impossible for me not to abandon myself to this sweetness, this happiness."
Saint Francis of Assisi 1181–1226
"When I think of the happiness that is in store for me, every sorrow, every pain becomes dear to me."
Saint Clare of Assisi 1194-1253
" Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ, to cleave with all one’s heart to him whose beauty all the heavenly hosts behold forever, whose love inflames our love, the contemplation of whom is our refreshment, whose graciousness is our delight, whose gentleness fills us to overflowing, whose remembrance makes us glow with happiness, whose fragrance revives the dead, the glorious vision of whom will be the happiness of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. For he is the brightness of eternal glory, the splendor of eternal light, the mirror without spot."
Leo Tolstoy 1828-1910
"If you want to be happy, be."
Thomas Merton 1915-1968
"We must respond to God’s gifts gladly and freely with thanksgiving, happiness and joy: but in contemplation we thank Him less by words than by the serene happiness of silent acceptance. “Be empty and see that I am God.” It is our emptiness in the presence of the abyss of His reality, our silence in the presence of His infinitely rich silence, our joy in the bosom of the serene darkness in which His light holds us absorbed, it is all this that praises Him. It is this that causes love of God and wonder and adoration to swim up into us like tidal waves out of the depths of that peace, and break upon the shores of our consciousness in a vast, hushed surf of inarticulate praise, praise and glory!"
Saint John Chrysostom 347-407
"Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness."
Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
"Little by little, let us leave behind us affections for the low things of earth and aspire to the happiness that has been prepared for us."
Blessed John Henry Newman 1801-1890
"But there is another reason why God alone is the happiness of our souls, to which I wish rather to direct attention: The contemplation of Him, and nothing but it, is able fully to open and relieve the mind, to unlock, occupy, and fix our affections."
Brother Lawrence 1614-1691
"There’s no greater lifestyle and no greater happiness than that of having a continual conversation with God."
Ilia Delio 1955-
"Spiritual desire is the longing of the heart for relationship with God that brings happiness and peace."