CONTENTMENT

Seneca: ‘The only thing we own is our mind, everything else is a gift.’ Epicurus said that there are only three important ingredients to happiness: friendship, freedom (not to be owned by anyone), and an analysed life. The more you lack these three things, the more you’ll want power and money, and they always lead to unhappiness. Aristotle wrote that happiness is the goal of goals. Nietzsche wrote that great happiness requires great suffering. Dr Seuss: ‘Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.’ Kurt Vonnegut: ‘I urge you to please notice when you are happy and exclaim or even murmur or think at some point, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”’ Abraham Lincoln: ‘Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.’ Buddha: ‘Life is suffering.’ (I love that guy.) Unknown Person: ‘If you think sunshine brings you happiness, then you haven’t danced in the rain.’ (This person has clearly never had depression.) Dalai Lama XIV: ‘Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your actions.’