What I "discovered" was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.

It is better to look suffering straight in the eye, acknowledge and respect it’s presence, and then get busy as soon as possible focusing on things we choose to focus on.

The solution is to gradually become free of societal rewards and learn how to substitute for them rewards that are under one's own powers. This is not to say that we should abandon every goal endorsed by society; rather, it means that, in addition to or instead of the goals others use to bribe us with, we develop a set of our own.

To play the trumpet well, a musician can not let more than a few days pass without practicing.

Those periods of struggling to overcome challenges are what people find to be the most enjoyable times.

To be successful you have to enjoy doing your best while at the same time contributing to something beyond yourself.

One cannot lead a life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself.