“The numbing lists of things you were supposed to have as an American to make you happy, which ultimately, of course, don't. Those aren't the things that make you happy.”

“...the most beautiful things don't always make you happy - often they make you weep...”

“Being single won’t make you happy. Dating someone won’t make you happy. Being married won’t make you happy. Being a parent won’t make you happy. Divorcing won’t make you happy. The only thing that can make you happy is your choice to be happy…”

“Be open to the realization that who you were before and who you are now are two different people, and that what may have made you happy then, may not be the same thing that will make you happy now.”

“Happy is one of the many things I'm likely to be over the course of a day and certainly over the course of a lifetime. But I think if you have the expectation that you're going to be happy throughout your life--more to the point, if you have a need to be comfortable all the time--well, among other things, you have the makings of a classic drug addict or alcoholic.”

“As you read my stories of long ago I hope you will remember that things truly worthwhile and that will give you happiness are the same now as they were then. It is not the things you have that make you happy. It is love and kindness and helping each other and just plain being good. ”