John Updike on happiness

We do survive every moment, after all, except the last one.

A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people. There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership in the world.

The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one’s obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

Dr. Seuss1904–1991

It was when I was happiest that I longed most…The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing…to find the place where all the beauty came from.

C. S. Lewis1898–1963Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold (1956), Pt. 1, VII (Psyche)

• Beauty

Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you, and be happy.

Anne Frank1929–1945

• Beauty