Dave Peckens on Tumblr

“For people who won the lottery — and a lot people think that’s the golden ticket to happiness — within a year of winning the lottery, they’ve returned to their original happiness set-point level. Shockingly, the same was also true of people who became paraplegic. Even when bad things happen, within a year they had returned to their original happiness set-point. The really important thing is our happiness set-point. That set-point is 50% genetic, so you’re born with that. It’s only 10% based on your circumstances, and the other 40%, which is the part we can really do something about, is based on our habits of thought and behavior. Just like you can raise the thermostat at home to get warm on a cold day, you can actually raise your happiness set-point to become happier, and you don’t have to become thinner, richer, or smarter to do it. That is the thing that everybody should know, because it’s all about your happiness set-point, and we know how you can raise that.” — Marci Shimoff

“I believe the recipe for happiness to be just enough money to pay the monthly bills you acquire, a little surplus to give you confidence, a little too much work each day, enthusiasm for your work, a substantial share of good health, a couple of real friends, and a wife and children to share life”s beauty with you.” -J. Kenfield Morley

“A marriage makes 2 fractional lives a whole; it gives to 2 purposeless lives a work, and doubles the strength of each to perform it; it gives to 2 questioning natures a reason for living and something to live for; it will give a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flowers, a new beauty to the earth, and a new mystery to life.” ~ Mark Twain