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Ye seek for happiness—alas, the day!
Ye find it not in luxury nor in gold,
Nor in the fame, nor in the envied sway
For which, O willing slaves to Custom old,
Severe taskmistress! ye your hearts have sold.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley

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Happiness

More quotes by Percy Bysshe Shelley

The sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
What are all these kissings worth
If thou kiss not me?

Love's Philosophy (1819)

The king ...
like the vulgar, thinks, feels, acts, and lives
Just as his father did; the unconquered powers
Of precedent and custom interpose
Between a king and virtue.

Queen Mab (1813)

Honour sits smiling at the sale of truth.

Queen Mab (1813)

Familiar acts are beautiful through love.

The lone couch of his everlasting sleep.

All Percy Bysshe Shelley quotes →

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It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

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Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased — thus do we refute entropy.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Percy Bysshe Shelley (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.