The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama

The Big Idea: You have everything you need to achieve happiness. Happiness is achieved through mental practice.

• Service to others is the best way to live.
• If you can’t live your life in service to others, at least refrain from doing harm to others.
• Happiness is not a luxury but the purpose of our existence.
• Eliminate habits that lead to suffering.
• Cultivate habits that lead to happiness.
• In Buddhism, there are four factors to happiness: wealth, worldly satisfaction, spirituality, and enlightenment.
• The real secret to happiness is a disciplined mind.
• A calm mind, or one that is engaged in meaningful work, equates to happiness.
• A basic way to happiness is to cultivate affection and connection with other human beings.
• Always look for what you have in common with others and you will never be lonely.
• All emotions, negative and positive, grow in size if practiced regularly.
• Don’t confuse happiness with pleasure. Pleasure lacks meaning. Happiness depends on meaning and is often felt despite negative external conditions.
• Become a student of happiness and practice how to improve happiness.
• Replace anger and hatred with tolerance and patience.
• Compassion means seeking to truly understand others. Compassion is the key to communicating and bonding with others.
• The cure for loneliness is to recognize the need to open your eyes to all the people who surround you and to connect with them.
• Instead of loving someone so that they love you back, seek to love them by increasing their happiness.
• Without attempting to feel another’s pain, we set ourselves up for isolation.