tim ferriss

Here are 79 of the best unhappy quotes I could find.

The goal?

To help you understand what being unhappy truly means.

And once you understand the causes, you won’t fall into the same traps again.

Enjoy!

If you are unhappy, you are too high up in your mind. Carl Gustav Jung

Seeking happiness is what’s making you unhappy. Maxime Lagacé

Expectations kill happiness. Ideologies kill happiness. Your thoughts kill happiness. Maxime Lagacé

Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want. Naval Ravikant (Podcast by Naval)

A happy man has no past, while an unhappy man has nothing else. Richard Flanagan

unhappy quotes capacity determined react happens norman vincent peale wisdom

The capacity to be either happy or unhappy is determined by the manner in which you react to whatever happens. Norman Vincent Peale

People care so much about being happy that they can’t be. Maxime Lagacé

I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more. C. S. Lewis

When you are unhappy, discover what you are clinging to and let it go. Jan Chozen Bays

People prefer the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty. Virginia Satir

unhappy quotes misery rests lurks lao tzu wisdom

Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath. Lao Tzu

It’s the American obsession to feel happy all the time that makes Americans miserable. Because then you’re upset about being unhappy. And even when you’re happy, you’re worried about when it’ll go away. Thus “The Happiness Trap”. Cameron Sepah

The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it. Eckhart Tolle

Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he may be master of the whole world. Epicurus

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. Albert Camus

Related

unhappy quotes arises circumstances conditioning mind eckhart tolle wisdom

Your unhappiness ultimately arises not from the circumstances of your life but from the conditioning of your mind. Eckhart Tolle

Oftentimes. when people are miserable, they will want to make other people miserable, too. But it never helps. Lemony Snicket (The Blank Book, Amazon book)

Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves. Carl Sagan

The moment is beautiful, yes. But attachment to that beauty removes one from it. James Pierce

People are not looking for happiness, people are looking for an escape from misery. Brian Norgard

Chasing happiness is guaranteed to make to you unhappy. Ed Latimore (edlatimore.com)

The desire to feel better makes you feel worse. James Pierce

Being unhappy is very inefficient. Naval Ravikant (Source)

Attachment creates pain in the name of pleasure. James Pierce

The most unhappy people are those who care only about themselves. Paulo Coelho (Source)

I’m surprised to see how many people are happy with their own unhappiness. Paulo Coelho

Life laughs at you when you are unhappy; Life smiles at you when you are happy; But, life salutes you when you make others happy. Charlie Chaplin

The unhappy person is never present to themself because they always live in the past or the future. Søren Kierkegaard

If you make others happy, you’ll be happy. If you make others unhappy, you’ll be miserable. 14th Dalai Lama

Your unlimited desires are clouding your peace. Naval Ravikant

There’s no point in being unhappy about things you can’t change, and no point being unhappy about things you can. Dan Harris

How to be unhappy: Pin all your hopes on the things you can’t control. Jack Butcher (Source)

Unhappy people are dangerous. Rebecca West

Have you noticed it’s always unhappy people who attack the things happy people believe in? Jeff Guinn

The next milestone won’t make you happy. The next purchase won’t make you feel better. The next zero won’t make your life better. If you don’t appreciate what you have, you’ll never be happy. Shane Parrish

If you look to circumstances for happiness, you will never find peace. James Pierce

In separateness lies the world’s greatest misery; in compassion lies the world’s true strength. Buddha

If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. Epictetus

The desire for happiness creates misery. True happiness is the absence of desire. James Pierce

Unhappy people compare. Happy people don’t care. Gary Goodridge (Source)

So much unhappiness comes from wanting others to think we’re happy or important. We chase visible at the expense of meaningful. Shane Parrish

“Unhappy am I because this has happened to me.” Not so, but happy am I, though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future. Marcus Aurelius

Unhappy is the man, though he rule the world, who doesn’t consider himself supremely blessed. In order to consider himself supremely blessed he must deeply understand that things could be much worse but aren’t! To not do that is to always be less happy than he could be. Seneca

I would not have traded the delights of my suffering for anything in the world. Gabriel García Márquez (Memories of My Melancholy Whores, Amazon book)

A great way to be unsuccessful is to care deeply about everybody’s opinion about you. Zuby

If anyone is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault. Nothing else is the cause of anxiety or loss of tranquility except our own opinion. Epictetus

Happiness cannot be accumulated. What is accumulated is always destructed by time. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Do not give out your time or your fucks for free. Dan Go

Related: Jordan Peterson on Why People Are So Unhappy (6-minute YouTube video)

The fundamental delusion – there is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever. Naval Ravikant

I was deeply unhappy, but I didn’t know it because I was so happy all the time. Steve Martin

Unhappy is the one expecting. Peaceful is the one accepting. Maxime Lagacé

I was unhappy and so is every soul unhappy which is tied to its love for mortal things; when it loses them, it is torn in pieces, and it is then that it comes to realize the unhappiness which was there even before it lost them. Saint Augustine

When unhappy, one doubts everything. When happy one doubts nothing. Philibert Joseph Roux

Emotion in itself is not unhappiness. Only emotion plus an unhappy story is unhappiness. Eckhart Tolle

I just don’t believe in anything from my past. Anything. No memories. No regrets. No people. No trips. Nothing. A lot of our unhappiness comes from comparing things from the past to the present. Naval Ravikant

One can be unhappy before eating caviar, even after, but at least not during. Irving Kristol

Trying to please everyone is a guaranteed prescription for unhappiness. The first step toward emotional freedom is realizing that you’re not for everyone. Shane Parrish

To be happy, let things be. James Pierce

The more you need to signal to others that you’re happy, the less happy you really are. Shane Parrish

The best way to be miserable is by comparing yourself to others. Shane Parrish

The man who is unhappy will, as a rule, adopt an unhappy creed, while the man who is happy will adopt a happy creed; each may attribute his happiness or unhappiness to his beliefs, while the real causation is the other way round. Bertrand Russell

Seek after happiness, you will be miserable. Become still and unmoved by that which comes and goes, you will know peace. Thibaut

The average man confuses comfort with happiness. The wise creates his own path. Maxime Lagacé

Happiness is natural for children; unhappiness is learned. James Pierce

Man’s mistake is to believe that his pain is created when his desires go unfulfilled, but it is the wanting that creates the pain. James Pierce

Desire is not evil, only misunderstood. James Pierce

You do not rise to the level of your ambition. You fall to the level of your pettiness. Kunal Shah

Focus. Be here and now. A distracted mind is a recipe for unhappiness. Paulo Coelho

Misery requires effort, happiness does not. James Pierce

Related: 22 Habits Of Chronically Unhappy People (aconsciousrethink.com)

Nearly all mankind is more or less unhappy because nearly all do not know the true self. Real happiness abides in self-knowledge alone. All else is fleeting. To know one’s self is to be blissful always. Ramana Maharshi

When one searches for happiness, he remains tied to misery. The two are inseparable. James Pierce

Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty. Tim Ferriss

Stop saying yes just to be nice. Layah Heilpern

If you want to be unhappy try making everyone happy. Dan Go (Source)

Anyone who loves music can never be quite unhappy. Franz Schubert

Our real enemy is not man; it’s not another human being. Our real enemy is our ignorance, discrimination, fear, craving, and violence. Thich Nhat Hanh

When there is no desire, everything is at peace. James Pierce

Misery is the search for happiness. James Pierce

Being rude is the most common sign of unhappiness. @orangebook_

Only when you ask nothing of the world can you be truly free. James Pierce

Life is not an easy matter… You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness. Leon Trotsky (Diary in Exile, 1935, Amazon book)

How to be unhappy: Stay inside all day. Move as little as possible. Spend more than you earn. Take yourself (and life) too seriously. Look for reasons why things won’t work. Always consume, never contribute. Resent the lucky and successful. Never say hello first. Be unreliable. James Clear

Conclusion

If you don’t mind being unhappy, what happens to the unhappiness? Eckhart Tolle

tim ferriss

79 Unhappy Quotes To Help You Stop Feeling Miserable

Conclusion

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