A reflection on happiness as harmony with nature, prudent desires and living in the present

Plato defined happiness very well when he said that it is ever being born again but never exists: and so it is better to await it than to seek it.

Do you wish to be happy? Learn but one thing: to desire prudently.

The surest means of being happy is to be in accord with Nature. All of man's blessings consist in health, peace of mind and the possession of all that is needful.

He who asks of fortune only what is needful often receives from her what is superfluous as well.

He who cannot enjoy the present, who frets over the past or the future, willingly turns aside from happiness.

We all seek happiness, but is there a single one among us who could say with certainty: I have found it?

Some place it in riches, others in sensual pleasures. Strange is the delusion of blind mortals! The eye is not sated with seeing, nor the mind with wealth; but to find happiness depends upon ourselves: be content with what you possess; do not trouble yourself with desires, and you will easily be content.