Joy

Man's only true delight
Flows from the infinite.
~ William Allingham, from Blackberries Picked Off Many Bushes (1884).

Get up Sing louder Dance around.
~ Guillaume Apollinaire (Wilhelm-Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky), Alcools (1912). Rhenish Night

Joy came always after pain.
~ Guillaume Apollinaire (Wilhelm-Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky), Alcools (1912). Le Pont Mirabeau

[I]t is good to live,
For life has much to give.
~ William Francis (W.F.) Barnard, The Moods Of Life: Poems Of Varied Feeling (1905). In The Joy of Life

There is one joy of reading, another of painting, and another of writing, but none to compare with the thrill which comes to one who, loving Nature in all her moods, is about to start on a voyage of discovery to a land familiar in dreams alone.
~ Charles William ("Will") Beebe, Two Bird Lovers in Mexico (1905).

The supreme joy of learning, of discovering, of adding our tiny facts to the foundation of the everlasting why of the universe; all this makes life for us -- Milady and me -- one never-ending delight.
~ Charles William ("Will") Beebe, Our Search For a Wilderness (1910).

Life's greatest joys are not what one does apart from the work of one's life, but with the work of one's life.
~ William John Bennett, The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories (1993).

Now here -- now there, now here again! O ecstatic! Rush on, you sons of harmony!
~ William Billings, The New England Psalm Singer (1770).

I have found that there is a tremendous joy in giving. It is a very important part of the joy of living.
~ William Black, in Time Magazine (January 1960). Joy in Giving

And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.
~ William Blake, Songs of Innocence (1789). Introduction

As the caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

Come live, and be merry, and join with me,
To sing the sweet chorus of 'Ha ha he!'
~ William Blake, from Songs of Innocence (1789). Laughing Song

Energy is eternal delight!
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). The Voice of the Devil

He who bends to himself a Joy
Doth the wingèd life destroy;
But he who kisses the Joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity's sunrise.
~ William Blake, Gnomic Verses. xvii: Several Questions Answered. 1. Eternity

"Pipe a song about a Lamb!"
So I piped with merry cheer.
~ William Blake, from Songs of Innocence (1789). Introduction

Pretty joy! ...
Sweet joy I call thee:
Thou dost smile,
I sing the while,
Sweet joy befall thee!
~ William Blake, from Songs of Innocence (1789). Infant Joy

The soul of sweet delight, can never be defil'd.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

The more you learn what to do with yourself, and the more you do for others, the more you will enjoy the abundant life.
~ William J.H. Boetcker

Think -- since this life is but a span,
Of joys that have no end.
~ William Lisle Bowles, from The Little Villager's Verse Book (1826). Child and Blind Grandfather

I am glad daylong for the gift of song,
For time and change and sorrow;
For the sunset wings and the world-end things
Which hang on the edge of tomorrow.
~ William Stanley Braithwaite, from Lyrics of Life and Love (1904). Rhapsody

Mind free, step free,
Days to follow after,
Joys of life sold to me
For the price of laughter.
~ William Stanley Braithwaite, in The Little Book of Modern Verse (1913). Sic Vita

Set me a task in which I can put something of my very self, and it is task no longer; it is joy; it is art.
~ (William) Bliss Carman, The Kinship of Nature (1904). The Art of Life

[I] am enjoying to the full that period of reflection which is the happiest conclusion to a life of action.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927).

It is because we have but a small portion of enjoyment ourselves, that we feel so little pleasure in the good fortune of others. Is it possible for the happy to be envious?
~ William Benton (W.B.) Clulow, Horæ otiosæ; or, Thoughts, Maxims, and Opinions (1833). Part IV. On Happiness

Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing, and the overtaking and possessing of a wish, discovers the folly of the chase.
~ William Congreve, Love for Love (1695). Act IV, scene 20

I crown thee king of intimate delights,
Fire-side enjoyments, home-born happiness.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book IV. The Winter Evening

[L]iberty, like day,
Breaks on the soul, and by a flash from heaven
Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book V. The Winter Morning Walk

Sweet always, doubly sweet.
~ William Cowper, in The Life and Posthumous Writings of William Cowper, Esq., Volume I (1803). On The Queen's Visit To London, The Night of 17th March, 1789

'Tis a sight to engage me, if anything can,
To muse on the perishing pleasures of man;
Short-lived as we are, our enjoyments, I see,
Have a still shorter date, and die sooner than we.
~ William Cowper, published in The Gentleman's Magazine (January 1785). The Poplar Field

I find thee, Joy, in hours
With clouds, and birds, and flowers.
~ William Henry (W.H.) Davies, from Foliage: Various Poems (1913). Seeking Joy

I was not born to joy
Till this late hour.
~ William Henry (W.H.) Davies, from Foliage: Various Poems (1913). My Youth

Joy from her heart doth sing at home,
With little care if others hear;
But Pleasure then is cold and dumb,
And sings and laughs with strangers near.
~ William Henry (W.H.) Davies, from Nature Poems and Others (1908). Joy and Pleasure

Any enjoyment or profit we get from life, we get Now; to kill Now is to abridge our own lives.
~ (William) Robertson Davies, from A Voice From the Attic (1960).

Our customers should take joy in our products and services.
~ W. Edwards Deming

Don't you know what I'm saying!
Yeah! Every body knows I'm him!
Said I'm your hoochie coochie man
You'd better believe I'm him!
~ William James "Willie" Dixon, Hoochie Coochie Man (song)

I learned early that the richness of life is found in adventure. Adventure calls on all the faculties of mind and spirit. It develops self-reliance and independence. Life then teems with excitement. But man is not ready for adventure unless he is rid of fear. For fear confines him and limits his scope. He stays tethered by strings of doubt and indecision and has only a small and narrow world to explore.
~ William Orville Douglas, Of Men and Mountains (1950).

There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go.
~ Frederick William Faber

[N]ext to doing a good job yourself, the greatest joy is in having someone else do a first-rate job under your direction.
~ William Feather, The Business of Life (1949).

Researchers have continued to examine the physical, emotional and psychological changes occurring during mirthful experiences. These include physiologic activities involving the muscular, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, immune and central nervous systems. In most cases, mirthful responses are positive and beneficial.
~ William F. Fry, Jr., MD, The Journal of the American Medical Association (April 1992).

The joy of this life is nothing, and the joy of the after life is everlasting.
~ William Hart (letter written to his mother; 10 March 1583), quoted in Concertatio Ecclesiae Catholicae in Anglia (1588).

My friends, I loved the art of making motion pictures. It is as the breath of life to me ... the rush of the wind that cuts your face, the pounding hooves of the pursuing posse, and then the clouds of dust! Through the cloud of dust comes the faint voice of the director, 'Now, Bill, OK! Glad you made it! Great stuff, Bill, great stuff! ... Oh, the thrill of it all!
~ William S. "Two Gun Bill" Hart, Tumbleweeds (1939 movie reissue). Prologue

I know, indeed, of nothing more subtly satisfying and cheering than a knowledge of the real good will and appreciation of others. Such happiness does not come with money, nor does it flow from a fine physical state. It cannot be brought. But it is the keenest joy, after all, and the toiler's truest and best reward.
~ William Dean Howells, in Little Visits with Great Americans; Or Success Ideals and How to Attain Them (1903). A Printer's Boy, Self-Taught, Becomes the Dean of American Letters

True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united.
~ Wilhelm von Humboldt

Like me, ye dance to any tune.
~ William T. James, Rhymes Afloat And Afield (1861). The Madman

The joy of life is made up of obscure and seemingly mundane victories that gives us our own small satisfactions.
~ Billy Joel

At the time, I didn't understand the impact it would have. It was just a lot of fun, and there was a lot of spontaneity. To think that the way that people celebrate end zone dances today as a result of what I did? I want to be associated with it in a good way, not a negative way.
~ Billy "White Shoes" Johnson (on his end zone dance called the "Funky Chicken"), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (9 December 1998). Let's dance: End zone celebrations go way back

A maze of joy, a paradise of sweets.
~ Sir William Jones, The Seven Fountains, an Eastern Allegory, written in the Year 1767

Joy is a constituent of life, a necessity of life; it is an element of life's value and life's power. As every person has need of joy, so too, every person has a right to joy ...
~ Paul Wilhelm von Keppler, More Joy (1911).

Oh my joy! my life, my only delight!
May this glad minute be
Blessed to eternity.
~ William Killigrew, Selindra (1664).

Great people have not been concerned with fame. The joy of achievement that comes from finding something new in the universe is by far their greatest joy.
~ William P. King

Receive every day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life; meet every rising sun with such sentiments of God's goodness, as if you had seen it, and all things, new-created upon your account: and under the sense of so great a blessing, let your joyful heart praise and magnify so good and glorious a Creator.
~ William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1728).

By joy divinest deeds are done.
~ William Maccall, from Moods and Memories (1885). Genial Stoicism

A great deal of the joy of life consists in doing perfectly, or at least to the best of one's ability, everything which he attempts to do.
~ William Matthews, Conquering Success, Or, Life in Earnest (1903). IX. Thoroughness

How happy life would be if an undertaking retained to the end the delight of its beginning, if the dregs of a cup of wine were as sweet as the first sip.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, from A Writer's Notebook (1949).

I thought I should be a fool to allow work to interfere with a delight in the passing moment that I might never enjoy again so fully.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge (1944).

I enjoy what I do. ... I think it shows.
~ Billy Mays, The Seattle Times (25 December 2002). Pitchman Billy Mays gives Orange its Glo

There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.
~ Bill McKibben, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmas (1998).

Forget days past, heart broken, put all memory by!
No grief on the green hillside, no pity in the sky,
Joy that may not be spoken fills mead and flower and tree.
~ William Morris

The mother of dissipation is not joy but joylessness.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Better lose a jewel than a joy.
~ William M. Paxton, in Princeton Sermons (1893). How We Spend Our Years (1892)

We lose the duty in the joy.
~ William Morley (W.M.) Punshon, from Sabbath Chimes; Meditations in Verse for the Sundays of a Year (1867). Sabbath Morning

Life's dramas are played out on a number of different stages, and you cannot do justice to the potential of your own life without sampling several of these performances. As you do this, you will be surprised to find that new sources of enjoyment arise from some of the places where you would least expect them.
~ William H. Rehnquist, from American Bar Association Journal (February 1996). Successful Lawyers Pay The Price

Joy is the feeling that comes from the fulfillment of one's potential. Fulfillment brings to an individual the feeling that he can cope with his environment; the sense of confidence in himself as a significant, competent, lovable person who is capable of handling situations as they arise, able to use fully his own capacities, and free to express his feelings.
~ William C. ("Will") Schutz, Joy: Expanding Human Awareness (1967).

A kind overflow of kindness.
There are no faces truer than those that are so wash'd.
How much better is it to weep at joy
than to joy at weeping!
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

All things that are,
Are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act II, scene vi

He makes a July's day short as December,
And with his varying childness cures in me
Thoughts that would thick my blood.
~ William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale. Act I, scene i

It is meat and drink to me to see a clown.
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act V, scene i

I wish you all the joy you can wish.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act III, scene ii

Joy, gentle friends! joy and fresh days of love
Accompany your hearts!
~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act V, scene i

O wonderfull, wonderful!! and most wonderfull wonderfull! and yet againe wonderful! and after that out of all hooping!
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act III, scene ii

Poor fellow never joyed since the price of oats rose, it was the death of him.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part I. Act II, scene i

Still constant in a wondrous excellence.
~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 105

Sweets grown common lose their dear delight.
~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 102

These most brisk and giddy-paced times.
~ William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. Act II, scene iv

Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing.
~ William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

'Tis merry in hall when beards wag all.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part II

Welcome ever smiles,
And farewell goes out sighing.
~ William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

Where is our usual manager of mirth?
What revels are in hand? Is there no play,
To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?
~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act V, scene i

Our cares are the mothers, not only of our charities and virtues, but of our best joys and most cheering and enduring pleasures.
~ William Gilmore Simms, Egeria: Or, Voices of Thought and Counsel for the Woods and Wayside (1853).

So ever for you, to the joys of to-day,
May hope add a taste of the joys of "To-morrow!".
~ William Robert (W.R.) Spencer, from Poems (1811). Answer, To a Lady's Versons on "To-morrow"

Return, my joys! and hither bring
A tongue not made to speak, but sing.
~ William Strode, in Wit Restored (1658). Answer to "The Lover's Melancholy"

A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.
~ William E. "Bill" Vaughan

I'm ready to start enjoying things. It will be nice to take it slower and not have anything to do for a change.
~ Andy Williams

Some might call me crazy. I call it a surplus of joy. And I just happen to believe you should have enough of a surplus to fill a Wal-Mart.
~ Pat Williams, How to Be Like Mike: Life Lessons about Basketball's Best (2001). Two: The Joy

It's a Rum Go!
~ Ralph Vaughan Williams, quoted in The Wit of Music (1966).

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.
~ Marianne Williamson

Joy, has no cost.
~ Marianne Williamson

You don't have to be a thing of beauty to be a joy forever.
~ Clerow "Flip" Wilson

Count It All Joy.
~ Grady Baxter Wilson, Count It All Joy (1984).

And often, glad no more,
We wear a face of joy because
We have been glad of yore.
~ William Wordsworth, from Poems of Sentiment and Reflection (1800). The Fountain. A Conversion (written in 1799)

I hear, I hear, with joy I hear!
~ William Wordsworth, from Poems in Two Volumes (1807). Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, V

It is a joy to think the best we can of human kind.
~ William Wordsworth

Surprised by joy -- impatient as the wind
I wished to share the transport.
~ William Wordsworth, from Poems by William Wordsworth, Vol. II (1815). Miscellaneous Sonnets. XXXII

The earth is all before me. With a heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty.
~ William Wordsworth, The Prelude (1805). Book I: Childhood and School-time

Whence I come or whither I go,
I little question, for well I know
What I am, 't is joy to be;
Laughter is my vesture,
And a god of revelry
Beckons in my gesture.
~ William Bull Wright, in An American Anthology, 1787-1900 (1900). From "The Brook"

Joy is of the will which labours, which overcomes obstacles, which knows triumph.
~ William Butler Yeats, from The Autobiography of William Butler Yeats (1935).

Their Land of Heart's Desire,
Where beauty has no ebb, decay no flood,
But joy is wisdom, time an endless song.
~ William Butler Yeats, The Land of Heart's Desire (1894 play).