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80 Inspiring Quotes On Joy To Turn Your Frown Upside Down

80 Inspiring Quotes On Joy To Turn Your Frown Upside Down

Remember that feeling when you were a kid and you felt happy and carefree all the time? 

You’d recklessly jump in the puddles, you’d fall, and despite feeling the pain, you’d just move on to another adventure that would bring you joy.

Here are some inspiring quotes on joy to help you regain that childlike delight and remind you to pick yourself up when life gets complicated and shift to the next exciting thing!

10 Extraordinary Quotes On Joy

1. “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” ― Rumi

a group of dancing people image representing extraordinary quote on joy

2. “Think joy, talk joy, practice joy, share joy, saturate your mind with joy, and you will have the time of your life today and every day all your life.” — Norman Vincent Peale

3. “Joy must be developed from the inside. If we cannot find happiness within ourselves we will not be able to find happiness anywhere.” — Allan Lokos

4. “Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.” — William Shakespeare

5. “Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” ― Emily Dickinson

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough

6. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” — Buddha

7. “Joy can be real only if people look upon their lives as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” — Leo Tolstoy

8. “Joy comes when we are in alignment with our values and goals and when we feel our lives are abundant.” — Yolanda V Acree

See also: 130 Powerful Abundance Affirmations For A Prosperous Life

9. “Joy and positive thinking are powerful tools for living well.” — Cyndie Spiegel

10. “Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” — Mother Teresa

image of people dancing representing extraordinary quote on joy

Inspirational Quotes About Joy

1. “Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” — Greg Anderson

woman with balloons image representing inspirational joy quote

2. “Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” — Chuck Palahniuk

3. “Once you open your eyes to the fun some 90-year-olds are having, you’ll be surprised at how much more willing you become to step into that joy yourself.” — Noelle C. Nelson

4. “Cultivating inner happiness will allow you to have boundless joy whatever the situation.” — Tom Miles

5. “After the rain, the sun will reappear. There is life. After the pain, the joy will still be here.” ― Walt Disney Company

After the rain, the sun will reappear.

6. “My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” — Russell M. Nelson

7. “If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment.” — Carlos Santana

8. “Live for today, but hold your hands open to tomorrow. Anticipate the future and its changes with joy. There is a seed of God’s love in every event, every unpleasant situation in which you may find yourself.” — Barbara Johnson

9. “Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.” — Albert Einstein

10. “Truly living means your days are filled with joy and thanksgiving for the very fact that you are alive.” — Sandra Leon

Truly living means your days are filled with joy and thanksgiving for the very fact that you are alive

11. “He who binds to himself a joy does the winged life destroy, but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity’s sunrise.” — William Blake

12. “Only focus on things that will bring joy and happiness for you and others.” — A.D Largie

13. “But the more you say no to the things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do. This will let you live and enjoy your life — the life that you want.” — Ryan Holiday

14. “Pray for your ability to share your joy with others and be a light in this world.” — Kathryn Shirey

See also: Brilliant List Of 120 Light Quotes To Awaken Your Mind

15. “You need to sow seeds of thought if you want to reap joy.” — Bill Powell

A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love

16. “If we want joy, we must 1) accept ourselves as the unique persons we are, 2) allow ourselves to hurt, knowing that our joy runs deeper than our emotions, and 3) work on resolving any personal hindrances to joy.” — Gaylyn Williams

17. “The world is full of a lot of fear and a lot of negativity, and a lot of judgment. I just think people need to start shifting into joy and happiness. As corny as it sounds, we need to make a shift.” — Ellen DeGeneres

18. “Our sadness and sorrows, joys and triumphs bind us in the common thread of humanity. The sooner we realize the connection, the more elevated life becomes.” — Oprah Winfrey

19. “Go forth into the busy world and love it. Interest yourself in its life; mingle kindly with its joys and sorrows.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.” — Mark Twain

To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with

21. “We all experience joy differently and have our own unique barriers to attaining joy. Understanding what makes you tick helps you develop a plan that’s tailored specifically for you.” — Kaia Roman

22. “If you are confident that something brings you joy, keep it, regardless of what anyone else might say. Even if it isn’t perfect, no matter how mundane it might be, when you use it with care and respect, you transform it into something priceless.” — Marie Kondo

23. “Well, your greatest joy definitely comes from doing something for another, especially when it was done with no thought of something in return.” — John Wooden

24. “You will quickly discover there is no sense of satisfaction or joy that equals that of bringing others along and developing them to the degree that they are as capable as you, so that they, too, can move into management.” — Zig Ziglar

25. “A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love.” — Mother Teresa

A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love

26. “Joy is not in things; it is in us.” — Richard Wagner

27. “A sense of humor… is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.” — Hugh Sidey

28. “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh

29. “When you are joyful, when you say yes to life and have fun and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the center of every constellation, and people want to be near you.” ― Shannon L. Alder

30. “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” — Marianne Williamson

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

Life Quotes About Joy And Happiness

1. “There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.” — Khalil Gibran

dancing group of people image representing the joy of giving quote

2. “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” — Franklin Roosevelt

3. “Part of the joy comes from seeing one’s own children become parents — watching the cycle of birth, nurturance, and independence begin again. Grandmothers became quite passionate about the magic of it all, often bowled over by their intensity of feeling.” — Doreen Rosenthal

4. “The simple presence of a pet can offer a lightness and a joy, a sense of connection, and an invitation to be uninhibitedly ourselves in a way that is both unique and priceless.” — David Michie

5. “The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy.” — Jim Rohn

The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy

6. “Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joy, and dividing our grief.” — Joseph Addison

7. “Advent helps us to make more room for joy so that we are fully prepared to receive the Lord when he comes.” — Beth Bevis

8. “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” — Richard Bach

9. “Mindfulness is an elevated state of being that enables you to rise above your circumstances and experience a sense of joy. As you experience joy, you attract health, finances, abundance, and a slew of other wonderful things into your life.” — Yesenia Chavan

10. “Perhaps most important, being in a state of joy is a learned skill, not an innate ability.” — Donald Altman

Perhaps most important, being in a state of joy is a learned skill, not an innate ability

11. “Despite knowing the value and joy of giving to others, many people are at a loss on how to go about it. Some mistakenly think that only those with money are the only ones who can give.” — John Michaels

12. “The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it.” — Michel de Montaigne

13. “Life is a box full of surprises so you never know what the next surprise in your way is. People who take life seriously are those people who unfortunately ruined the joy of life by their seriousness and misleading power of thinking.” — David Dashner

14. “For the Christian, joy in God is available at all times, in any situation.” — Wayne Davies

15. “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” — Henri Nouwen

Joy does not simply happen to us

16. “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” — C. S. Lewis

17. “People in developing countries have a depth of joy, a richness to which those of us consumed with material things are often blind.” — Pam Grout

18. “Joy is a choice based on being content regardless of circumstances. Understanding what encourages joy in your life can help you cultivate it and build up your resources for when circumstances are difficult.” — M. Ahlers

19. “Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.” — Kahlil Gibran

20. “Joy multiplies when it is shared among friends, but grief diminishes with every division. That is life.” ― R.A. Salvator

Joy multiplies when it is shared among friends, but grief diminishes with every division

21. “We all have battles to fight. And it’s often in those battles that we are most alive: it’s on the frontlines of our lives that we earn wisdom, create joy, forge friendships, discover happiness, find love, and do purposeful work.” — Eric Greitens

22. “Happiness is an emotional foundation of our lives, whereas joy ebbs and flows and is dependent on what occurs in our lives.” — Will Bowen

23. “He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy.” — Kahlil Gibran

24. “Poor food and water for dinner, a bent arm for a pillow — that is where joy resides. For me, wealth and renown without honor are nothing but drifting clouds.” — Confucius

25. “True generosity doesn’t just come out of altruism or philanthropy — it comes out of joy.” — Rene Schlaepfer

True generosity doesn’t just come out of altruism or philanthropy — it comes out of joy

26. “Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.” ― Leo Tolstoy

27. “Happiness is part of who we are. Joy is the feeling” ― Tony DeLiso

28. “Without pain, how could we know joy?’ This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.” ― John Green

See also: 170 Most Inspiring Quotes About Smiling Through Pain

29. “A flower blossoms for its own joy.” ― Oscar Wilde

30. “Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle. It’s a feeling inside that can hardly be contained.” ― Terry Pratchett

Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle

Feeling Joyful Quotes

1. “I am a person of joy, and some people think it’s because I live a perfect life. Ha! Nothing could be further from the truth.” — Ellen Miller

a man with raised hands image representing feeling joy quote

2. “There’s a great joy in my giving. It’s thrilling. It’s exhilarating. It’s important to be a part of sharing.” — W. Clement Stone

3. “I’m not going to get upset. I’m not going to let people steal my joy.” — Joel Osteen

4. “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” — Rabindranath Tagore

5. “The secret to life is finding joy in ordinary things. I’m interested in happiness.” — Ruth Reichl

The secret to life is finding joy in ordinary things. I'm interested in happiness

6. “Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices — today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.” — Kevyn Aucoin

7. “With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things.” — William Wordsworth

8. “I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river.” — Zhuangzi

9. “It is the chief joy of all holy beings to witness the joy and happiness of those around them.” — Ellen G. White

10. “You have to create little pockets of joy in your life to take care of yourself.” — Jonathan Van Ness

You have to create little pockets of joy in your life to take care of yourself

Final Thoughts

I believe these inspiring quotes on joy shed light on the importance of finding that truly pure feeling of contentment in your everyday life. 

I hope they have reminded you not to take life so seriously and to do more of what makes you happy.

Make sure you put them to effective use!

P.S. If you liked my collection of quotes on joy, why don’t you read these positive vibes quotes to  cultivate some cheerful thoughts that’ll bring joy into your day!

80 Inspiring Quotes On Joy To Turn Your Frown Upside Down