“How hard it is to make an Englishman acknowledge that he is happy!”

— William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis (1848-1850), Ch. 70

About William Makepeace Thackeray

1811 – 1863

English novelist, author of "Vanity Fair".

“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.”

“Dare, and the world always yields: or, if it beat you sometimes, dare again, and it will succumb.”

“Good humour may be said to be one of the very best articles of dress one can wear in society.”

“Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.”

“Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned?”

“The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills.”

“That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.”

“Therefore the wise man is always happy.”

“No one can be happy without virtue.”