--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most people are as happy as they want to…" description: "\"Most people are as happy as they want to be.\" — Abraham Lincoln" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/abraham-lincoln-88_happiness_most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to_1693876.png" --- # Most people are as happy as they want to be. ![“Most people are as happy as they want to be.” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/abraham-lincoln-88_happiness_most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to_1693876.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/abraham-lincoln-88_happiness_most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to_1693876.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/abraham-lincoln-88_happiness_most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to_1693876.png) > “Most people are as happy as they want to be.” [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness depends on personal expectations and mindset rather than external circumstances. **In simple terms:** Happiness is a choice. Key Takeaway Adjust expectations to improve contentment. Themes happiness mindset expectations Mood reflective optimistic Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal relationships - career - health - financial planning Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What expectations limit your happiness? - How can you shift your mindset? A Different Perspective External events still influence well‑being; mindset alone may not guarantee happiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy/) [Happy Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-want/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-happy/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [“I’ve got to figure out before I die whether I want to be happy or I want to be right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/i-ve-got-to-figure-out-before-i-die-whether-i-want-to-be-happy-or-i/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [“Second Splendid Truth One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/second-splendid-truth-one-of-the-best-ways-to-make-yourself-happy-is/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [It's good to be happy and tell us how cool your life is and how awesome you are on social media. That's great because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaden-smith/it-s-good-to-be-happy-and-tell-us-how-cool-your-life-is-and-how/) [Jaden Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaden-smith/) > [People are as happy as they choose to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/people-are-as-happy-as-they-choose-to-be/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [“Happy is the best way to be because then you can let other people be happy, too. Their own way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-ripley/happy-is-the-best-way-to-be-because-then-you-can-let-other-people-be/) [Alexandra Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-ripley/) > [I want to be happy. We all want to be happy. I want to be treated like a normal human being, but I also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-alaina/i-want-to-be-happy-we-all-want-to-be-happy-i-want-to-be-treated-like/) [Lauren Alaina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-alaina/) > [I'm making people that happy. How cool is that? That's my job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-marlow/i-m-making-people-that-happy-how-cool-is-that-that-s-my-job/) [Ellen Marlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-marlow/) > [Be with people who know your worth sincerely, you don't need too many people to be happy. Just a few who appreciate you for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-with-people-who-know-your-worth-sincerely-you-don-t-need-too-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I feel like I want to make everyone happy. I want everyone around me to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slowthai/i-feel-like-i-want-to-make-everyone-happy-i-want-everyone-around-me/) [Slowthai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slowthai/) > [“I want to see you happy. I want you to live in the moment and smile spontaneously. Your entire face lights up. It’s beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-lonsdale/i-want-to-see-you-happy-i-want-you-to-live-in-the-moment-and-smile/) [Kerry Lonsdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-lonsdale/) > [Your child is happy. What else could you want?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yannick-noah/your-child-is-happy-what-else-could-you-want/) [Yannick Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yannick-noah/) > [I want to know where joy lives. I'd interview scientists, religious leaders and heads of state. I'd want to find out exactly what makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-want-to-know-where-joy-lives-i-d-interview-scientists-religious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm happy where I'm at now, but I want to show the world that I'm the No. 1 fighter. I want to prove it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-overeem/i-m-happy-where-i-m-at-now-but-i-want-to-show-the-world-that-i-m-the/) [Alistair Overeem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-overeem/) > [If you wanna be happy then do what makes you happy and not what others want you to do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine/if-you-wanna-be-happy-then-do-what-makes-you-happy-and-not-what/) [Christine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine/) > [If you want to feel happy, do something for yourself. If you want to feel fulfilled, do something for someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/if-you-want-to-feel-happy-do-something-for-yourself-if-you-want-to/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) ## More by Abraham Lincoln > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-us-at-all-times-remember-that-all-american-citizens-are-brothers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-you-wish-to-be-a-lawyer-attach-no-consequence-to-the-place-you-are/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [As we keep or break the Sabbath Day we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/as-we-keep-or-break-the-sabbath-day-we-nobly-save-or-meanly-lose-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/tell-the-truth-and-you-won-t-have-so-much-to-remember/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [With high hope for the future, no prediction is ventured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/with-high-hope-for-the-future-no-prediction-is-ventured/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-am-glad-to-see-that-a-system-of-labor-prevails-under-which-laborers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-don-t-like-that-man-i-must-get-to-know-him-better/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and to the young, it comes with bitterest agony because it takes them unawares.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-this-sad-world-of-ours-sorrow-comes-to-all-and-to-the-young-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-man-does-not-live-who-is-more-devoted-to-peace-than-i-am-none-who/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Explore all 1,437 Abraham Lincoln quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most people are as happy as they want to be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abraham Lincoln" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/abraham-lincoln-88_happiness_most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to_1693876.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/abraham-lincoln-88_happiness_most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to_1693876.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/abraham-lincoln-88_happiness_most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to_1693876.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most people are as happy as they want to be.” — Abraham Lincoln", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Abraham Lincoln", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most people are as happy as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/most-people-are-as-happy-as-they-want-to-be/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```