--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think anyone 'finds' joy. Rather…" description: "\"I don't think anyone 'finds' joy. Rather, we cultivate it by searching for the preciousness of small things, the ordinary miracles, that strengthen our..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/148/dawna-markova-19652_attention_i-don-t-think-anyone-finds-joy-rather-we_1032368.png" --- # I don't think anyone 'finds' joy. Rather, we cultivate it… ![“I don't think anyone 'finds' joy. Rather, we cultivate it by searching for the preciousness of small things, the ordinary miracles, that strengthen our hearts so we can keep them open to what is difficult: delight in taking a shower or a slow walk that has no destination, in touching something…” quote by Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/148/dawna-markova-19652_attention_i-don-t-think-anyone-finds-joy-rather-we_1032368.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/148/dawna-markova-19652_attention_i-don-t-think-anyone-finds-joy-rather-we_1032368.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/148/dawna-markova-19652_attention_i-don-t-think-anyone-finds-joy-rather-we_1032368.png) > “I don't think anyone 'finds' joy. Rather, we cultivate it by searching for the preciousness of small things, the ordinary miracles, that strengthen our hearts so we can keep them open to what is difficult: delight in taking a shower or a slow walk that has no destination, in touching something soft, in noticing the one small, black bird who sings every morning from the top of the big old pine tree ... I need to give my attention to the simple things that give me pleasure with the same fervor I have been giving it to the complex things with which I drive myself crazy.” [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Joy is not discovered but cultivated by attentively appreciating ordinary, simple moments that enrich the heart. **In simple terms:** Joy comes from noticing small things. Key Takeaway Practice mindful attention daily. Themes mindfulness gratitude simplicity Mood calm reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily routine - nature walks - household chores - personal reflection Key Concepts psychology of happiness attention regulation Questions to Reflect On - What small moments bring you peace? - How can you integrate gratitude into busy days? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper systemic sources of unhappiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Crazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crazy/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Delight Taking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight-taking-2364939/) [Destination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destination/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Every morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-morning/) [Fervor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fervor/) [Finds Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finds-joy-820454/) [Give me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give-me/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Joy Cultivate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy-cultivate-2364937/) [Miracle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miracle/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Noticing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noticing/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Pine trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pine-trees/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Preciousness Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preciousness-small-2364938/) [Searching Preciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/searching-preciousness-2364936/) [Showers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/showers/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Simple things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple-things/) [Small things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-things/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Touching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/touching/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) ## Related quotes > [“perhaps, now he finds more joy in life, having survived”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-wright/perhaps-now-he-finds-more-joy-in-life-having-survived/) [John C. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-wright/) > [One man finds in religion his literature and his science, another finds in it his joy and his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/one-man-finds-in-religion-his-literature-and-his-science-another/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Some glory in their birth , some in their skill , Some in their wealth , some in their bodies' force , Some in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/some-glory-in-their-birth-some-in-their-skill-some-in-their-wealth/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Listen, I'm somebody that finds joy in being judgy and funny and ripping on someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stassi-schroeder/listen-i-m-somebody-that-finds-joy-in-being-judgy-and-funny-and/) [Stassi Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stassi-schroeder/) > [I belong to the Great Church which holds the world within its starlit aisles; that claims the great and good of every race and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/i-belong-to-the-great-church-which-holds-the-world-within-its-starlit/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [He who finds joy within himself discovers that his body is charged with electric current, life energy, not from food but from God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/he-who-finds-joy-within-himself-discovers-that-his-body-is-charged/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [The man of genius is he and he alone who finds such joy in his art that he will work at it come hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-man-of-genius-is-he-and-he-alone-who-finds-such-joy-in-his-art/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“a wise person finds more joy in serving others than in pursuing possessions, power, performance, or prestige.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-d-boa/a-wise-person-finds-more-joy-in-serving-others-than-in-pursuing/) [Kenneth D. Boa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-d-boa/) > [“Passion is wholehearted devotion; it is fervor and agony; it is temper and zeal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-ross/passion-is-wholehearted-devotion-it-is-fervor-and-agony-it-is-temper/) [Rebecca Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-ross/) > [Nothing can be fairer, or more noble, than the holy fervor of true zeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/nothing-can-be-fairer-or-more-noble-than-the-holy-fervor-of-true-zeal/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind is closed, the leader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-caesar/and-when-the-drums-of-war-have-reached-a-fever-pitch-and-the-blood/) [Julius Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-caesar/) > [“They are boiling with the pressured energy of explosive forces confined in a small space, and with the fervor of all religious movements in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/they-are-boiling-with-the-pressured-energy-of-explosive-forces/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Fervor is the weapon of choice for the impotent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/fervor-is-the-weapon-of-choice-for-the-impotent/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [The saints are sinners still. 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Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) ## More by Dawna Markova > [Forgiveness in no way justifies the actions that caused your wounding, nor does it mean that you have to seek out those who harmed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/forgiveness-in-no-way-justifies-the-actions-that-caused-your-wounding/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [I will not Die an Unlived Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/i-will-not-die-an-unlived-life/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [When cancer first came into my life, people all around me treated it as the enemy. I was told I had to join the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/when-cancer-first-came-into-my-life-people-all-around-me-treated-it/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [In my better moments, I think of apathy as purpose's sleep. In my worse moments, when I'm trying to fix it or get rid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/in-my-better-moments-i-think-of-apathy-as-purpose-s-sleep-in-my-worse/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [I wonder why it is that we so often imprison ourselves in the opinions of other people. 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I choose to inhabit my days,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/i-will-not-die-an-unlived-life-i-will-not-live-in-fear-of-falling-or/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness-both the ones you have received and the ones you have given - you can no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/once-you-begin-to-acknowledge-random-acts-of-kindness-both-the-ones/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [Through fear of knowing who we really are we sidestep our own destiny, which leaves us hungry in a famine of our own making...we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/through-fear-of-knowing-who-we-really-are-we-sidestep-our-own-destiny/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [The tears had turned to ink...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/the-tears-had-turned-to-ink/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [That which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/that-which-came-to-me-as-seed-goes-to-the-next-as-blossom-and-that/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [The moments you are given are your true wealth. You don't need power, influence, or fame. The sunlight brings the power; the wind carries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/the-moments-you-are-given-are-your-true-wealth-you-don-t-need-power/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [Reignite the fire in your heart. Live on purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/reignite-the-fire-in-your-heart-live-on-purpose/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/i-choose-to-inhabit-my-days-to-allow-my-living-to-open-me-to-make-me/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [When we find ourselves devoid of passion and purpose, the first thing we need to do is stop. But that's not easy. The rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/when-we-find-ourselves-devoid-of-passion-and-purpose-the-first-thing/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) [Explore all 32 Dawna Markova quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. 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