--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness is a choice, you've got to work…" description: "\"“Happiness is a choice, you've got to work towards it”\" — Elizabeth Wurtzel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_choice_happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work_2323094.png" --- # Happiness is a choice, you've got to work towards it ![“Happiness is a choice, you've got to work towards it” quote by Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_choice_happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work_2323094.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_choice_happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work_2323094.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_choice_happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work_2323094.png) > ““Happiness is a choice, you've got to work towards it”” [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness requires active pursuit; it isn’t passive but a deliberate choice. **In simple terms:** Choose happiness actively. Key Takeaway Work toward joy daily. Themes happiness choice effort Mood hopeful determined Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - mental health - goal setting - daily habits Key Concepts positive psychology self‑help Questions to Reflect On - What steps do you take to cultivate happiness? - How do you handle setbacks in your pursuit? A Different Perspective External factors can hinder happiness despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [“Happiness is a choice. It is not always an easy one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/happiness-is-a-choice-it-is-not-always-an-easy-one/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [“Happiness is a choice not a result of something you do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-kumar/happiness-is-a-choice-not-a-result-of-something-you-do/) [Abhishek Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-kumar/) > [Be happy. Be who you wanna be. If others doesn't like it, then let them be. Happiness is a choice. Life isn't about pleasing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anmol-andore/be-happy-be-who-you-wanna-be-if-others-doesn-t-like-it-then-let-them/) [Anmol Andore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anmol-andore/) > [“I’m not the only person in the world who’s suffered. I do think happiness is a choice. I don’t mean for people who suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sariah-wilson/i-m-not-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-s-suffered-i-do-think/) [Sariah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sariah-wilson/) > [“Happiness is a choice you make, regardless of the circumstances.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-etayeb/happiness-is-a-choice-you-make-regardless-of-the-circumstances/) Mohammad Etayeb > [Happiness is a choice. You can decide how things affect you. You can decide how you react. It's up to YOU.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-a-choice-you-can-decide-how-things-affect-you-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only reason you are happy is because you choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice, and so is suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/the-only-reason-you-are-happy-is-because-you-choose-to-be-happy/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) > [Choice, I've always believed, is all that separates us from animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/choice-i-ve-always-believed-is-all-that-separates-us-from-animals/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [“Every choice you've ever made has led you to this very moment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-farley/every-choice-you-ve-ever-made-has-led-you-to-this-very-moment/) Angela Farley > [“Montana wants to scream, but the thing she is angry at is in the past. The past can’t hear her. This is the thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/montana-wants-to-scream-but-the-thing-she-is-angry-at-is-in-the-past/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [I cry for those who actually think they are happy, don't mistake my tears for my own sadness, I know happiness is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-cry-for-those-who-actually-think-they-are-happy-don-t-mistake-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I believe happiness is a choice. Some days it is a very difficult choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-gleason/i-believe-happiness-is-a-choice-some-days-it-is-a-very-difficult/) [Steve Gleason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-gleason/) > [“Happiness is a choice. To be or not to be. It all depends on how you perceive life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kc/happiness-is-a-choice-to-be-or-not-to-be-it-all-depends-on-how-you/) KC > [Whenever you notice your thoughts detour into attack mode, say out loud or to yourself: Happiness is a choice I make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-bernstein/whenever-you-notice-your-thoughts-detour-into-attack-mode-say-out/) [Gabrielle Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-bernstein/) > [You have to take an active role in making yourself happy. That's why I say happiness is a choice. Because you have to choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-carl/you-have-to-take-an-active-role-in-making-yourself-happy-that-s-why-i/) [Shay Carl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-carl/) ## More by Elizabeth Wurtzel > [Belief is a good thing in principle, but an annoying thing in human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/belief-is-a-good-thing-in-principle-but-an-annoying-thing-in-human/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I myself am hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-myself-am-hell/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I can see that I imagine all kinds of rejection that never happens. I can see that I beg and plead for love that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-can-see-that-i-imagine-all-kinds-of-rejection-that-never-happens-i/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [“...if you ask anyone in the throes of depression how he got there, to pin down the turning point, he'll never know. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/if-you-ask-anyone-in-the-throes-of-depression-how-he-got-there-to-pin/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I want to explain how exhausted I am. Even in my dreams. How I wake up tired. How I’m being drowned by some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-want-to-explain-how-exhausted-i-am-even-in-my-dreams-how-i-wake-up/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Its the people you are close to, the ones who love you, the ones who have seen your heart, who have touched your soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/its-the-people-you-are-close-to-the-ones-who-love-you-the-ones-who/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [if only my whole life could be words and music, if only everything else could slip away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/if-only-my-whole-life-could-be-words-and-music-if-only-everything/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [What I would do to be Alice climbing through the looking glass, taking one of those pills that makes you small ... so small.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/what-i-would-do-to-be-alice-climbing-through-the-looking-glass-taking/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Divorce has taught us how to sleep with friends, sleep with enemies, and then act like its all perfectly normal in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/divorce-has-taught-us-how-to-sleep-with-friends-sleep-with-enemies/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Just as our parents quieted us when we were noisy by putting us in front of the television set, maybe we're now learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/just-as-our-parents-quieted-us-when-we-were-noisy-by-putting-us-in/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I am sick of the girl who cries 'wolf' all the time. Even though not one of those cries was ever a false alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-am-sick-of-the-girl-who-cries-wolf-all-the-time-even-though-not-one/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I'm lost in a loneliness that feels like forever ... like a solitude that never goes away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-m-lost-in-a-loneliness-that-feels-like-forever-like-a-solitude-that/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [It's the people you are close to, the ones who love you, theo nes who have seen your heart, who have touched your soul-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/it-s-the-people-you-are-close-to-the-ones-who-love-you-theo-nes-who/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [“When you do drugs, you count like a chemist: The numbers are wild, the formulas are easy. Then, when you try to get clean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/when-you-do-drugs-you-count-like-a-chemist-the-numbers-are-wild-the/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Everything's plastic, we're all going to die sooner or later, so what does it matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/everything-s-plastic-we-re-all-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-so-what/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) [Explore all 261 Elizabeth Wurtzel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## More Choice quotes > [Making the right decision is hard,telling someone your decision is even harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/making-the-right-decision-is-hard-telling-someone-your-decision-is/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [“That’s all! Now either leave us alone or join us as a father rather than a receiver of sacrifices. You have the choice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/that-s-all-now-either-leave-us-alone-or-join-us-as-a-father-rather/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [There has always been a feeling with people that they love my singing but not always the choice of material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/there-has-always-been-a-feeling-with-people-that-they-love-my-singing/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [I have too many options when it comes to guitars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-have-too-many-options-when-it-comes-to-guitars/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [“Amazing how a small choice can change your life forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-c-dockens/amazing-how-a-small-choice-can-change-your-life-forever/) Randy C. Dockens > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Since I don't outline my books very much, I feel like sometimes I don't have a choice in what the characters do; they just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-todd/since-i-don-t-outline-my-books-very-much-i-feel-like-sometimes-i-don/) [Anna Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-todd/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Words can only have an effect on you if you choose to listen to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/words-can-only-have-an-effect-on-you-if-you-choose-to-listen-to-them/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) [Browse all 8,092 Choice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Happiness is a choice, you've got to work towards it”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Wurtzel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work-towards-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Choice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work-towards-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_choice_happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work_2323094.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_choice_happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work_2323094.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_choice_happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work_2323094.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Happiness is a choice, you've got to work towards it” — Elizabeth Wurtzel", "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": "Elizabeth Wurtzel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Happiness is a choice, you've got...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work-towards-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/happiness-is-a-choice-you-ve-got-to-work-towards-it/#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 } } ] } ```