--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your happiness and suffering depend on…" description: "\"Your happiness and suffering depend on your actions and not on my wishes for you.\" — Jack Kornfield" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/jack-kornfield-936_action_your-happiness-and-suffering-depend-on-y_3146601.png" --- # Your happiness and suffering depend on your actions and… ![“Your happiness and suffering depend on your actions and not on my wishes for you.” quote by Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/jack-kornfield-936_action_your-happiness-and-suffering-depend-on-y_3146601.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/jack-kornfield-936_action_your-happiness-and-suffering-depend-on-y_3146601.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/jack-kornfield-936_action_your-happiness-and-suffering-depend-on-y_3146601.png) > “Your happiness and suffering depend on your actions and not on my wishes for you.” [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Your happiness and suffering are shaped by your own actions, not by others' wishes for you. **In simple terms:** Your feelings depend on what you do, not on others' hopes. Key Takeaway Take responsibility for your actions. Themes responsibility mindfulness self‑determination Mood reflective calm Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - personal development - mental health - spiritual practice Key Concepts agency karma personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How do your actions influence your wellbeing? - What wishes you wish others would wish for you? A Different Perspective Others cannot control your inner state. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [My wish for you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-wish-for-you/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [Wishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wishes/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness and suffering do not depend on being poor or rich, they depend on having the right or wrong understanding in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/happiness-and-suffering-do-not-depend-on-being-poor-or-rich-they/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [External circumstances can contribute to one's happiness and well-being, but ultimately happiness and suffering depend on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/external-circumstances-can-contribute-to-one-s-happiness-and-well/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [You know that your happiness and suffering depend on the happiness and suffering of others. That insight helps you not to do wrong things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/you-know-that-your-happiness-and-suffering-depend-on-the-happiness/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [May the New Year bring you courage to break your resolutions early!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/may-the-new-year-bring-you-courage-to-break-your-resolutions-early/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Here is my wish for you and every other child, woman, and man on the face of the earth: Spend one week saying only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-huber/here-is-my-wish-for-you-and-every-other-child-woman-and-man-on-the/) [Cheri Huber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheri-huber/) > [So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/so-that-s-my-wish-for-you-and-all-of-us-and-my-wish-for-myself-make/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [And that is my wish for you: flourish and prosper!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/and-that-is-my-wish-for-you-flourish-and-prosper/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [It’s a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world. So this is my wish, a wish for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-s-a-new-year-and-with-it-comes-a-fresh-opportunity-to-shape-our/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Aristotle said time is a measure of change, and this movie is about changing in time, through time, while remaining the same person. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mckee/aristotle-said-time-is-a-measure-of-change-and-this-movie-is-about/) [Robert McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mckee/) > [More than anything, my wish for you is this: That when your awful darkest days come, you will know you're not alone. Pain will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-tworkowski/more-than-anything-my-wish-for-you-is-this-that-when-your-awful/) [Jamie Tworkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-tworkowski/) > [This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dellinger/this-is-my-wish-for-you-peace-of-mind-prosperity-through-the-year/) [David Dellinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dellinger/) > [Make your mistakes, next year and forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/make-your-mistakes-next-year-and-forever/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/my-wish-for-you-is-that-you-continue-continue-to-be-who-and-how-you-2/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [My wish for you... is that your skeptic-eclectic brain be flooded with the light of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-wish-for-you-is-that-your-skeptic-eclectic-brain-be-flooded-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have found it very important...to let go of my wishes and start hoping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/i-have-found-it-very-important-to-let-go-of-my-wishes-and-start-hoping/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) ## More by Jack Kornfield > [“When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/when-we-let-go-of-our-battles-and-open-our-heart-to-things-as-they/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [In opening we can see how many times we have mistaken small identities and fearful beliefs for our true nature and how limiting this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/in-opening-we-can-see-how-many-times-we-have-mistaken-small/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/wherever-you-are-is-the-perfect-place-to-awaken-this-moment-is-the/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Acceptance does not mean inaction. We may need to respond, strongly at times...From a peaceful center we can respond instead of react. Unconscious reactions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/acceptance-does-not-mean-inaction-we-may-need-to-respond-strongly-at/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [To live in this precious animal body on this earth is as great a part of spiritual life as anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/to-live-in-this-precious-animal-body-on-this-earth-is-as-great-a-part/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [We do not have to improve ourselves; we just have to let go of what blocks our heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/we-do-not-have-to-improve-ourselves-we-just-have-to-let-go-of-what/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [To open deeply, as genuine spiritual life requires, we need tremendous courage and strength, a kind of warrior spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/to-open-deeply-as-genuine-spiritual-life-requires-we-need-tremendous/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [As we step out of the way new things are born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/as-we-step-out-of-the-way-new-things-are-born/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [For most of us, generosity is a quality that must be developed. We have to respect that it will grow gradually; otherwise our spirituality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/for-most-of-us-generosity-is-a-quality-that-must-be-developed-we-have/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [What is truly a part of our spiritual path is that which brings us alive. If gardening brings us alive, that is part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/what-is-truly-a-part-of-our-spiritual-path-is-that-which-brings-us/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [“Working with these distractions, steadying the canoe, letting the waves pass by, and coming back again and again in a quiet and collected way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/working-with-these-distractions-steadying-the-canoe-letting-the-waves/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [To understand ourselves and our life is the point of insight meditation: to understand and to be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/to-understand-ourselves-and-our-life-is-the-point-of-insight/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [To let go in the deepest recesses of the heart, to release all struggle and wanting, leads us to that knowing which is timeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/to-let-go-in-the-deepest-recesses-of-the-heart-to-release-all/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/wisdom-says-we-are-nothing-love-says-we-are-everything-between-these/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Breathing meditation can quiet the mind, open the body, and develop a great power of concentration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/breathing-meditation-can-quiet-the-mind-open-the-body-and-develop-a/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) [Explore all 324 Jack Kornfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) ## More Action quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. The first is decide exactly what you want - set your goals - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/i-always-say-there-are-two-things-to-be-successful-the-first-is/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Every thought I have imprisioned in expression I must free by my deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/every-thought-i-have-imprisioned-in-expression-i-must-free-by-my-deeds/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-you-begin-changing-your-thinking-start-immediately-to-change-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. 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