--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All the happiness and virtue in this…" description: "\"“All the happiness and virtue in this world come from selflessness and generosity, all the sorrow from egotism, selfishness, and greed.”\" — Lama Surya Das" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/lama-surya-das-16324_character_all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-wor_249234.jpg" --- # All the happiness and virtue in this world come from… ![“All the happiness and virtue in this world come from selflessness and generosity, all the sorrow from egotism, selfishness, and greed.” quote by Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/lama-surya-das-16324_character_all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-wor_249234.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/lama-surya-das-16324_character_all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-wor_249234.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/lama-surya-das-16324_character_all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-wor_249234.jpg) > ““All the happiness and virtue in this world come from selflessness and generosity, all the sorrow from egotism, selfishness, and greed.”” [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Selflessness and generosity generate happiness, while selfishness and greed cause sorrow, highlighting moral causality. **In simple terms:** Being generous brings joy; selfishness brings pain. Key Takeaway Cultivate generosity, reduce ego. Themes ethics happiness suffering Mood compassionate reflective Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - volunteering - charitable giving - conflict resolution Key Concepts selflessness generosity ego greed Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice generosity daily? - What ego-driven habits cause you suffering? A Different Perspective May be idealistic in competitive societies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Generosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generosity/) [Generosity Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generosity-sorrow-2482773/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-virtue-545843/) [Selfishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishness/) [Selflessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selflessness/) [Selflessness Generosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selflessness-generosity-2482772/) [Sorrow Egotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-egotism-2482774/) ## Related quotes > [“The fatigue I've gathered year after year and stored inside now heaves a muted cry of helplessness. Nothing but fatigue, rounding my shoulders, heavier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-dorian/the-fatigue-i-ve-gathered-year-after-year-and-stored-inside-now/) [Emil Dorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-dorian/) > [I knew by the way he looked at her that he held her in a higher regard than he held even himself. No selfishness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-knew-by-the-way-he-looked-at-her-that-he-held-her-in-a-higher/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“For, while selflessness is the law, to belittle self is a form of selfishness and not selfless. But putting the ideal in that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-cayce/for-while-selflessness-is-the-law-to-belittle-self-is-a-form-of/) [Edgar Cayce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-cayce/) > [We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-cannot-live-for-ourselves-alone-our-lives-are-connected-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“All you do out of selfish reasons is a waste”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/all-you-do-out-of-selfish-reasons-is-a-waste/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“To esteem what makes you holy over what makes you happy - that is the greatest dare.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/to-esteem-what-makes-you-holy-over-what-makes-you-happy-that-is-the/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [“Nature is infinitely rich and diverse in her ways. She can be seen to break her most unchanging laws. She has made self-interest the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-potocki/nature-is-infinitely-rich-and-diverse-in-her-ways-she-can-be-seen-to/) [Jan Potocki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-potocki/) > [“Hence you find a good deal of unselfishness in the world, but very little selflessness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-m-c/hence-you-find-a-good-deal-of-unselfishness-in-the-world-but-very/) [S.M. C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-m-c/) > [Selfishness is better than selflessness. It's like being happy without giving a DAMN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherlie-may-revillosa/selfishness-is-better-than-selflessness-it-s-like-being-happy-without/) [Sherlie May Revillosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherlie-may-revillosa/) > [There is the expression of selfishness and there is the expression of selflessness - but economists or theoreticians never touched that part. They said:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/there-is-the-expression-of-selfishness-and-there-is-the-expression-of/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [“Some of our friends are our friends only because we used to be friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-of-our-friends-are-our-friends-only-because-we-used-to-be-friends/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“No happiness but in virtue. No, that wasn't true. Each part of the triune brain has its own happiness. Lizard in the sun, mammal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/no-happiness-but-in-virtue-no-that-wasn-t-true-each-part-of-the/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [There is something deeply attractive, at least to quite a lot of people, about squalor, misery, and vice. They are regarded as more authentic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/there-is-something-deeply-attractive-at-least-to-quite-a-lot-of/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [¢Some identify Happiness with virtue, some with practical wisdom, others with a kind of philosophical wisdom, others add or exclude pleasure and yet others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/some-identify-happiness-with-virtue-some-with-practical-wisdom-others/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“It is not by sin that we attain happiness, nor is it by virtue, nor is it by that kind of divine fire by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-barbusse/it-is-not-by-sin-that-we-attain-happiness-nor-is-it-by-virtue-nor-is/) [Henri Barbusse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-barbusse/) ## More by Lama Surya Das > [“As long as we’re preoccupied with our former traumas and triumphs, or our fears and dreams about what might happen down the road, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/as-long-as-we-re-preoccupied-with-our-former-traumas-and-triumphs-or/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“It is not the outer objects that entangle us. It is the inner clinging that entangles us." - Tilopa”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/it-is-not-the-outer-objects-that-entangle-us-it-is-the-inner-clinging/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“I have been thinking that the crux of happiness matter for me is whether or not I am in the moment, in the flow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/i-have-been-thinking-that-the-crux-of-happiness-matter-for-me-is/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“We need to learn how to live consciously and, trusting ourselves, purposefully on that inevitable balance point between form and emptiness, relative and absolute,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/we-need-to-learn-how-to-live-consciously-and-trusting-ourselves/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“All too easily, however, we can become distracted, scared, frustrated, gullible, cynical, or just plain inattentive. We suppress our natural questing spirit. We plow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/all-too-easily-however-we-can-become-distracted-scared-frustrated/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“Non-attachment is not complacency. It doesn't imply a lack of caring and commitment. The philosophy of non-attachment is based in the understanding that holding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/non-attachment-is-not-complacency-it-doesn-t-imply-a-lack-of-caring/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“By meditating, we´re learning to disengage ourselves from habitual clinging and disperse the defilements and obscurations that hinder our capacity to serve others, such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/by-meditating-we-re-learning-to-disengage-ourselves-from-habitual/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“We all have certain desires and undesired outcomes related to whatever possible course and attitude we take in life, whether it be at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/we-all-have-certain-desires-and-undesired-outcomes-related-to/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“Partings make us sad; they make us feel as though we are being beaten up by fate; sometimes they make us feel desperate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/partings-make-us-sad-they-make-us-feel-as-though-we-are-being-beaten/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“With every breath, the old moment is lost; a new moment arrives. We exhale and we let go of the old moment. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/with-every-breath-the-old-moment-is-lost-a-new-moment-arrives-we/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“So often we mistake movement for meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/so-often-we-mistake-movement-for-meaning/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“If you truly want to grow as a person and learn, you should realize that the universe has enrolled you in the graduate program…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/if-you-truly-want-to-grow-as-a-person-and-learn-you-should-realize-2/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“Expecting good things to last and unwanted things to stay away forever is simply unrealistic,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/expecting-good-things-to-last-and-unwanted-things-to-stay-away/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“We must never confuse the teacher with the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/we-must-never-confuse-the-teacher-with-the-truth/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) > [“With every breath, the old moment is lost; a new moment arrives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/with-every-breath-the-old-moment-is-lost-a-new-moment-arrives/) [Lama Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) [Explore all 40 Lama Surya Das quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“All the happiness and virtue in this world come from selflessness and generosity, all the sorrow from egotism, selfishness, and greed.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lama Surya Das" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-world-come-from-selflessness-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-world-come-from-selflessness-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/lama-surya-das-16324_character_all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-wor_249234.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/lama-surya-das-16324_character_all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-wor_249234.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/lama-surya-das-16324_character_all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-wor_249234.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All the happiness and virtue in this world come from selflessness and generosity, all the sorrow from…” — Lama Surya Das", "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": "Lama Surya Das", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lama-surya-das/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“All the happiness and virtue in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-world-come-from-selflessness-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lama-surya-das/all-the-happiness-and-virtue-in-this-world-come-from-selflessness-and/#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 } } ] } ```