--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness is the cessation of suffering." description: "\"Happiness is the cessation of suffering.\" — Nhat Hanh" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/nhat-hanh-515_cessation_happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering_8113.png" --- # Happiness is the cessation of suffering. ![“Happiness is the cessation of suffering.” quote by Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/nhat-hanh-515_cessation_happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering_8113.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/nhat-hanh-515_cessation_happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering_8113.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/nhat-hanh-515_cessation_happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering_8113.png) > “Happiness is the cessation of suffering.” [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness arises when we let go of the mental and emotional pain that binds us, allowing a state of peace and contentment. **In simple terms:** Peaceful release of pain Key Takeaway Freedom from suffering yields happiness Themes inner peace mindfulness suffering contentment spirituality Mood serene reflective hopeful Type philosophical spiritual maxim When to use this quote - meditative practice - grieving loss - recovering from trauma - daily stress Key Concepts attachment impermanence compassion Practical Applications - mindfulness training - counseling approaches Questions to Reflect On - What sources of suffering do you cling to? - How can you cultivate release in daily life? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cessation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cessation/) [Cessation Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cessation-suffering-337460/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Cessation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-cessation-337459/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness is the cessation of suffering. Well-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering-well-being/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [The third noble truth says that the cessation of suffering is letting go of holding on to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-third-noble-truth-says-that-the-cessation-of-suffering-is-letting/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Both formerly and now, it is only suffering that I describe, and the cessation of suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/both-formerly-and-now-it-is-only-suffering-that-i-describe-and-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“The cessation of desire equates to the cessation of suffering”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-cessation-of-desire-equates-to-the-cessation-of-suffering/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Just as the Buddha taught, it’s important to see suffering as suffering. We are not talking about ignoring or keeping quiet. When we don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/just-as-the-buddha-taught-it-s-important-to-see-suffering-as/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“The Buddha said that suffering was caused by desire, we'd learned, and that the cessation of desire meant the cessation of suffering. When you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-buddha-said-that-suffering-was-caused-by-desire-we-d-learned-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Do what you can on this plane to relieve suffering by constantly working on yourself to be an instrument for the cessation of suffering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/do-what-you-can-on-this-plane-to-relieve-suffering-by-constantly/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [We are all going, I thought, and it applies to turtles and turtlenecks, Alaska the girl and Alaska the place, because nothing can last,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/we-are-all-going-i-thought-and-it-applies-to-turtles-and-turtlenecks/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“... the four noble truths: that there is suffering, that it has an origin, that there is a cessation of suffering, and that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sid-brown/the-four-noble-truths-that-there-is-suffering-that-it-has-an-origin/) [Sid Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sid-brown/) > [“Welcome to Cessation, Serendipity Jones. The last place on the continent where you can do whatever the hell you want.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndsay-ely/welcome-to-cessation-serendipity-jones-the-last-place-on-the/) [Lyndsay Ely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndsay-ely/) > [Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/whatever-is-subject-to-origination-is-all-subject-to-cessation/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“Dead-ends are never the ‘end of the road.’ They are only the end of ‘this’ road.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/dead-ends-are-never-the-end-of-the-road-they-are-only-the-end-of-this/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Those who have the strength and the love to sit with a dying patient in the silence that goes beyond words will know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/those-who-have-the-strength-and-the-love-to-sit-with-a-dying-patient/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [“... I have ceased to care about anything. I have no personal ambition, or even the desire that people call me nice, or pretty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-smart/i-have-ceased-to-care-about-anything-i-have-no-personal-ambition-or/) [Elizabeth Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-smart/) > [Death is the welcome cessation of idiocy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-evans/death-is-the-welcome-cessation-of-idiocy/) [Stephen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-evans/) ## More by Nhat Hanh > [We need enlightenment, not just individually but collectively, to save the planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/we-need-enlightenment-not-just-individually-but-collectively-to-save/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [If you really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/if-you-really-know-how-to-live-what-better-way-to-start-the-day-than/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [Contemplating the bowl, it is possible to see the interdependent elements which give rise to the bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/contemplating-the-bowl-it-is-possible-to-see-the-interdependent/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [Our joy, peace and happiness depend very much on our practice of recognizing and transforming habit energies. There are positive habit energies that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/our-joy-peace-and-happiness-depend-very-much-on-our-practice-of/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [I vow to live fully in each moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/i-vow-to-live-fully-in-each-moment/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn't mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/silence-is-something-that-comes-from-your-heart-not-from-outside/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [Freedom is the real foundation of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/freedom-is-the-real-foundation-of-happiness/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [Wisdom is a living stream, not an icon to be preserved in a museum. Only when a practitioner finds the spring of wisdom in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/wisdom-is-a-living-stream-not-an-icon-to-be-preserved-in-a-museum/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [We may think of peace as the absence of war, that if the great powers would reduce their weapons arsenals, we could have peace.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/we-may-think-of-peace-as-the-absence-of-war-that-if-the-great-powers/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [If you are capable of brushing your teeth in mindfulness, then you will be able to enjoy the time when you take a shower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/if-you-are-capable-of-brushing-your-teeth-in-mindfulness-then-you/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert, I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/if-i-am-incapable-of-washing-dishes-joyfully-if-i-want-to-finish-them/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [When we have anger in us, we suffer. When we have discrimination in us, we suffer. When we have the complex of superiority, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/when-we-have-anger-in-us-we-suffer-when-we-have-discrimination-in-us/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/every-morning-when-we-wake-up-we-have-twenty-four-brand-new-hours-to/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [It is best if we do not listen to or look at the person whom we consider to be the cause of our anger.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/it-is-best-if-we-do-not-listen-to-or-look-at-the-person-whom-we/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [The sangha is a community where there should be harmony and peace and understanding. That is something created by our daily life together. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/the-sangha-is-a-community-where-there-should-be-harmony-and-peace-and/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) [Explore all 507 Nhat Hanh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) ## More Cessation quotes > [Death is the welcome cessation of idiocy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-evans/death-is-the-welcome-cessation-of-idiocy/) [Stephen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-evans/) > [“... I have ceased to care about anything. I have no personal ambition, or even the desire that people call me nice, or pretty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-smart/i-have-ceased-to-care-about-anything-i-have-no-personal-ambition-or/) [Elizabeth Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-smart/) > [Happiness is the cessation of suffering. Well-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering-well-being/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [The third noble truth says that the cessation of suffering is letting go of holding on to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-third-noble-truth-says-that-the-cessation-of-suffering-is-letting/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Those who have the strength and the love to sit with a dying patient in the silence that goes beyond words will know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/those-who-have-the-strength-and-the-love-to-sit-with-a-dying-patient/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [“Dead-ends are never the ‘end of the road.’ They are only the end of ‘this’ road.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/dead-ends-are-never-the-end-of-the-road-they-are-only-the-end-of-this/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/whatever-is-subject-to-origination-is-all-subject-to-cessation/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“Welcome to Cessation, Serendipity Jones. The last place on the continent where you can do whatever the hell you want.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndsay-ely/welcome-to-cessation-serendipity-jones-the-last-place-on-the/) [Lyndsay Ely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndsay-ely/) > [Here, I declare that the Palestine Liberation Organization is ready to return immediately to the negotiating table on the basis of the adopted terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-abbas/here-i-declare-that-the-palestine-liberation-organization-is-ready-to/) [Mahmoud Abbas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-abbas/) > [Cessation of struggle is like free falling through space without a care in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/cessation-of-struggle-is-like-free-falling-through-space-without-a/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [Yoga is the cessation of the movements of the mind. Then there is abiding in the Seer's own form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/yoga-is-the-cessation-of-the-movements-of-the-mind-then-there-is/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [The process of speciation is completed with the cessation of genetic exchange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-r-grant/the-process-of-speciation-is-completed-with-the-cessation-of-genetic/) [Peter R. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-r-grant/) > [The body responds to a calorie deficit by slowing down the metabolism and burning muscle tissue. That leads to weakness, sluggishness, slow times. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-kardong/the-body-responds-to-a-calorie-deficit-by-slowing-down-the-metabolism/) [Don Kardong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-kardong/) > [Yoga is the cessation of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/yoga-is-the-cessation-of-mind/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Cessation of work is not accompanied by cessation of expenses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/cessation-of-work-is-not-accompanied-by-cessation-of-expenses/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 26 Cessation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cessation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Happiness is the cessation of suffering.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nhat Hanh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cessation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/nhat-hanh-515_cessation_happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering_8113.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/nhat-hanh-515_cessation_happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering_8113.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/nhat-hanh-515_cessation_happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering_8113.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Happiness is the cessation of suffering.” — Nhat Hanh", "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": "Nhat Hanh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Happiness is the cessation of suffering.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/happiness-is-the-cessation-of-suffering/#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 } } ] } ```