I recently wrote on obtaining true joy. Basically, culture sees joy differently than how Christianity teaches it, so I shared a few practical ways we can pursue REAL joy in our day to day lives. Did you find the blog post relevant and helpful for your journey of faith?
Through the centuries we’ve looked to the Saints and other faith-leaders for inspiration; especially lived out through their actions. Looking first and foremost at Christ’s life, then the Saints and other leaders who have shown integrity and earned our trust, we’ve adapted our map for how to live life well.
I went to these men and women to learn about joy in light of how the Church intends us to understand it; wisdom tested by their witness and proven true.
Now, if you weren’t already a joy seeker, you wouldn’t have clicked on this post. As you go throughout your day growing in the faith and encouraging others onward, here are fifty quotes (yes, fifty!) on joy to have in your back pocket when you send a handwritten note of encouragement, write a Facebook update or add a caption to your Instagram story.
And sharing is great, but I invite you to let the Lord speak to you in your reading of these truths, too. Pray the words as you read them, and as you sit with a particular quote that moves you, consider asking yourself: “What memories does the quote resonate with?” “What hopes or fears does this call out in you?”
50 Quotes to Move You and Others Towards Joy
1. “It seems to me that the happiness of a soul consists entirely in conforming to the most adorable Will of God; for in so doing the heart finds peace and the spirit joy and repose, since he “who is joined to the Lord in one spirit with him.” (1 Corinthians 6:17).”
– Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
2. “You ask me whether I am in good spirits. How could I not be so? As long as faith gives me strength, I will always be joyful.”
– Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
3. “Joy is the happiness of love – love aware of its own inner happiness. Pleasure comes from without, and joy comes from within, and it is, therefore, within reach of everyone in the world.”
– Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
4. “True happiness is to rejoice in the truth, for to rejoice in the truth is to rejoice in You, O God, who are the truth… Those who think that there is another kind of happiness look for joy elsewhere, but theirs is not true joy.”
– Saint Augustine
(More: Practical Ways to Obtain Joy)
5. “Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen.”
– Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
6. “Christian joy is a gift of God flowing from a good conscience.”
– Saint Philip Neri
7. “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
– Henri J.M. Nouwen
8. “God made us for joy.”
– Saint Pope John Paul II
9. “Joy is the infallible sign of God’s presence.”
– Pierre Teihard de Chardin
10. “We who are Christians have a further cause for joy: like Jesus, we know that we are loved by God our Father. This love transforms our lives and fills us with joy. It makes us see that Jesus did not come to lay burdens upon us. He came to teach us what it means to be fully happy and fully human. Therefore, we discover joy when we discover truth–the truth about God our Father, the truth about Jesus our Savior, the truth about the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts.”
– Saint Pope John Paul II
11. “The Lord looked into the depth of my being with great kindness; I thought I would die for joy under that gaze.”
– Saint Faustina
12. “A devout life, above all things, is a life that is sweet, happy and amiable.”
– Saint Francis de Sales
13. “In the house of God there is never ending festival; the angel choir makes eternal holiday; the presence of God’s face gives joy that never fails.”
– Saint Augustine
(More: Spiritual Direction Package: Obtaining Joy)
14. “Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul.”
– G.K. Chesterton
15. “The joy promised by the Beatitudes is the very joy of Jesus himself: a joy sought and found in obedience to the Father, and in the gift of self to others.”
– Saint Pope John Paul II
16. “Joy springs from a grateful heart.”
– Pope Francis
17. “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”
– C.S. Lewis
(More: 5 Steps to Energize Your Prayer Life)
18. “Even in the midst of intense suffering, it is one of joy.”
– Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
19. “If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.”
– Saint Rose of Lima
20. “The saints were not superhuman. They were people who loved God in their hearts, and who shared this joy with others.”
– Pope Francis
21. “The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion; Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run; we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.
– Saint Augustine
22. “If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing.”
– Saint Katharine Drexel
23. “Joy is prayer–Joy is strength–Joy is love–Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls…. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of the Christ risen.”
– Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
24. “Thou, O Christ our Savior, hast become for me the path of life which leads to the Father. There is but one path, and it is my joy, and at the end of it is the heavenly kingdom.”
– Saint Ephraim the Syrian
25. “The very nature of Joy makes nonsense of our common distinction between having and wanting.”
– C.S. Lewis
26. “Love aright and you will never be sad. Embrace God’s will and you will be filled with joy and peace.”
– Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
27. “This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. It is beauty, like truth, which brings joy to the heart of man and is that precious fruit which resists the wear and tear of time, which unites generations and makes them share things in admiration.”
– Saint Pope Paul VI
28. “If you have no earthly consolation, why do you not seek consolation in the Heart of Jesus? To love him is truest joy.”
– Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
29. “If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if he chose, just hand out to anyone.”
– C.S. Lewis
30. “Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian.”
– G.K. Chesterton
31. “God made us for joy. God is joy, and the joy of living reflects the original joy that God felt in creating us.”
– Pope Saint John Paul II
32. “Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.”
– C.S. Lewis
33. “Christ remains primary in your life only when he enjoys the first place in your mind and heart. Thus, you must continuously unite yourself to him in prayer…. Without prayer there can be no joy, no hope, no peace. For prayer is what keeps us in touch with Christ.”
– Pope Saint John Paul II
(More: Spiritual Direction Package: Introduction to Prayer)
34. “When we are expecting only suffering, the least joy surprises us: Suffering itself becomes the greatest joys when we seek it as a precious treasure.”
– Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
35. “May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the center of your lives.”
– Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
36. “Confidently open your most intimate aspirations to the Love of Christ who waits for you in the Eucharist. You will receive the answer to all your worries, and you will see with joy that the consistency of your life which He asks of you is the door to fulfill the noblest dreams of your youth.”
– Pope Saint John Paul II
37. “The true way to advance in holy virtues, is to persevere in a holy cheerfulness.”
– Saint Philip Neri
38. “The Gospel purifies and renews, it bears fruit, wherever the community of believers hears it and receives God’s grace in truth and charity. This is my confidence; this is my joy.
– Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
39. “It is characteristic of God and his angels to bring to the soul, when they occupy it, true happiness and spiritual joy; and to drive from it the sadness and trials which the enemy incites in it.”
– Saint Ignatius of Loyola
40. “Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When our heart is pure and united to God, we feel within ourselves a joy, a sweetness that inebriates, a light that dazzles us. In this intimate union God and the soul are like two pieces of wax melted together; they cannot be separated. This union of God with His little creature is a most beautiful thing. It is a happiness that we cannot understand. . . God, in His goodness, has permitted us to speak to Him. Our prayer is an incense which He receives with extreme pleasure.”
– Saint John Vianney
41. “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.”
– Saint Francis of Assisi
42. “The more one advances, the more one sees the goal is still far off. And now I am simply resigned to see myself always imperfect and in this I find my joy.”
– Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
43. “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.”
– Saint Francis of Assisi
44. “The soul of the one who serves God always swims in joy, always keeps holiday, and is always in the mood for singing.”
– Saint John of the Cross
45. “Life passes. Eternity comes to meet us with great strides. Soon we shall be living with the very life of Jesus. Having drunk deep at the source of all bitterness, we shall be deified in the very source of all joys, of all delights.”
– Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
46. “Joy, with peace, is the sister of charity. Serve the Lord with laughter.”
– Saint Padre Pio
47. “We are not saints yet, but we, too, should beware. Uprightness and virtue do have their rewards, in self-respect and in respect from others, and it is easy to find ourselves aiming for the result rather than the cause. Let us aim for joy, rather than respectability. Let us make fools of ourselves from time to time, and thus see ourselves, for a moment, as the all-wise God sees us.”
– Saint Philip Neri
48. “Every time I hear anyone speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of the Blessed Sacrament, I feel an indescribable joy. It is as if a wave of precious memories, sweet affections and joyful hopes swept over my poor person, making me tremble with happiness and filling my soul with tenderness.”
– Pope Saint John XXIII
49. “See, my children, a person who is in a state of sin is always sad. Whatever he does, he is weary and disgusted with everything; while he who is at peace with God is always happy, always joyous…Oh, beautiful life! Oh, beautiful death!”
– Saint Philip Neri
50. “Helping a person in need is good in itself. But the degree of goodness is hugely affected by the attitude with which it is done. If you show resentment because you are helping the person out of a reluctant sense of duty, then the person may receive your help but may feel awkward and embarrassed. This is because he will feel beholden to you. If, on the other hand, you help the person in a spirit of joy, then the help will be received joyfully. The person will feel neither demeaned nor humiliated by your help, but rather will feel glad to have caused you pleasure by receiving your help. And joy is the appropriate attitude with which to help others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver.”
– Saint John Chrysostom
As we look to the witnesses of the past, hopefully, the Saints of the future may look to us – by a life well-lived, what would they learn about joy from your actions? What would you tell them in your own words?
