Consulting the Archives...
Generating fresh insights specifically for this topic.
This may take a moment.
Generating fresh insights specifically for this topic.
This may take a moment.
Naval Ravikant famously claims that 'happiness is a choice you make and a skill you develop. ' He views the human mind as a 'anticipation machine' that is constantly looking for the next thing to be happy about, which ultimately keeps us in a state of desire—and therefore suffering. To Naval, happiness is the absence of desire, especially for external things. It's the state of being content with the present moment. He advocates for habits that lower your 'baseline' of desire, such as meditation, sunlight, and silence, teaching us that peace is not something you find 'out there,' but something you cultivate within.
"Happiness is the state when nothing is missing."
"If you can’t be your own person, you’ll never be truly happy."
"Happiness is what's there when you remove the sense that something is missing in your life."
"Every desire is a chosen unhappiness."
"A happy person isn't someone who's happy all the time. It's someone who effortlessly interprets events in such a way that they don't lose their innate peace."
"Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want."
"The most important trick to be happy is to realize that happiness is a choice that you make and a skill that you develop. You choose to be happy, and then you work at it. It’s just like building muscles."
"Real happiness is child-like, it is the absence of desire."
"Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for an imaginary tomorrow."
"Happiness is a choice you make and a skill you develop."
"Build a life you don't need a vacation from."
"If you want to have a good life, you should have a good relationship with reality."
"Realism is the only way to happiness. You can't be happy if you're living in a delusion."
"The more secrets you have, the less happy you are."
"Peace is happiness in rest, happiness is peace in motion."
"Authenticity is the key to happiness because it removes the internal conflict of being someone you're not."
"When you’re finally wealthy, you’ll realize that it wasn’t what you were seeking in the first place."
"If you want to be successful, surround yourself with people who are more successful than you, but if you want to be happy, surround yourself with people who are less successful than you."
"A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought — they must be earned."
Seeing how Naval Ravikant approaches Happiness helps you apply the idea with more precision.
Pick one quote to guide a decision today, then return for deeper perspective.
Search More
Jump to another topic, author, or pillar without leaving the archive.
"Use this collection whenever you need Naval Ravikant's lens on Happiness."