“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.  
They are but trifles, to be sure, but, scattered along life’s pathway,  The good they do is inconceivable.”

— Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Cheerfulness is the gift of sharing warmth and optimism. Sincere good cheer tends to engender happiness, energy, and responsiveness in those around us. This quality may spring from a spontaneous upwelling of joy and good will that cannot be contained; it may also refer to a deliberate choice to focus on what is good and right in the world.

“The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed.”   –– Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794)

Cheerfulness allows us to move through challenges, assuring us we are capable and resourceful; it tends to increase both the quality and quantity of our years.

“Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if your cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.”

— William James (1842-1910)