To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.
This quote belongs to Bessie Anderson Stanley, What is success? (1904), and it is incorrectly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson and other other authors. Look under Bessie Anderson Stanley for the entire poem and more details about the poem.