Kierkegaard: the lily and the bird are joy, because by silence and unconditional obedience they are entirely present to themselves in being today.

What is joy, or what is it to be joyful? It is truly to be present to oneself; but truly to be present to oneself is this “today,” this to be today, truly to be today. And the truer it is that you are today, the more you are entirely present to yourself in being today, the less does tomorrow, the day of misfortune, exist for you. Joy is the present time, with the entire emphasis falling on the present time. Therefore God is blessed, he who eternally says: “Today,” he who is eternally and infinitely present to himself in being today. And therefore the lily and the bird are joy, because by silence and unconditional obedience they are entirely present to themselves in being today.

• Søren Kierkegaard, The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air (1849)