We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.
Alexandre DumasRead
Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Happiness requires effort and struggle to attain, much like fighting through obstacles to reach a treasure.
This quote by Alexandre Dumas suggests that achieving true happiness is not a simple task; it often involves facing and overcoming challenges, similar to how fairy tale heroes must battle dragons to access their rewards. Happiness is depicted as a valuable treasure that, to be enjoyed, requires perseverance and courage in the face of adversity.
Themes
HappinessStruggleCouragePerseveranceTreasure
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about personal growth and resilience.
More from Alexandre Dumas
All quotes →There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body's sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.
Alexandre DumasRead
I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.
Alexandre DumasRead
There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.
Alexandre DumasRead
Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.
Alexandre DumasRead
It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising
Alexandre DumasRead
Similar quotes
We wait for things to be different in order to feel okay with life. As long as we keep attaching our happiness to the external events of our lives, which are ever changing, we’ll always be left waiting for it.
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The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.
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To me, the most important part of winning is joy. You can win without joy, but winning that’s joyless is like eating in a four-star restaurant when you’re not hungry. Joy is a current of energy in your body, like chlorophyll or sunlight, that fills you up and makes you naturally want to do your best.
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I would rate the fact that I get to be alive a big beautiful 10. Satisfaction with myself - work in progress.
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This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.
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And lastly from that period I remember riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy sky; I began to bawl because I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy again.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead