They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
It was too late for happiness - but not too late to be helped by the thought of what I had missed. That is all I haved lived on - don't take it from me now
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the idea that while true happiness may be out of reach, one can still find solace in memories of what was lost.
In this quote, Edith Wharton expresses a poignant reflection on missed opportunities for happiness. It suggests that although time may have passed and happiness seems unattainable, the memories and thoughts of what could have been provide a crucial source of support and comfort. This idea emphasizes the value of nostalgia and the emotional strength derived from remembering joyful possibilities, even when they are no longer accessible.
Themes
HappinessNostalgiaLossMemorySupport
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming adversity, I might quote Edith Wharton to highlight the importance of holding onto positive memories.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes →They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Edith WhartonRead
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each other’s angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead
Similar quotes
The way to be happy is to make others so.
Robert Green IngersollRead
When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things - not the great occasions - that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.
Bob HopeRead
A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it: it would be hell on earth.
George Bernard ShawRead
Happiness happens when you fit with your life, when you fit so harmoniously that whatsoever you are doing is your joy. Then suddenly you will come to know: meditation follows you. If you love the work that you are doing, if you love the way you are living, then you are meditative.
RajneeshRead
No one is happy all his life long.
EuripidesRead
The state of life is most happy where superfluities are not required and necessities are not wanting.
PlutarchRead