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
They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Interpretation
What this quote means
Happiness can come unexpectedly, often catching us off guard in moments of stillness.
In this quote, Edith Wharton illustrates the fleeting and surprising nature of happiness. Just as one might stumble upon a vibrant butterfly amidst the starkness of winter woods, happiness can arrive unexpectedly in our lives, reminding us to appreciate these rare and beautiful moments when they occur.
Themes
HappinessSurpriseBeautyMomentsNature
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a wellness retreat discussing the unexpected joys in life could use this quote.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes βSet 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 otherβs 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
The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!
Edith WhartonRead
Similar quotes
A comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a good conscience.
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So long as one is happy one can endure any discipline: it was unhappiness that broke down the habits of work.
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Happiness comes most to persons who seek it least and think least about it. It is not an object to be sought, it is a state to be induced. It must follow and not lead. It must overtake you, and not you overtake it.
John BurroughsRead
Happy people do not demand a lot from the world because their happiness proceeds from a place deeper than the world can touch.
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Pleasure can be supported by an illusion; but happiness rests upon truth.
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It has been said that beauty is a promise of happiness. Conversely, the possibility of pleasure can be a beginning of beauty.
Marcel ProustRead