We're all just animals. That's all we are, and everything else is just an elaborate justification of our instincts. That's where music comes from. And romantic poetry. And bad novels.
Elvis CostelloRead
Happiness isn't a fortune in a cookie. It's deeper, wider, funnier, and more transporting than that.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Happiness is a complex and multifaceted experience, not simply a superficial reward.
Elvis Costello emphasizes that true happiness transcends simple pleasures and quick fixes, such as the joy found in a fortune cookie. Instead, it encompasses a broader and more profound understanding of joy that can be humorous and transformative, suggesting that happiness is an enriching journey rather than a fleeting moment.
Themes
HappinessJoyDepthHumorExperience
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about finding true joy in life, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of deeper happiness.
More from Elvis Costello
All quotes βThere are five things to write songs about: I'm leaving you. You're leaving me. I want you. You don't want me. I believe in something. Five subjects, and 12 notes. For all that, we musicians do pretty well.
Elvis CostelloRead
It's the damage that we do and never know. It's the words that we don't say that scare me so.
Elvis CostelloRead
And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it.
Elvis CostelloRead
I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years.And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you.
Elvis CostelloRead
I believe that music is connected by human passions and curiosities rather than by marketing strategies.
Elvis CostelloRead
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I don't have much in the way of money or worldly possessions, I'm not beautiful, intelligent or clever, but I'm happy, and I intend to stay that way! I was born happy, I love people, I have a trusting nature, and I'd like everyone else to be happy too.
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The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are, and not who people think you are.
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Freedom is the real foundation of happiness.
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Gratitude is the confidence in life itself... As gratitude grows it gives rise to joy. We experience the courage to rejoice in our own good fortune and in the good fortune of others... We can be joyful for people we love, for moments of goodness, for sunlight and trees, and for the very breath within our lungs. Like an innocent child, we can rejoice in life itself, in being alive.
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People keep saying, 'Oh, you're getting all these great reviews, that must make you really happy.' I guess it does, but mostly it's just a relief.
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One could be happy not only without love, but despite it.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead