A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
Neil GaimanRead
Call no man happy, said Shadow, until he is dead
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness can only be judged after a person's life has ended.
This quote suggests that assessing a person's happiness while they are alive is premature, as life is full of ups and downs. It implies that the true measure of happiness is best reflected in the entire span of a person's life, including the legacy they leave behind and how they are remembered after death.
Themes
HappinessAssessmentLifeLegacy
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical discussion about the meaning of happiness, one could use this quote to illustrate that happiness is subjective and potentially fleeting.
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As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
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Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
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I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
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