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You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation.
Bette Davis
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Happiness is closely tied to our expectations, and adjusting them can enhance our overall joy.

This quote by Bette Davis highlights the idea that our level of happiness is often determined by our expectations. If we anticipate happiness, we are likely to experience it; conversely, unrealistic or low expectations can lead to disappointment. To cultivate a more fulfilling sense of joy, one must shift their expectations to align with a more positive outlook on life.

Themes

HappinessExpectationChangeMindsetJoy

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote during a motivational speech about personal growth.

More from Bette Davis

I am doomed to an eternity of compulsive work. No set goal achieved satisfies. Success only breeds a new goal. The golden apple devoured has seeds. It is endless.
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I have been uncompromising, peppery, intractable, monomaniacal, tactless, volatile, and oftentimes disagreeable... I suppose I'm larger than life.
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Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.
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Today everyone is a star - they're all billed as 'starring' or 'also starring'. In my day, we earned that recognition.
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Once the love bug wears off, as it inevitably does, you are shocked to discover that you really didn't know the object of your affections at all. We know this to be so, even as we repeat the same mistake over and over and over.
Bette DavisRead
If everybody likes you, you're pretty dull.
Bette DavisRead

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