Time is so old and love so brief, love is pure gold and time a thief. We're late, darling, we're late, The curtain descends, everything ends, too soon, too soon.
Ogden NashRead
There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, and that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness comes from a clear conscience or a lack of concerns over one's actions.
Ogden Nash emphasizes that happiness is fundamentally linked to one's moral integrity. The quote suggests that to attain true happiness on Earth, one must either live with a clear conscience—acting ethically and justly—or choose to live without any moral concerns, thus freeing oneself from the burden of guilt or remorse. This highlights the importance of aligning one's actions with their values to find genuine joy.
Themes
HappinessConscienceMoral IntegrityJoyEthics
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of ethical behavior in achieving happiness.
More from Ogden Nash
All quotes →I'm like a backward berry, Unripened on the vine, For all my friends are fifty, And I'm only forty-nine.
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I do not like to get the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons.
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Here's a good rule of thumb; too clever is dumb.
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Middle-age is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't for you.
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Here's a toast to the roast that good fellowship lends, with the sparkle of beer and wine; May its sentiment always be deeper, my friends, than the foam at the top of the stein. Then here's to the heartening wassail, wherever good fellows are found; Be its master instead of its vassal, and order the glasses around.
Ogden NashRead
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