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Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.
Hosea Ballou
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Interpretation

What this quote means

True happiness is easy to attain, but people often sacrifice too much for false happiness.

In this quote, Hosea Ballou suggests that genuine happiness is not complicated or costly, yet humans tend to invest significantly in seeking illusions of happiness that do not fulfill them. This highlights the irony of how we often prioritize superficial pleasures, neglecting the simple joys that lead to real contentment.

Themes

HappinessFalseContentmentJoyValue

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about finding joy in simple things.

More from Hosea Ballou

Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine.
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Religion which requires persecution to sustain, it is of the devil's propagation.
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Quote by Hosea Ballou | QuoteProject