Insecurity twists meanings and poisons trust. In a closely beleaguered city every sentry is a potential traitor.
Graham GreeneRead
The sense of unhappiness is so much easier to convey than that of happiness. In misery we seem aware of our own existence, even though it may be in the form of a monstrous egotism: this pain of mine is individual, this nerve that winces belongs to me and to no other. But happiness annihilates us: we lose our identity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Happiness is more difficult to express than unhappiness, as it leads us to lose our sense of self.
Graham Greene's quote reflects on the complex nature of human emotions, suggesting that while feelings of unhappiness are keenly felt and easily articulated, happiness can be elusive and overwhelming. Unhappiness allows individuals to assert their identity through personal suffering, whereas happiness can feel all-consuming, often losing the individual in a shared experience. This implies that expressing joy is harder because it is often a more collective emotion, while sadness can be more isolating and personal.
Themes
HappinessUnhappinessIdentityEmotionsExistence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the challenges of conveying true happiness in art.
More from Graham Greene
All quotes →It seemed to Scobie that life was immeasurably long. Couldn’t the test of man have been carried out in fewer years? Couldn’t we have committed our first major sin at seven, have ruined ourselves for love or hate at ten, have clutched at redemption on a fifteen-year-old deathbed?
Graham GreeneRead
God is love. I don't say the heart doesn't feel a taste of it, but what a taste. The smallest glass of love mixed with a pint pot of ditch-water. We wouldn't recognize that love. It might even look like hate. It would be enough to scare us - God's love.
Graham GreeneRead
Of two hearts one is always warm and one is always cold: the cold heart is more precious than diamonds: the warm heart has no value and is thrown away.
Graham GreeneRead
Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.
Graham GreeneRead
Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.
Graham GreeneRead
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