They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Interpretation
What this quote means
Happiness can come unexpectedly, often catching us off guard in moments of stillness.
In this quote, Edith Wharton illustrates the fleeting and surprising nature of happiness. Just as one might stumble upon a vibrant butterfly amidst the starkness of winter woods, happiness can arrive unexpectedly in our lives, reminding us to appreciate these rare and beautiful moments when they occur.
Themes
HappinessSurpriseBeautyMomentsNature
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a wellness retreat discussing the unexpected joys in life could use this quote.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes βSet wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each otherβs angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead
The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!
Edith WhartonRead
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I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.
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The materialistic view of happiness of our age starkly revealed in our understanding of the word "luxury.
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