--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oliver, success is usually a feeling of…" description: "\"“Oliver, success is usually a feeling of mere relief, where failure is pain. Happiness, you see, lies in neither, but in sticking to a daily ritual and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/adam-gopnik-6789_failure_oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-m_2051962.jpg" --- # Oliver, success is usually a feeling of mere relief, where… ![“Oliver, success is usually a feeling of mere relief, where failure is pain. Happiness, you see, lies in neither, but in sticking to a daily ritual and becoming absorbed in something useful. When the war is over, even the greatest warriors do not exult. They go back to their garden or kitchen or…” quote by Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/adam-gopnik-6789_failure_oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-m_2051962.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/adam-gopnik-6789_failure_oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-m_2051962.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/adam-gopnik-6789_failure_oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-m_2051962.jpg) > ““Oliver, success is usually a feeling of mere relief, where failure is pain. Happiness, you see, lies in neither, but in sticking to a daily ritual and becoming absorbed in something useful. When the war is over, even the greatest warriors do not exult. They go back to their garden or kitchen or library -- or school -- and resume life. (as said by Mrs. Pearson)”” [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success feels like relief, failure like pain; true happiness comes from daily purposeful rituals, not outcomes. **In simple terms:** Happiness is found in routine, not success or failure. Key Takeaway Cultivate daily meaningful habits. Themes purpose routine contentment war peace Mood reflective calm inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - post‑war adjustment - personal growth - creative work - gardening - library study Key Concepts psychology mindfulness habit formation Questions to Reflect On - What daily ritual gives you a sense of purpose? - How do you balance achievement with inner peace? A Different Perspective Rituals may become empty if not aligned with values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [Never doubt someones love for you. If you find some imperfections, let it be. If you survived the pain, the happiness is satisfying. Never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/never-doubt-someones-love-for-you-if-you-find-some-imperfections-let/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [You're my Baby, my headache, my love, my smile, my frown, my wrong, my right my pain, my happiness, my everthing. You're Mine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-re-my-baby-my-headache-my-love-my-smile-my-frown-my-wrong-my-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [...there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness, too. That was writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/there-would-be-punishment-and-pain-and-there-would-be-happiness-too/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [Even while you are in doubt, there will be an answer you will arrive to. Even while you are in pain, your happiness will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katsura-hoshino/even-while-you-are-in-doubt-there-will-be-an-answer-you-will-arrive/) [Katsura Hoshino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katsura-hoshino/) > [You're my baby, my headache, my love, my smile, my frown, my wrong, my right, my pain, my happiness, my everything. You're MINE.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-re-my-baby-my-headache-my-love-my-smile-my-frown-my-wrong-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Staying the place that gives you so much pain than happiness, is like choking yourself with your own hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/no-voice/staying-the-place-that-gives-you-so-much-pain-than-happiness-is-like/) NO VOICE > [There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/there-is-no-fundamental-difference-between-man-and-animals-in-their/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [You're my baby, my headache, mylove, my smile, my frown, my wrong, my right, my pain, my happiness, my everything. You're MINE.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeet/you-re-my-baby-my-headache-mylove-my-smile-my-frown-my-wrong-my-right/) [Jeet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeet/) > [Why love if losing hurts so much? I have no answers anymore; only the life I have lived. The pain now is part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hopkins/why-love-if-losing-hurts-so-much-i-have-no-answers-anymore-only-the/) [Anthony Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hopkins/) > [If they're causing you more pain than happiness they aren't worth holding onto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/if-they-re-causing-you-more-pain-than-happiness-they-aren-t-worth/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Stop going back to the one who brings you more pain than happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/stop-going-back-to-the-one-who-brings-you-more-pain-than-happiness/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [Grief. The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/grief-the-pain-now-is-part-of-the-happiness-then-that-s-the-deal/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The pain of happiness you get on losing is called love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/the-pain-of-happiness-you-get-on-losing-is-called-love/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Sometimes love is like photography. You can't have the light without the dark, pain without happiness, and tears without the laughing after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-day/sometimes-love-is-like-photography-you-can-t-have-the-light-without/) [Amanda Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-day/) > [I will smile for you As I set you free Not because I wanted to But because its what you need I will smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fad-ibra/i-will-smile-for-you-as-i-set-you-free-not-because-i-wanted-to-but/) [Fad Ibra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fad-ibra/) ## More by Adam Gopnik > [ Often the block \[in writing\] comes from the wall of words that keep out the simplicity of sense. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/often-the-block-in-writing-comes-from-the-wall-of-words-that-keep-out/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Drawing is one of those things which sit on the uneasy bending line between instinct and instruction, where seeming perversity eventually trumps pleasure as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/drawing-is-one-of-those-things-which-sit-on-the-uneasy-bending-line/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/of-all-the-unexpected-things-in-contemporary-literature-this-is-among/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“...we see life as deeply in our pleasures as in our pains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/we-see-life-as-deeply-in-our-pleasures-as-in-our-pains/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [ Leafing through Forbes or Fortune \[magazine\]s is like reading the operating manual of a strangely sanctimonious pirate ship ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/leafing-through-forbes-or-fortune-magazine-s-is-like-reading-the/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Writing well isn't just a question of winsome expression, but of having found something big and true to say and having found the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/writing-well-isn-t-just-a-question-of-winsome-expression-but-of/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“There is, I believe now, a force in stories, words in motion, that either drives them forward past things into feelings or doesn't. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/there-is-i-believe-now-a-force-in-stories-words-in-motion-that-either/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Cooking is the showy side of domesticity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/cooking-is-the-showy-side-of-domesticity/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Writing doesn't come easily to anyone, I think, certainly not to me. But pressure and practice does lend a certain fluency, I think -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/writing-doesn-t-come-easily-to-anyone-i-think-certainly-not-to-me-but/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Art without accomplishment becomes a form of faith, sustained more by the intensity of its common practice than by the pleasure it gives to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/art-without-accomplishment-becomes-a-form-of-faith-sustained-more-by/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [ “\[A\]s military history reveals, a bad plan is often better than no plan, especially if the people on the other side think it’s a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/a-s-military-history-reveals-a-bad-plan-is-often-better-than-no-plan/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [I don't think there's any question journalists have become targets, but then I think that - that anyone who tries to practice liberty becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-question-journalists-have-become-targets/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [After all, spinning is its own reward. There wouldn't be carousels if it weren't so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/after-all-spinning-is-its-own-reward-there-wouldn-t-be-carousels-if/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“This is surely the most significant of the elements that Tolkien brought to fantasy… his arranged marriage between the Elder Edda and "The Wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/this-is-surely-the-most-significant-of-the-elements-that-tolkien/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a society becomes, the basic human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the-sense-that-no-matter-how/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) [Explore all 97 Adam Gopnik quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Oliver, success is usually a feeling of mere relief, where failure is pain. Happiness, you see, lies in neither, but in sticking to a daily ritual and becoming absorbed in something useful. When the war is over, even the greatest warriors do not exult. They go back to their garden or kitchen or library -- or school -- and resume life. (as said by Mrs. Pearson)”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Gopnik" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-mere-relief-where-failure-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-mere-relief-where-failure-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/adam-gopnik-6789_failure_oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-m_2051962.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/adam-gopnik-6789_failure_oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-m_2051962.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/adam-gopnik-6789_failure_oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-m_2051962.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Oliver, success is usually a feeling of mere relief, where failure is pain. Happiness, you see, lies in…” — Adam Gopnik", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adam Gopnik", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Oliver, success is usually a feeling...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-mere-relief-where-failure-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/oliver-success-is-usually-a-feeling-of-mere-relief-where-failure-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```