--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness is impossible for longer than…" description: "\"Happiness is impossible for longer than 15 minutes. We are the descendants of creatures who, above all else, worried.\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/alain-de-botton-221_creatures_happiness-is-impossible-for-longer-than_2231542.jpg" --- # Happiness is impossible for longer than 15 minutes. We are… ![“Happiness is impossible for longer than 15 minutes. We are the descendants of creatures who, above all else, worried.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/alain-de-botton-221_creatures_happiness-is-impossible-for-longer-than_2231542.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/alain-de-botton-221_creatures_happiness-is-impossible-for-longer-than_2231542.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/alain-de-botton-221_creatures_happiness-is-impossible-for-longer-than_2231542.jpg) > “Happiness is impossible for longer than 15 minutes. We are the descendants of creatures who, above all else, worried.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness rarely lasts beyond a quarter hour; worry is an inherited trait. **In simple terms:** Happiness is fleeting; worry is ingrained. Key Takeaway Cultivate mindfulness to extend contentment. Themes happiness worry human nature Mood calm thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - meditation practice - stress management - daily gratitude Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What practices help sustain joy? - How does acknowledging worry change its impact? A Different Perspective Constant happiness may be unrealistic, leading to disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [15 minutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/15-minutes/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Descendants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descendants/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-impossible-1289449/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Impossible Longer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible-longer-5022545/) [Minutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minutes/) [Worried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worried/) ## Related quotes > [“I was thinking of people who say that happiness is impossible on earth. 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To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/happiness-is-impossible-and-even-inconceivable-to-a-mind-without/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Happiness is impossible without gratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/happiness-is-impossible-without-gratitude/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [Are you so unobservant as not to have found out that sanity and happiness are an impossible combination?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/are-you-so-unobservant-as-not-to-have-found-out-that-sanity-and-2/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he lives so as to make happiness impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustine-of-hippo/indeed-man-wishes-to-be-happy-even-when-he-lives-so-as-to-make/) [Augustine of Hippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustine-of-hippo/) > [“So often man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-wheeler/so-often-man-wishes-to-be-happy-even-when-he-so-lives-as-to-make/) [Jeff Wheeler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-wheeler/) > [For those suffering from depression, I know how dark and endless that tunnel can feel. 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The clock's ticking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-howard/you-get-15-minutes-of-fame-i-hear-and-i-ve-had-14-minutes-the-clock-s/) [Tim Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-howard/) > [The latest I like to be to meeting is 15 minutes early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/the-latest-i-like-to-be-to-meeting-is-15-minutes-early/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More 15 minutes quotes > [The latest I like to be to meeting is 15 minutes early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/the-latest-i-like-to-be-to-meeting-is-15-minutes-early/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) > [You get 15 minutes of fame, I hear, and I've had 14 minutes. The clock's ticking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-howard/you-get-15-minutes-of-fame-i-hear-and-i-ve-had-14-minutes-the-clock-s/) [Tim Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-howard/) > [If you only write for 15 minutes at a time, you can write a book and still have time for Legos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/if-you-only-write-for-15-minutes-at-a-time-you-can-write-a-book-and/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [If the professor doesn't show up to class in the first 15 minutes, you get to leave. Somebody make that a law, please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-the-professor-doesn-t-show-up-to-class-in-the-first-15-minutes-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If Im on TV, I make a real effort to get ready. When I go out, I want to relax a bit more. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gethin-jones/if-im-on-tv-i-make-a-real-effort-to-get-ready-when-i-go-out-i-want-to/) [Gethin Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gethin-jones/) > [One look at an email can rob you of 15 minutes of focus. One call on your cell phone, one tweet, one instant message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-leo/one-look-at-an-email-can-rob-you-of-15-minutes-of-focus-one-call-on/) [Jacqueline Leo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-leo/) > [I really tried to take advantage of my 15 minutes of fame. And I've gotten lucky - those 15 minutes have become several years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-ballinger/i-really-tried-to-take-advantage-of-my-15-minutes-of-fame-and-i-ve/) [Colleen Ballinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-ballinger/) > [I opened the script to the 'The Wall,' and 15 minutes later I was done with it, and I loved the movie and wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cena/i-opened-the-script-to-the-the-wall-and-15-minutes-later-i-was-done/) [John Cena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cena/) > [It is true everyone is going to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, but they're going to have to sell their souls for it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-bachchan-nanda/it-is-true-everyone-is-going-to-enjoy-their-15-minutes-of-fame-but/) [Shweta Bachchan Nanda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-bachchan-nanda/) > [I've always wanted to be a brooding, deep, dark artist, but I can never keep that facade going for more than 15 minutes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-callen/i-ve-always-wanted-to-be-a-brooding-deep-dark-artist-but-i-can-never/) [Bryan Callen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-callen/) > [8 minutes to the end of class and 15 minutes to famous. wheres my time, what will I do, rap, rock, act, rob, kill,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hawes/8-minutes-to-the-end-of-class-and-15-minutes-to-famous-wheres-my-time/) [Jon Hawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hawes/) > [One day, in 1982, for 15 minutes, my hair was perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-guisewite/one-day-in-1982-for-15-minutes-my-hair-was-perfect/) [Cathy Guisewite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-guisewite/) > [You can get by on charm for about 15 minutes. 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