--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of love's greatest drawbacks is that…" description: "\"One of love's greatest drawbacks is that, for a while at least, it is in danger of making us happy.\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fe/alain-de-botton-221_danger_one-of-love-s-greatest-drawbacks-is-that_2607856.jpg" --- # One of love's greatest drawbacks is that, for a while at… ![“One of love's greatest drawbacks is that, for a while at least, it is in danger of making us happy.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fe/alain-de-botton-221_danger_one-of-love-s-greatest-drawbacks-is-that_2607856.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fe/alain-de-botton-221_danger_one-of-love-s-greatest-drawbacks-is-that_2607856.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fe/alain-de-botton-221_danger_one-of-love-s-greatest-drawbacks-is-that_2607856.jpg) > “One of love's greatest drawbacks is that, for a while at least, it is in danger of making us happy.” [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. Love can paradoxically bring both joy and vulnerability, making happiness feel precarious. **In simple terms:** Love can make happiness feel risky. Key Takeaway Embrace love while acknowledging its risks. Themes love vulnerability happiness risk Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - personal growth - mental health - self‑acceptance Key Concepts psychology philosophy emotional dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance love’s joy with its potential pain? - What safeguards can protect emotional well‑being? A Different Perspective Love’s joy may be fleeting and can lead to disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Drawbacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawbacks/) [Drawbacks Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawbacks-danger-2001828/) [Greatest Drawbacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-drawbacks-2001829/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-does/) [Making Happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-happy/) ## Related quotes > [“One of love’s greatest drawbacks is that, for a while at least, it is in danger of making us seriously happy. 2.     Chloe”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/one-of-love-s-greatest-drawbacks-is-that-for-a-while-at-least-it-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [One of the greatest drawbacks of our industry is that we don't take back anything from our contemporary history or our past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir-khan/one-of-the-greatest-drawbacks-of-our-industry-is-that-we-don-t-take/) [Kabir Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir-khan/) > [If my friends are making me more happy than you are, I'll be with my friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-my-friends-are-making-me-more-happy-than-you-are-i-ll-be-with-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Giving is doing exactly the same work as God, thus making Him happy in return.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/giving-is-doing-exactly-the-same-work-as-god-thus-making-him-happy-in/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gorge-bernard/this-is-the-true-joy-in-life-the-being-used-for-a-purpose-recognized/) [Gorge Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gorge-bernard/) > [I want to be happy, while making someone else happy in the process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-want-to-be-happy-while-making-someone-else-happy-in-the-process/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank for making me happy I love you hope your not change cause I'm always here loving you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/strawberry/thank-for-making-me-happy-i-love-you-hope-your-not-change-cause-i-m/) [Strawberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/strawberry/) > [You don't need to do everything just to be happy. You just need to take care of the person who's making you happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/you-don-t-need-to-do-everything-just-to-be-happy-you-just-need-to/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Instead of making me happy. Its just messing up my life. So fuck love! I dont need it in my life!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-making-me-happy-its-just-messing-up-my-life-so-fuck-love-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Happiness lies in making others happy, in forsaking self-interest to bring joy to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/happiness-lies-in-making-others-happy-in-forsaking-self-interest-to/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [I focus to much on making others happy & don't focus enough on making me happy...I got a big heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-focus-to-much-on-making-others-happy-don-t-focus-enough-on-making/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Instead of making me happy, it's just messing up my life. So fuck love I don't need it in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-making-me-happy-it-s-just-messing-up-my-life-so-fuck-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Making others happy through kindness of speech and sincerity of advice is a sign of true greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/making-others-happy-through-kindness-of-speech-and-sincerity-of/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [The process of art-making is full of happy accidents - what fun!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-elliott-slade/the-process-of-art-making-is-full-of-happy-accidents-what-fun/) [Max Elliott Slade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-elliott-slade/) > [I do not know of any sure way of making others happy as being so one's self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/i-do-not-know-of-any-sure-way-of-making-others-happy-as-being-so-one/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) ## 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 Danger quotes > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. 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