--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For a crippled man like me, personal…" description: "\"“For a crippled man like me, personal happiness was possible only in dreams.”\" — Anton Chekhov" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebc/anton-chekhov-298_crippled_for-a-crippled-man-like-me-personal-happ_2615377.jpg" --- # For a crippled man like me, personal happiness was… ![“For a crippled man like me, personal happiness was possible only in dreams.” quote by Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebc/anton-chekhov-298_crippled_for-a-crippled-man-like-me-personal-happ_2615377.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebc/anton-chekhov-298_crippled_for-a-crippled-man-like-me-personal-happ_2615377.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebc/anton-chekhov-298_crippled_for-a-crippled-man-like-me-personal-happ_2615377.jpg) > ““For a crippled man like me, personal happiness was possible only in dreams.”” [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. For someone with severe limitations, happiness may only be attainable in the realm of imagination and dreams. **In simple terms:** Happiness may exist only in dreams for some. Key Takeaway Seek fulfillment through imagination and inner life. Themes suffering hope imagination Mood melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - chronic illness - disability - creative pursuits - mental health Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you bring dream‑like joy into daily life? - What role does imagination play in coping? A Different Perspective Dreams may not substitute for real-world well‑being. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crippled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crippled/) [Crippled Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crippled-man-706008/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-possible-477647/) [Personal happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-happiness/) ## Related quotes > [“True, the body's easily maimed, and the spirit can be crippled - yet there's that in a man that is never destroyed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/true-the-body-s-easily-maimed-and-the-spirit-can-be-crippled-yet/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [The desire to serve the common good must without fail be a requisite of the soul, a necessity for personal happiness; if it issuesnot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-desire-to-serve-the-common-good-must-without-fail-be-a-requisite/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [If our life has a meaning, an aim, it has nothing to do with our personal happiness, but something wiser and greater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/if-our-life-has-a-meaning-an-aim-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-our/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“If you still believe, you must have hope. You must believe that happiness is possible for you too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-reynard/if-you-still-believe-you-must-have-hope-you-must-believe-that/) [Sylvain Reynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-reynard/) > [Sometimes we believe that happiness is not possible in the here and now, that we need a few more conditions to be happy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/sometimes-we-believe-that-happiness-is-not-possible-in-the-here-and/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [A successful life for a man or for a woman seems to me to lie in the knowledge that one has developed to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/a-successful-life-for-a-man-or-for-a-woman-seems-to-me-to-lie-in-the/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it is but a speck of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-know-not-if-this-earth-on-which-i-stand-is-the-core-of-the-universe/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [ \[I\]t is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-t-is-well-to-have-as-many-holds-upon-happiness-as-possible/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Happiness is possible only when we are kind to others and contented within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satish-kumar/happiness-is-possible-only-when-we-are-kind-to-others-and-contented/) [Satish Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satish-kumar/) > [Happiness is always possible, but we have to be willing and open to receive it--and sometimes that means letting go of what we're holding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-always-possible-but-we-have-to-be-willing-and-open-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And this is not the happiness of a magazine writer who sends in his gay little philosophy of life to the editor for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-this-is-not-the-happiness-of-a-magazine-writer-who-sends-in-his/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [We live in a world where joy is possible, love is possible, happiness is possible; where all things are possible, if we're willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/we-live-in-a-world-where-joy-is-possible-love-is-possible-happiness/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“Happiness is possible only when you stop running and cherish the present moment and who you are. Who you are is already a wonder;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/happiness-is-possible-only-when-you-stop-running-and-cherish-the/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [I don't believe that happiness is possible, but I think tranquility is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/i-don-t-believe-that-happiness-is-possible-but-i-think-tranquility-is/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [But what is after all the happiness of mere power? There is a greater happiness possible than to be lord of heaven and earth;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lafcadio-hearn/but-what-is-after-all-the-happiness-of-mere-power-there-is-a-greater/) [Lafcadio Hearn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lafcadio-hearn/) ## More by Anton Chekhov > [“Using vile means to attain worthy ends makes the ends themselves vile. Let them ride on the backs of doctors and medical assistants, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/using-vile-means-to-attain-worthy-ends-makes-the-ends-themselves-vile/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [If ever my life can be of any use to you, come and claim it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/if-ever-my-life-can-be-of-any-use-to-you-come-and-claim-it/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [There are still many more days of failure ahead, whole seasons of failure, things will go terribly wrong, you will have huge disappointments ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/there-are-still-many-more-days-of-failure-ahead-whole-seasons-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“But here was all the timorousness and angularity of inexperienced youth, a feeling of awkwardness, and an impression of bewilderment, as if someone had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/but-here-was-all-the-timorousness-and-angularity-of-inexperienced/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“At the water's edge, barrels of pitch blazed like huge bonfires. 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If the people placed over him are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/no-matter-how-corrupt-and-unjust-a-convict-may-be-he-loves-fairness/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“It is my opinion that every woman can be a writer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-is-my-opinion-that-every-woman-can-be-a-writer/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“His reading suggested a man swimming in the sea among the wreckage of his ship, and trying to save his life by greedily clutching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/his-reading-suggested-a-man-swimming-in-the-sea-among-the-wreckage-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Experience often repeated, truly bitter experience, had taught him long ago that with decent people, especially Moscow people -- always slow to move and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/experience-often-repeated-truly-bitter-experience-had-taught-him-long/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Why do you always wear black?” "I am mourning for my life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/why-do-you-always-wear-black-i-am-mourning-for-my-life/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) [Explore all 679 Anton Chekhov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## More Crippled quotes > [I can imagine the writers of China, England and France, crippled and unsure of themselves when they feel that the ghosts of Confucius, Mencius,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/i-can-imagine-the-writers-of-china-england-and-france-crippled-and/) [F. 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Other people are held…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cammie-mcgovern/i-have-learned-that-some-people-who-look-fine-are-more-crippled-than/) [Cammie McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cammie-mcgovern/) > [“(There are many ways to be crippled, I’ve learned over the years, many forms of paralysis.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/there-are-many-ways-to-be-crippled-i-ve-learned-over-the-years-many/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [How wide are the horizons of the spinning earth! The moonlight leads the tides and the sun's light will not be confined within the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsu-yun/how-wide-are-the-horizons-of-the-spinning-earth-the-moonlight-leads/) [Hsu Yun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hsu-yun/) > [I was born with a crippled leg. I wore a corrective shoes since I was three years old and I still wear them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-simmons/i-was-born-with-a-crippled-leg-i-wore-a-corrective-shoes-since-i-was/) [Richard Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-simmons/) > [I love it now that a large minority of people who are handicapped prefer to call themselves crippled. This is all part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-fiedler/i-love-it-now-that-a-large-minority-of-people-who-are-handicapped/) [Leslie Fiedler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-fiedler/) > [My measures will not be crippled by any bureaucracy. Here I don't have to worry about Justice; my mission is only to destroy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-goring/my-measures-will-not-be-crippled-by-any-bureaucracy-here-i-don-t-have/) [Hermann Goring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-goring/) > [Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/without-books-history-is-silent-literature-dumb-science-crippled/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [What good will a tax break do me if I'm crippled for life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ladd/what-good-will-a-tax-break-do-me-if-i-m-crippled-for-life/) [Alan Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ladd/) > [In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upward mobile - and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/in-a-nation-ruled-by-swine-all-pigs-are-upward-mobile-and-the-rest-of/) [Hunter S. 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