--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first person who ever told me that…" description: "\"The first person who ever told me that happiness was work was this manic-depressive artist I knew when I was in my 20s. I was like, 'What are you talki..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/ariel-gore-16108_art_the-first-person-who-ever-told-me-that-h_2251003.png" --- # The first person who ever told me that happiness was work… ![“The first person who ever told me that happiness was work was this manic-depressive artist I knew when I was in my 20s. I was like, 'What are you talking about? Happiness just happens. That's even the root of that word. How could it be work?” quote by Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/ariel-gore-16108_art_the-first-person-who-ever-told-me-that-h_2251003.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/ariel-gore-16108_art_the-first-person-who-ever-told-me-that-h_2251003.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/ariel-gore-16108_art_the-first-person-who-ever-told-me-that-h_2251003.png) > “The first person who ever told me that happiness was work was this manic-depressive artist I knew when I was in my 20s. I was like, 'What are you talking about? Happiness just happens. That's even the root of that word. How could it be work?” [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness is often seen as a spontaneous feeling, but it can also require effort and intentional practice. **In simple terms:** Happiness may need work. Key Takeaway Cultivate habits that foster joy. Themes psychology well‑being mindset personal growth Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - daily gratitude - creative projects - mental health therapy Key Concepts positive psychology habit formation self‑compassion Questions to Reflect On - What practices make you feel fulfilled? - How do you balance effort and ease? A Different Perspective Effort alone doesn’t guarantee happiness; balance is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Depressive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depressive/) [First person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-person/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-work/) [Manic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manic/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Roots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roots/) [Talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking/) [Talking Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking-happiness-4703826/) [Told Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-happiness-846970/) [Work Manic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-manic-5063942/) ## Related quotes > [Most actors and actresses are performative as people. It goes part and parcel with the profession and New York actors who are out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-lister-jones/most-actors-and-actresses-are-performative-as-people-it-goes-part-and/) [Zoe Lister-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-lister-jones/) > [Aristotle was talking about happiness 2,000 years ago. Every area of our life has been disrupted and innovated apart from personal growth and self-awareness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-shetty/aristotle-was-talking-about-happiness-2-000-years-ago-every-area-of/) [Jay Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-shetty/) > [I contemplate the idea that maybe I'm an alcoholic. I get this occassionally, the need to define myself as something-or-the-other, and at various times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/i-contemplate-the-idea-that-maybe-i-m-an-alcoholic-i-get-this/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [Every now and then I hear voices in my head, but not very clear. I can't understand what they are saying. It's a mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-wilson/every-now-and-then-i-hear-voices-in-my-head-but-not-very-clear-i-can/) [Brian Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-wilson/) > [Nowadays you envy a manic-depressive. Half the time he's happy, the other half he's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/nowadays-you-envy-a-manic-depressive-half-the-time-he-s-happy-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Getting my father to throw anything away was pretty difficult. He was not trying to hide who he was, and he said, you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-forbes/getting-my-father-to-throw-anything-away-was-pretty-difficult-he-was/) [Maya Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-forbes/) > [Nature is, above all, profligate. Don't believe them when they tell you how economical and thrifty nature is, whose leaves return to the soil.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nature-is-above-all-profligate-don-t-believe-them-when-they-tell-you/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I don't know what other singers feel when they articulate lyrics, but being an 18-karat manic-depressive and having lived a life of violent emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sinatra/i-don-t-know-what-other-singers-feel-when-they-articulate-lyrics-but/) [Frank Sinatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sinatra/) > [Far too many doctors-many of them excellent physicians-commit suicide each year; one recent study concluded that, until quite recently, the United States lost annually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/far-too-many-doctors-many-of-them-excellent-physicians-commit-suicide/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [My dad is actually a manic depressive, which is very exciting half the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/my-dad-is-actually-a-manic-depressive-which-is-very-exciting-half-the/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [I have had manic-depressive illness, also known as bipolar disorder, since I was 18 years old. It is an illness that ensures that those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/i-have-had-manic-depressive-illness-also-known-as-bipolar-disorder/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [Alcohol had a lot to do with it, too, and mental instability. All writers are narcissistic, manic-depressive drug addicts and alcoholics, and I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/alcohol-had-a-lot-to-do-with-it-too-and-mental-instability-all/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [The point about manic depression or bipolar disorder, as it's now more commonly called, is that it's about mood swings. So, you have an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-point-about-manic-depression-or-bipolar-disorder-as-it-s-now-more/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [I spoke so much about being a manic-depressive. I want to bring everyone back to my earliest memories of this companion of mine. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dreyfuss/i-spoke-so-much-about-being-a-manic-depressive-i-want-to-bring/) [Richard Dreyfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dreyfuss/) > [Being a mathematician is a bit like being a manic depressive: you spend your life alternating between giddy elation and black despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-g-krantz/being-a-mathematician-is-a-bit-like-being-a-manic-depressive-you/) [Steven G. Krantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-g-krantz/) ## More by Ariel Gore > [“When we strike a balance between the challenge of an activity and our skill at performing it, when the rhythm of the work itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/when-we-strike-a-balance-between-the-challenge-of-an-activity-and-our/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [When you study postpartum depression, there is a very clear understanding that in communities where you see more support, there is less depression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/when-you-study-postpartum-depression-there-is-a-very-clear/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [I don't know if my mother was a narcissist - or bi-polar or borderline. Those were words she tossed around over the years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/i-don-t-know-if-my-mother-was-a-narcissist-or-bi-polar-or-borderline/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [“No one ever does the last thing on their list.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/no-one-ever-does-the-last-thing-on-their-list/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [Conventional wisdom tells us we'll only be happier after a divorce if the marriage itself was a war zone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/conventional-wisdom-tells-us-we-ll-only-be-happier-after-a-divorce-if/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [My own habit had always been to write about the things that ticked me off in a given day. If I kept a journal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/my-own-habit-had-always-been-to-write-about-the-things-that-ticked-me/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [I think there are different kinds of happiness. We know when we're happy a lot of the time, but then there are those moments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/i-think-there-are-different-kinds-of-happiness-we-know-when-we-re/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [Some caregivers want to reciprocate the care they themselves received as children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/some-caregivers-want-to-reciprocate-the-care-they-themselves-received/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [“I wanted to be a writer, so I became one. How? I wrote things down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-so-i-became-one-how-i-wrote-things-down/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [ “Poet' had always sounded like a profession to me, or a talent. But the dead American \[Muriel Rukeyser, The Life of Poetry\] made it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/poet-had-always-sounded-like-a-profession-to-me-or-a-talent-but-the/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [In my experience, staying in a marriage that my ex and I both agreed had all its best moments behind it was epically depressing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/in-my-experience-staying-in-a-marriage-that-my-ex-and-i-both-agreed/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [I always do like seeing other people dance in their cars. It's one of the things that makes me happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/i-always-do-like-seeing-other-people-dance-in-their-cars-it-s-one-of/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [Maybe it goes without saying that if you want to become a famous writer before you’re dead, you’ll have to write something. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/maybe-it-goes-without-saying-that-if-you-want-to-become-a-famous/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [Your heart is the size of your fist; keep loving, keep fighting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/your-heart-is-the-size-of-your-fist-keep-loving-keep-fighting/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [New Agers have always told us that we create our own realities. Mind over matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/new-agers-have-always-told-us-that-we-create-our-own-realities-mind/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) [Explore all 41 Ariel Gore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The first person who ever told me that happiness was work was this manic-depressive artist I knew when I was in my 20s. 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