--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once I wanted total happiness - now I…" description: "\"Once I wanted total happiness - now I will settle for a little less pain.\" — Ashleigh Brilliant" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/ashleigh-brilliant-944_happiness_once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will_1524583.png" --- # Once I wanted total happiness - now I will settle for a… ![“Once I wanted total happiness - now I will settle for a little less pain.” quote by Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/ashleigh-brilliant-944_happiness_once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will_1524583.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/ashleigh-brilliant-944_happiness_once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will_1524583.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/ashleigh-brilliant-944_happiness_once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will_1524583.png) > “Once I wanted total happiness - now I will settle for a little less pain.” [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeking total happiness is unrealistic; accepting less pain is a pragmatic path to contentment. **In simple terms:** Accepting some pain leads to peace. Key Takeaway Embrace realistic expectations. Themes happiness acceptance realism Mood thoughtful calm Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal goal setting - mental health coping - stress reduction Key Concepts psychological resilience philosophical pragmatism Questions to Reflect On - What small pain can you tolerate for greater peace? - How does redefining happiness affect your life? A Different Perspective Pursuing perfection can cause more distress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-now/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Total happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/total-happiness/) ## Related quotes > [The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-biggest-human-temptation-is-to-settle-for-too-little/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Always choose happiness. 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Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [If I can't enjoy the full and total happiness of love, then I want to drain its torments, its tortures to the dregs; then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/if-i-can-t-enjoy-the-full-and-total-happiness-of-love-then-i-want-to/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) ## More by Ashleigh Brilliant > [There is a world which I alone rule, but it ends at my fingertips.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/there-is-a-world-which-i-alone-rule-but-it-ends-at-my-fingertips/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [How can there ever possibly be a conflict between my private interests and the public good?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/how-can-there-ever-possibly-be-a-conflict-between-my-private/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [I'm not always depressed: only when I think and feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/i-m-not-always-depressed-only-when-i-think-and-feel/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [Cheer up! 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He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once I wanted total happiness - now I will settle for a little less pain.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ashleigh Brilliant" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will-settle-for-a-little-less-pain/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will-settle-for-a-little-less-pain/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/ashleigh-brilliant-944_happiness_once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will_1524583.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/ashleigh-brilliant-944_happiness_once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will_1524583.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/ashleigh-brilliant-944_happiness_once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will_1524583.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once I wanted total happiness - now I will settle for a little less pain.” — Ashleigh Brilliant", "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": "Ashleigh Brilliant", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Once I wanted total happiness -...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will-settle-for-a-little-less-pain/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/once-i-wanted-total-happiness-now-i-will-settle-for-a-little-less-pain/#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 } } ] } ```