--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cheerfulness, up to and including…" description: "\"Cheerfulness, up to and including delusion and false hope, has a recognized place in medicine.\" — Barbara Ehrenreich" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_cheerfulness_cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusio_2249835.png" --- # Cheerfulness, up to and including delusion and false hope… ![“Cheerfulness, up to and including delusion and false hope, has a recognized place in medicine.” quote by Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_cheerfulness_cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusio_2249835.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_cheerfulness_cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusio_2249835.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_cheerfulness_cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusio_2249835.png) > “Cheerfulness, up to and including delusion and false hope, has a recognized place in medicine.” [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cheerfulness can become harmful when it turns into denial or unrealistic optimism, especially in medical contexts. **In simple terms:** False hope can be dangerous in health. Key Takeaway Balance optimism with realism. Themes health optimism delusion Mood cautious analytical Type medical philosophical When to use this quote - patient care - mental health treatment - public health messaging Key Concepts medicine psychology well‑being Questions to Reflect On - When is optimism helpful? - How to recognize harmful delusion? A Different Perspective Over‑optimism may ignore serious symptoms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cheerfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheerfulness/) [Delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delusion/) [False hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-hope/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Injury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injury/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy/) ## Related quotes > [Experience stands on its own dunghill in medicine, and reason yields it place. Medicine has always professed experience to be the touchstone of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/experience-stands-on-its-own-dunghill-in-medicine-and-reason-yields/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I have a theory about marriage, Monsieur Boustouler. And it's that nearly always you will know within two weeks if it's going to work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-have-a-theory-about-marriage-monsieur-boustouler-and-it-s-that/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [ We \[on the left\] have to be used to being a minority -- a small minority -- for some time to come. The odd… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/we-on-the-left-have-to-be-used-to-being-a-minority-a-small-minority/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Never have false hope for granted wishes, but always have true faith in answered prayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-have-false-hope-for-granted-wishes-but-always-have-true-faith/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Will you let me go for Christ's sake? 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It's not because I hate you or don't want to talk to you, but because every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-text-don-t-call-don-t-ask-for-me-it-s-not-because-i-hate-you-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sugar coating things makes people feel better, but it also gives them false hope, and it keeps them holding onto the wrong people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/sugar-coating-things-makes-people-feel-better-but-it-also-gives-them/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [“If war is the health of the state, despair is the health of religion. Until African workers and peasants find belief systems that provides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-war-is-the-health-of-the-state-despair-is-the-health-of-religion/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Barbara Ehrenreich > [Money does not bring happiness' - only the wherewithal, perhaps, to endure its absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/money-does-not-bring-happiness-only-the-wherewithal-perhaps-to-endure/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Yes. I think the anti-Wal-Mart is Costco, which pays much better and has much better health benefits and which is profitable and offers low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/yes-i-think-the-anti-wal-mart-is-costco-which-pays-much-better-and/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Jesus: a wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/jesus-a-wine-guzzling-vagrant-and-precocious-socialist/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ What would it mean in practice to eliminate all the 'negative people' from one's life \[as demanded by motivational speaker J.P. Maroney\]? 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But it stands a fair chance of being destroyed by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/the-nation-was-not-founded-by-habitual-groupthinkers-but-it-stands-a/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ “You might discover that, nationwide, America's food banks are experiencing 'a torrent of need which \[they\] cannot meet' and that, according to a survey… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/you-might-discover-that-nationwide-america-s-food-banks-are/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [My Turn is the distilled bathwater of Mrs. Reagan's life. It is for the most part sweetish, with a tart edge of rebuke, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/my-turn-is-the-distilled-bathwater-of-mrs-reagan-s-life-it-is-for-the/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) [Explore all 274 Barbara Ehrenreich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## More Cheerfulness quotes > [Poor David Hume is dying fast, but with more real cheerfulness and good humor and with more real resignation to the necessary course of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/poor-david-hume-is-dying-fast-but-with-more-real-cheerfulness-and/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Cheerfulness in most cheerful people is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-percy-whipple/cheerfulness-in-most-cheerful-people-is-the-rich-and-satisfying/) [Edwin Percy Whipple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-percy-whipple/) > [When you drop your unnecessary things, you finally can swoop and fly in vast space. It is so blue, so bright, and so nice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/when-you-drop-your-unnecessary-things-you-finally-can-swoop-and-fly/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [The plainest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-plainest-sign-of-wisdom-is-a-continual-cheerfulness-her-state-is/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man-yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/mark-how-fleeting-and-paltry-is-the-estate-of-man-yesterday-in-embryo/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Even the smallest landscape can offer pride of ownership not only to its inhabitants but to its neighbors. The world delights in a garden……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-moir-messervy/even-the-smallest-landscape-can-offer-pride-of-ownership-not-only-to/) Julie Moir Messervy > [Cheerfulness means a contented spirit, a pure heart, a kind and loving disposition; it means humility and ~ charity, a generous appreciation of others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/cheerfulness-means-a-contented-spirit-a-pure-heart-a-kind-and-loving/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [I have observed that in comedies the best actor plays the droll, while some scrub rogue is made the fine gentleman or hero. Thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/i-have-observed-that-in-comedies-the-best-actor-plays-the-droll-while/) [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/) > [I believe that God will help us to forget things, the memory of which would do us harm, or rather that He will enable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/i-believe-that-god-will-help-us-to-forget-things-the-memory-of-which/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [“Unsavoury as it is below, there is cheerfulness, and comfort, and hard, honest work above. ("In The Court Of The Dragon")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-w-chambers/unsavoury-as-it-is-below-there-is-cheerfulness-and-comfort-and-hard/) [Robert W. Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-w-chambers/) > [“Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/cheerfulness-keeps-up-a-kind-of-daylight-in-the-mind-and-fills-it/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“One world is aware and by far the largest to me, and that is myself, / And whether I come to my own to-day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/one-world-is-aware-and-by-far-the-largest-to-me-and-that-is-myself/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Actions seems to follow feeling, but really actions and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/actions-seems-to-follow-feeling-but-really-actions-and-feeling-go/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-e-smith/cheerfulness-and-contentment-are-great-beautifiers/) [Jennifer E. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-e-smith/) > [Health is the condition of wisdom, and the sign is cheerfulness, - an open and noble temper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/health-is-the-condition-of-wisdom-and-the-sign-is-cheerfulness-an/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Browse all 346 Cheerfulness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheerfulness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cheerfulness, up to and including delusion and false hope, has a recognized place in medicine.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Ehrenreich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusion-and-false-hope-has-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cheerfulness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusion-and-false-hope-has-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_cheerfulness_cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusio_2249835.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_cheerfulness_cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusio_2249835.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_cheerfulness_cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusio_2249835.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Cheerfulness, up to and including delusion and false hope, has a recognized place in medicine.” — Barbara Ehrenreich", "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": "Barbara Ehrenreich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Cheerfulness, up to and including delusion...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusion-and-false-hope-has-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/cheerfulness-up-to-and-including-delusion-and-false-hope-has-a/#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 } } ] } ```