---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot…"
description: "\"“Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily. Because happiness is only real if it lasts forever? Because things alwa..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/bernhard-schlink-3329_happiness_sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot_1159719.png"
---

#  Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because…

![“Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily. Because happiness is only real if it lasts forever? Because things always end painfully if they contained pain, conscious or unconscious, all along? But what is unconscious, unrecognized pain? لا تُخِلص الذاكرة للسعادة…” quote by Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/bernhard-schlink-3329_happiness_sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot_1159719.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/bernhard-schlink-3329_happiness_sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot_1159719.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/bernhard-schlink-3329_happiness_sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot_1159719.png)

> ““Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily. Because happiness is only real if it lasts forever? Because things always end painfully if they contained pain, conscious or unconscious, all along? But what is unconscious, unrecognized pain? لا تُخِلص الذاكرة للسعادة حين تكون النهاية مؤلمة. هل لأن السعادة لا تكون إلا لو دامت للأبد ؟ أم لأن الأشياء تنتهي دائماَ بألم فقط، إذا كانت تحوي طوال الوقت بداخلها ألم مُدرك أو غير مُدرك؟ لكن ما هو ذلك الألم الذي لا يُدرك؟””

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Happiness tied to memory is fragile; lasting joy is challenged by inevitable pain, both conscious and unconscious.

**In simple terms:** Happiness is fleeting and linked to pain.

Key Takeaway

Accept impermanence of joy.

Themes

happiness memory pain

Mood

melancholic thoughtful

Type

philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

- grief
- relationship loss
- personal reflection
- therapy

Key Concepts

existentialism psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What does lasting happiness mean to you?
- How do you confront hidden pain?

A Different Perspective

Seeking permanent happiness may lead to disappointment.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/)

## Related quotes

> [Why? Why does what was beautiful suddenly shatter in hindsight because it concealed dark truths? Why does the memory of years of happy marriage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/why-why-does-what-was-beautiful-suddenly-shatter-in-hindsight-because/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [Women must work doubly hard to overcome their conditioning in order to become enlightened. They must erase both conscious and unconscious ideas of sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/women-must-work-doubly-hard-to-overcome-their-conditioning-in-order/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [... of the two kinds of order, the conscious and the unconscious order, only one is real. It's the order in the deep hidden places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/of-the-two-kinds-of-order-the-conscious-and-the-unconscious-order/)

[Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/)

> [you cannot make a person believe anything unless that person has already had a conscious or unconscious vision of the same thing; you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwethalyn-graham/you-cannot-make-a-person-believe-anything-unless-that-person-has/)

[Gwethalyn Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwethalyn-graham/)

> [The physical universe expresses the conscious and unconscious thoughts of mortals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-baker-eddy/the-physical-universe-expresses-the-conscious-and-unconscious/)

[Mary Baker Eddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-baker-eddy/)

> [Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/art-is-a-marriage-of-the-conscious-and-the-unconscious/)

[Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/)

> [If the desire to get somewhere is strong enough in a person, his whole being, conscious and unconscious, is always at work, looking for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-philip-grove/if-the-desire-to-get-somewhere-is-strong-enough-in-a-person-his-whole/)

Frederick Philip Grove

> [Conscious and unconscious experiences do not belong to different compartments of the mind; they form a continuous scale of gradations, of degrees of awareness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/conscious-and-unconscious-experiences-do-not-belong-to-different/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [The creative union of the conscious with the unconscious is what one usually calls 'inspiration.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/the-creative-union-of-the-conscious-with-the-unconscious-is-what-one/)

[Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/)

> [Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot-stay-true-because-it-ended/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [Each act of denial, conscious or unconscious, is an abdication of our power to respond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/each-act-of-denial-conscious-or-unconscious-is-an-abdication-of-our/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The multilevel, the conscious and the unconscious, is natural when I write scripts, when I come up with ideas and stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bong-joon-ho/the-multilevel-the-conscious-and-the-unconscious-is-natural-when-i/)

[Bong Joon-ho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bong-joon-ho/)

> [Intuition comes from the whole person, from a place that includes the conscious and the unconscious. The total result of all feelings and perceptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-cassou/intuition-comes-from-the-whole-person-from-a-place-that-includes-the/)

[Michele Cassou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-cassou/)

> [So where do the ideas-the salable ideas-come from? They come from my nightmares. Not the night-time variety, as a rule, but the ones that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/so-where-do-the-ideas-the-salable-ideas-come-from-they-come-from-my/)

[Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/)

> [Every extension of knowledge arises from making the conscious the unconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-extension-of-knowledge-arises-from-making-the-conscious-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

## More by Bernhard Schlink

> [“Ne ispada li, onda, da je egzistencijalni umor rezultat premalog, a ne prevelikog angažovanja? Postajemo li umorni usled toga što olakšavamo sebi situaciju, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/ne-ispada-li-onda-da-je-egzistencijalni-umor-rezultat-premalog-a-ne/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [Why? Why does what was beautiful suddenly shatter in hindsight because it concealed dark truths? Why does the memory of years of happy marriage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/why-why-does-what-was-beautiful-suddenly-shatter-in-hindsight-because/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“...if something hurts me, the hurts I suffered back then come back to me, and when I feel guilty, the feelings of guilt return;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/if-something-hurts-me-the-hurts-i-suffered-back-then-come-back-to-me/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“The truth of what one says lies in what one does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/the-truth-of-what-one-says-lies-in-what-one-does/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“When she had fallen asleep on me, and the saw in the yard was quiet, and a blackbird was singing as the colors of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/when-she-had-fallen-asleep-on-me-and-the-saw-in-the-yard-was-quiet/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“To anyone ignorant of history, it would be easy to see ways of life in earlier times simply as ways of life in foreign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/to-anyone-ignorant-of-history-it-would-be-easy-to-see-ways-of-life-in/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“What is it?' 'Nothing,' he said, and put his arm around her. 'You sighed.' 'I'd like to be further along than I am.' She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/what-is-it-nothing-he-said-and-put-his-arm-around-her-you-sighed-i-d/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“But the finger I pointed at her turned back to me. I had loved her. Not only had I loved her, I had chosen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/but-the-finger-i-pointed-at-her-turned-back-to-me-i-had-loved-her-not/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“I wanted to pose myself both tasks - understanding and condemnation. But it was impossible to do both”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/i-wanted-to-pose-myself-both-tasks-understanding-and-condemnation-but/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot-stay-true-because-it-ended/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“I had no one to point at. Certainly not my parents, because I had nothing to accuse them of. The zeal for letting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/i-had-no-one-to-point-at-certainly-not-my-parents-because-i-had/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [Sometimes I had the feeling that all of us in his family were like pets to him. The dog you take for a walk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/sometimes-i-had-the-feeling-that-all-of-us-in-his-family-were-like/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [“There are matters one simply cannot get drawn into, that one must distance oneself from, if the price is not life and limb. هناك أمور لا يمكن للواحد ببساطة أن ينخرط فيها ، يجب على الواحد ان ينحي نفسه عنها ، حتى وإن كان الثمن موته أو بتره.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/there-are-matters-one-simply-cannot-get-drawn-into-that-one-must/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [She was struggling, as she always had struggled, not to show what she could do but to hide what she couldn't do. A life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/she-was-struggling-as-she-always-had-struggled-not-to-show-what-she/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [As an author, you hope for a director and a cast that will make something wonderful out of your book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/as-an-author-you-hope-for-a-director-and-a-cast-that-will-make/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

[Explore all 104 Bernhard Schlink quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

## More Happiness quotes

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/)

[Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/)

> [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/)

[Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/)

> [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/)

[MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/)

> [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/)

[Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/)

> [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/)

[Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/)

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“It was beautiful. 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": "“Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily. Because happiness is only real if it lasts forever? Because things always end painfully if they contained pain, conscious or unconscious, all along? But what is unconscious, unrecognized pain? لا تُخِلص الذاكرة للسعادة حين تكون النهاية مؤلمة. هل لأن السعادة لا تكون إلا لو دامت للأبد ؟ أم لأن الأشياء تنتهي دائماَ بألم فقط، إذا كانت تحوي طوال الوقت بداخلها ألم مُدرك أو غير مُدرك؟ لكن ما هو ذلك الألم الذي لا يُدرك؟”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Bernhard Schlink"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot-stay-true-because-it-ended-2/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Happiness"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot-stay-true-because-it-ended-2/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/bernhard-schlink-3329_happiness_sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot_1159719.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/bernhard-schlink-3329_happiness_sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot_1159719.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/bernhard-schlink-3329_happiness_sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot_1159719.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily. Because happiness is only…” — Bernhard Schlink",
                "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": "Bernhard Schlink",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot-stay-true-because-it-ended-2/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/sometimes-the-memory-of-happiness-cannot-stay-true-because-it-ended-2/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
