--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was once in man a true happiness of…" description: "\"There was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/blaise-pascal-167_absent_there-was-once-in-man-a-true-happiness-o_373811.jpg" --- # There was once in man a true happiness of which there now… ![“There was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present.” quote by Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/blaise-pascal-167_absent_there-was-once-in-man-a-true-happiness-o_373811.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/blaise-pascal-167_absent_there-was-once-in-man-a-true-happiness-o_373811.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/blaise-pascal-167_absent_there-was-once-in-man-a-true-happiness-o_373811.jpg) > “There was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present.” [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human longing for fulfillment persists despite emptiness; we chase absent solutions while ignoring present blessings. **In simple terms:** People seek missing pieces elsewhere. Key Takeaway Appreciate present gifts instead of chasing emptiness. Themes longing emptiness search for meaning Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - mental health - spiritual practice - goal setting Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What present aspects are you overlooking? - How can you find contentment now? A Different Perspective Focusing on lack can cause chronic dissatisfaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absent/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Empty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Remain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-remain-1714370/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mark/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeking/) [Seeking Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeking-things-784908/) [Surroundings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surroundings/) [True happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-happiness/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Vain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vain/) ## Related quotes > [“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/all-men-seek-happiness-this-is-without-exception-whatever-different/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [All I can guarantee you is that as long as you are searching for happiness, you will remain unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u-g-krishnamurti/all-i-can-guarantee-you-is-that-as-long-as-you-are-searching-for/) [U.G. Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/u-g-krishnamurti/) > [Happiness should always remain a bit incomplete. After all, dreams are boundless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-karpov/happiness-should-always-remain-a-bit-incomplete-after-all-dreams-are/) [Anatoly Karpov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-karpov/) > [“Listen: I am ideally happy. My happiness is a kind of challenge. As I wander along the streets and the squares and the paths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/listen-i-am-ideally-happy-my-happiness-is-a-kind-of-challenge-as-i/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-black/it-is-the-paradox-of-life-that-the-way-to-miss-pleasure-is-to-seek-it-3/) [Hugh Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-black/) > [I'm not one of those people who as a writer lets my characters tell me what they want to do or call to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/i-m-not-one-of-those-people-who-as-a-writer-lets-my-characters-tell/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [“Don’t waste your time seeking things you can’t see, just love what you have and enjoy being free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-chomany/don-t-waste-your-time-seeking-things-you-can-t-see-just-love-what-you/) [Robert Chomany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-chomany/) > [“You'll have less heartaches and disappointments if you stop seeking from others the things ONLY God and you can give yourself!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-pierre/you-ll-have-less-heartaches-and-disappointments-if-you-stop-seeking/) [Yvonne Pierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-pierre/) > [We are always seeking for those things which are in the clouds, not for those that lie at our feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/we-are-always-seeking-for-those-things-which-are-in-the-clouds-not/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Nothing - not prestige, power or pride - is worth sacrificing the things that you truly want, the things that you truly love. "Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-jackson/nothing-not-prestige-power-or-pride-is-worth-sacrificing-the-things/) [Brenda Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-jackson/) > [But while everything around us seems to be in a constant state of flux- people at their very core remained exactly the same. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-noel/but-while-everything-around-us-seems-to-be-in-a-constant-state-of/) [Alyson Noel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-noel/) > [I wait for good opportunities to come up to do stuff; I'm not seeking things. I'm quite busy in the meantime, but if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-fox/i-wait-for-good-opportunities-to-come-up-to-do-stuff-i-m-not-seeking/) [Michael J. Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-fox/) > [The consciousness of the falsity of present pleasures, and the ignorance of the vanity of absent pleasures, cause inconstancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-consciousness-of-the-falsity-of-present-pleasures-and-the/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [After experience had taught me that all the usual surroundings of social life are vain and futile; seeing that none of the objects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/after-experience-had-taught-me-that-all-the-usual-surroundings-of/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [If laying aside all worldly Greatness and Vain-Glory, I should be ask'd where I thought it was most probable that Men might enjoy true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/if-laying-aside-all-worldly-greatness-and-vain-glory-i-should-be-ask/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) ## More by Blaise Pascal > [“Do they think that they have given us great pleasure by telling us that they hold our soul to be no more than wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/do-they-think-that-they-have-given-us-great-pleasure-by-telling-us/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-should-be-in-eloquence-that-which-is-pleasing-and-that-which-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The method of not erring is sought by all the world. The logicians profess to guide it, the geometricians alone attain it, and apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-method-of-not-erring-is-sought-by-all-the-world-the-logicians/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [When we read too fast or too slowly, we understand nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/when-we-read-too-fast-or-too-slowly-we-understand-nothing/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Mahomet established a religion by putting his enemies to death; Jesus Christ by commanding his followers to lay down their lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/mahomet-established-a-religion-by-putting-his-enemies-to-death-jesus/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Reflect on death as in Jesus Christ, not as without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ it is dreadful, it is alarming, it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/reflect-on-death-as-in-jesus-christ-not-as-without-jesus-christ/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest." And that is not true. Others say, "Go out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-stoics-say-retire-within-yourselves-it-is-there-you-will-find/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Happiness can be found neither in ourselves nor in external things, but in God and in ourselves as united to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/happiness-can-be-found-neither-in-ourselves-nor-in-external-things/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Amusement that is excessive and followed only for its own sake, allures and deceives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/amusement-that-is-excessive-and-followed-only-for-its-own-sake/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Rivers are highways that move on and bear us whither we wish to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/rivers-are-highways-that-move-on-and-bear-us-whither-we-wish-to-go/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. We seek happiness, and find only misery and death. We cannot but desire truth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-desire-truth-and-find-within-ourselves-only-uncertainty-we-seek/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Vanity is illustrated in the cause and effect of love, as in the case of Cleopatra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/vanity-is-illustrated-in-the-cause-and-effect-of-love-as-in-the-case/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“There is no denying it; one must admit that there is something astonishing about Christianity. 'It is because you were born in it,' they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-is-no-denying-it-one-must-admit-that-there-is-something/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Imagination is the deceptive part in man, the mistress of error and falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/imagination-is-the-deceptive-part-in-man-the-mistress-of-error-and/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-majority-is-the-best-way-because-it-is-visible-and-has-strength/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Explore all 988 Blaise Pascal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## More Absent quotes > [Majority decisions tend to be made without engaging the systematic thought and critical thinking skills of the individuals in the group. 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Measure and symmetry are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/if-measure-and-symmetry-are-absent-from-any-composition-in-any-degree/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“You may not appreciate the presence of good health, but you will definitely regret the absence of good health, because health is happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/you-may-not-appreciate-the-presence-of-good-health-but-you-will/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [... if we are ashamed to imitate our Lord's sufferings, which He endured for us, and to suffer as He suffered, it is obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/symeon-the-new-theologian/if-we-are-ashamed-to-imitate-our-lord-s-sufferings-which-he-endured/) [Symeon the New Theologian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/symeon-the-new-theologian/) > [It's Simon, he's missing." Ahh." said Magnus delicately "Missing what exactly?" Missing!" 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