--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We're not meant for happiness, you and I." description: "\"We're not meant for happiness, you and I.\" — Daphne du Maurier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/daphne-du-maurier-1185_happiness_we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i_728584.png" --- # We're not meant for happiness, you and I. ![“We're not meant for happiness, you and I.” quote by Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/daphne-du-maurier-1185_happiness_we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i_728584.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/daphne-du-maurier-1185_happiness_we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i_728584.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/daphne-du-maurier-1185_happiness_we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i_728584.png) > “We're not meant for happiness, you and I.” [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She suggests that happiness is elusive for the characters, implying a tragic or resigned worldview. **In simple terms:** They believe they cannot achieve happiness. Key Takeaway Accept that some longing may be unattainable. Themes love loss destiny Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - marriage - family dynamics - personal ambition Key Concepts existentialism romantic tragedy Questions to Reflect On - What prevents characters from finding joy? - Can acceptance be a form of peace? A Different Perspective Hope can be a coping mechanism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [“I'd been in love, and I'd meant it- the happiness, the lust, the peace... I'd felt all of those things. Once. ... But maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/i-d-been-in-love-and-i-d-meant-it-the-happiness-the-lust-the-peace-i/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [“Not everyone’s meant to have happiness, Anna. Some of us are meant for the dark.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-a-valentine/not-everyone-s-meant-to-have-happiness-anna-some-of-us-are-meant-for/) [Michelle A. Valentine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-a-valentine/) > [“I should have known that I wasn't meant for happiness and a life of ease. I have other work to do in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-should-have-known-that-i-wasn-t-meant-for-happiness-and-a-life-of/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“Oh, you knew exactly what I meant. Not that happiness is dull. Only that it doesn't tell well. And one of our consuming diversions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/oh-you-knew-exactly-what-i-meant-not-that-happiness-is-dull-only-that/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Man is meant for happiness and this happiness is in him, in the satisfaction of the daily needs of his existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/man-is-meant-for-happiness-and-this-happiness-is-in-him-in-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I think joy is just as instructive as pain, and I like it better. I never meant to suffer any more than I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/i-think-joy-is-just-as-instructive-as-pain-and-i-like-it-better-i/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“You deserve better." Mercifully, he kept eating as he spoke. "You've got to stop thinking of me that way. When it's just you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiera-cass/you-deserve-better-mercifully-he-kept-eating-as-he-spoke-you-ve-got/) [Kiera Cass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiera-cass/) > [“Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what it means. I've never heard of bonds sharing languages either, and yet...' I pull her even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-messenger/yeah-i-m-just-trying-to-figure-out-what-it-means-i-ve-never-heard-of/) [Shannon Messenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-messenger/) > [If its meant to be, it will be. End of story. Im not chasing you if you're chasing after someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-its-meant-to-be-it-will-be-end-of-story-im-not-chasing-you-if-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If its meant to be it will be. if not...Let it ride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-its-meant-to-be-it-will-be-if-not-let-it-ride/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Marriage is meant to be more about your surrender than about your satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-means/marriage-is-meant-to-be-more-about-your-surrender-than-about-your/) Scott Means > [Silly me, for a while I thought I actually meant something to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/silly-me-for-a-while-i-thought-i-actually-meant-something-to-someone/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“Michael shook his head. "So what's on your good list?" Oh you know. Hero stuff that gets me rerun on CNN. Like, I died…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-collins/michael-shook-his-head-so-what-s-on-your-good-list-oh-you-know-hero/) Shane Collins > [When I was 13, I began relaxing my hair, and that meant when I turned 18 it began to crack and fall off, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soledad-o-brien/when-i-was-13-i-began-relaxing-my-hair-and-that-meant-when-i-turned/) [Soledad O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soledad-o-brien/) > [If we are meant to be, no matter what, no matter how long it takes, we will be together. So I hope that at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ely/if-we-are-meant-to-be-no-matter-what-no-matter-how-long-it-takes-we/) [Ely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ely/) ## More by Daphne du Maurier > [He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-lacked-tenderness-he-was-rude-and-he-had-more-than-a-streak-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“You understand now... how simple life becomes when things like mirrors are forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-understand-now-how-simple-life-becomes-when-things-like-mirrors/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [I could fight with the living but I could not fight the dead. If there was some woman in London that Maxim loved, someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/i-could-fight-with-the-living-but-i-could-not-fight-the-dead-if-there/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [It wouldn't make for sanity would it, living with the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/it-wouldn-t-make-for-sanity-would-it-living-with-the-devil/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“The only time I got into trouble was when I forged M's signature on the weekly report we had to take home every Friday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/the-only-time-i-got-into-trouble-was-when-i-forged-m-s-signature-on/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Women want love to be a novel, men a short story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/women-want-love-to-be-a-novel-men-a-short-story/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“We all of us have our particular devil who ruses us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/we-all-of-us-have-our-particular-devil-who-ruses-us-and-torments-us/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Happy in his silence yet eager for his words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/happy-in-his-silence-yet-eager-for-his-words/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“There have been men in arid deserts where the sun has so disfigured them that they have become things of horror – parched and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/there-have-been-men-in-arid-deserts-where-the-sun-has-so-disfigured/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Packing up. The nagging worry of departure. When shutting drawers and flinging wide an hotel wardrobe, or the impersonal shelves of a furnished villa,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/packing-up-the-nagging-worry-of-departure-when-shutting-drawers-and/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“And perhaps one day, in after years, someone would wander there and listen to the silence, as she had done, and catch the whisper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/and-perhaps-one-day-in-after-years-someone-would-wander-there-and/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“You thought I was mad. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I am. It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/you-thought-i-was-mad-perhaps-i-was-perhaps-i-am-it-doesn-t-make-for/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“many impressions to seize and hold, familiar loved façades, balconies, windows, water lapping the cellar steps of decaying palaces, the little red house where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/many-impressions-to-seize-and-hold-familiar-loved-fa-ades-balconies/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [People who travel are always fugitives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/people-who-travel-are-always-fugitives/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) [Explore all 269 Daphne du Maurier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) ## 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": "We're not meant for happiness, you and I.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Daphne du Maurier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/daphne-du-maurier-1185_happiness_we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i_728584.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/daphne-du-maurier-1185_happiness_we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i_728584.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/daphne-du-maurier-1185_happiness_we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i_728584.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We're not meant for happiness, you and I.” — Daphne du Maurier", "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": "Daphne du Maurier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We're not meant for happiness, you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/we-re-not-meant-for-happiness-you-and-i/#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 } } ] } ```