--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As Michael Cunningham would later write…" description: "\"“As Michael Cunningham would later write in his novel The Hours, I thought what I was feeling was the beginning of happiness. In fact, it was happiness..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/david-hare-9074_happiness_as-michael-cunningham-would-later-write_2371045.jpg" --- # As Michael Cunningham would later write in his novel The… ![“As Michael Cunningham would later write in his novel The Hours, I thought what I was feeling was the beginning of happiness. In fact, it was happiness.” quote by David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/david-hare-9074_happiness_as-michael-cunningham-would-later-write_2371045.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/david-hare-9074_happiness_as-michael-cunningham-would-later-write_2371045.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/david-hare-9074_happiness_as-michael-cunningham-would-later-write_2371045.jpg) > ““As Michael Cunningham would later write in his novel The Hours, I thought what I was feeling was the beginning of happiness. In fact, it was happiness.”” [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator realizes that what felt like a hint of joy was actually full happiness. **In simple terms:** Happiness was present, not just beginning. Key Takeaway Recognize present happiness. Themes self‑discovery joy perception Mood contemplative nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - reading - emotional awareness Key Concepts psychology literary reflection Questions to Reflect On - How often do you mistake anticipation for fulfillment? - What signs indicate true happiness? A Different Perspective Happiness may be fleeting and hard to sustain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginning Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning-happiness-496583/) [Cunningham Later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cunningham-later-5839306/) [Feeling Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-beginning-2403362/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michael-cunningham-5839305/) ## Related quotes > [It's a great feeling to be a part of something - see it from beginning to end - and it's a rare thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-strangis/it-s-a-great-feeling-to-be-a-part-of-something-see-it-from-beginning/) [Ralph Strangis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-strangis/) > [I am full of a sense of promise, like I often have: the feeling of always being at the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-arbus/i-am-full-of-a-sense-of-promise-like-i-often-have-the-feeling-of/) [Diane Arbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-arbus/) > [“We are at the end of all our troubles, and at the beginning of happiness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-are-at-the-end-of-all-our-troubles-and-at-the-beginning-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“It had seemed like the beginning of happiness, and Clarissa is still sometimes shocked, more than thirty years later, to realize that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/it-had-seemed-like-the-beginning-of-happiness-and-clarissa-is-still-3/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/the-beginning-of-our-happiness-lies-in-the-understanding-that-life-2/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“It had seemed like the beginning of happiness, and Clarissa is still sometimes shocked, more than thirty years later, to realize that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/it-had-seemed-like-the-beginning-of-happiness-and-clarissa-is-still-2/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/knowledge-of-what-is-possible-is-the-beginning-of-happiness/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [I remember one morning getting up at dawn, there was such a sense of possibility. You know, that feeling? 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Your happiness depends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lockwood-huie/whatever-you-want-in-life-start-today-not-tomorrow-today-let-it-be-a/) [Jonathan Lockwood Huie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lockwood-huie/) > [“I remember one morning... getting up at dawn... there was such a sense of possibility! You know? That feeling? 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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/) ## More by David Hare > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I'm not good at standing on platforms and persuading people to my political point of view. Nor would I seek to. My gift is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-m-not-good-at-standing-on-platforms-and-persuading-people-to-my/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I'm trying to write something in which you know that it's all about sex but you never see any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-m-trying-to-write-something-in-which-you-know-that-it-s-all-about/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [Weak minds sink under prosperity as well as adversity; but strong and deep ones have two high tides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/weak-minds-sink-under-prosperity-as-well-as-adversity-but-strong-and/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [You cant get a contemporary story about what is going on inside government, and how society sees itself, on American TV.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/you-cant-get-a-contemporary-story-about-what-is-going-on-inside/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In oratory the will must predominate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/in-oratory-the-will-must-predominate/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [Trying to be a socialist and a libertarian is obviously a very difficult balancing act, which nobody has pulled off too successfully in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/trying-to-be-a-socialist-and-a-libertarian-is-obviously-a-very/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I actually think love changes everything. I think it's the only thing worth having.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-actually-think-love-changes-everything-i-think-it-s-the-only-thing/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [When you get older, then you feel death not at the end of the road, but death all around you, in everything. Life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/when-you-get-older-then-you-feel-death-not-at-the-end-of-the-road-but/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [My father always said 'There's no free lunch.' My father was right. There's no free lunch and there's no free market. The market is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/my-father-always-said-there-s-no-free-lunch-my-father-was-right-there/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [To those whose God is honor; only disgrace is a sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/to-those-whose-god-is-honor-only-disgrace-is-a-sin/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [Thought is the wind and knowledge the sail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/thought-is-the-wind-and-knowledge-the-sail/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [Surely our job while we're here on Earth is to learn about the world, not to create parallel universes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/surely-our-job-while-we-re-here-on-earth-is-to-learn-about-the-world/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I have a very, very good relationship with 10 percent of the audience. The only purpose of art is intimacy. That's the only point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-have-a-very-very-good-relationship-with-10-percent-of-the-audience/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [“You make love like a wounded panther. You are like a paintshop on fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/you-make-love-like-a-wounded-panther-you-are-like-a-paintshop-on-fire/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) [Explore all 75 David Hare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As Michael Cunningham would later write in his novel The Hours, I thought what I was feeling was the beginning of happiness. 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