---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You didn’t identify with happy people…"
description: "\"“You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in everything, or succeeded in nothing.”\" — É..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c94/douard-lev-10437_failed_you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-an_263101.jpg"
---

#  You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your…

![“You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in everything, or succeeded in nothing.” quote by Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c94/douard-lev-10437_failed_you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-an_263101.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c94/douard-lev-10437_failed_you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-an_263101.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c94/douard-lev-10437_failed_you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-an_263101.jpg)

> ““You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in everything, or succeeded in nothing.””

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

## About This Quote

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

The speaker feels alienated from happiness and projects negativity onto both failures and those who seem to have no success.

**In simple terms:** Feeling disconnected from joy, you blame others.

Key Takeaway

Recognize your projections and seek genuine connection.

Themes

alienation projection self-awareness

Mood

reflective somber

Type

analytical introspective

When to use this quote

- personal relationships
- therapy sessions
- self-reflection
- group dynamics

Key Concepts

psychology identity social perception

Questions to Reflect On

- How does your view of happiness affect your relationships?
- What fears drive your projections?

A Different Perspective

Projection can mask underlying insecurities, limiting growth.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happy people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-people/)

## Related quotes

> [You learn as much from those who have failed as from those who have succeeded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-johnson/you-learn-as-much-from-those-who-have-failed-as-from-those-who-have/)

[Michael Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-johnson/)

> [If someone has failed, that is not a deficiency for me. I think that he has more motivation. I've seen many examples where someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yossi-vardi/if-someone-has-failed-that-is-not-a-deficiency-for-me-i-think-that-he/)

[Yossi Vardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yossi-vardi/)

> [Are you done? If the answer is no, you have neither failed... or succeeded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-jay-taylor/are-you-done-if-the-answer-is-no-you-have-neither-failed-or-succeeded/)

[T Jay Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-jay-taylor/)

> [Don't hate me, at the end of the day I am a reflection of what you wanted to be, but couldn't be, no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debrahlee-lorenzana/don-t-hate-me-at-the-end-of-the-day-i-am-a-reflection-of-what-you/)

Debrahlee Lorenzana

> [I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-have-not-failed-700-times-i-have-not-failed-once-i-have-succeeded/)

[Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/)

> [“I have not failed ten thousand times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those ten thousand ways won’t work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-o-connor/i-have-not-failed-ten-thousand-times-i-have-not-failed-once-i-have/)

[Dave O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-o-connor/)

> [“Let me tell you: where the knife failed, you have succeeded. He is shattered - you have turned out all his lights! You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/let-me-tell-you-where-the-knife-failed-you-have-succeeded-he-is/)

[Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/)

> [It won't be easy, that is why I have always failed where others have succeeded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sellers/it-won-t-be-easy-that-is-why-i-have-always-failed-where-others-have/)

[Peter Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sellers/)

> [“If you don't try to do something, you have failed. If you tried and failed, you have succeeded. If you tried and succeeded, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scotty-mccoy/if-you-don-t-try-to-do-something-you-have-failed-if-you-tried-and/)

Scotty McCoy

> [Happy people look young. You’re really afraid of getting older, aren’t you? You should only be afraid of getting less happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-smith/happy-people-look-young-you-re-really-afraid-of-getting-older-aren-t/)

[Deborah Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-smith/)

> [When you smile and project an aura of warmth, kindness, and friendliness, you will attract warms, kindness, and friendliness. Happy people will be drawn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/when-you-smile-and-project-an-aura-of-warmth-kindness-and/)

[Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/)

> [Happy people plan actions, they don't plan results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happy-people-plan-actions-they-don-t-plan-results/)

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

> [I have seen really happy people in my life sing really well. Yes, when people get fame, then there's depression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atif-aslam/i-have-seen-really-happy-people-in-my-life-sing-really-well-yes-when/)

[Atif Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atif-aslam/)

> [I didn't fit into the Christian college my parents sent me to. I felt tarnished by tragedy, between my brother's death and Escuela Caribe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-scheeres/i-didn-t-fit-into-the-christian-college-my-parents-sent-me-to-i-felt/)

[Julia Scheeres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-scheeres/)

> [“I think everyone does. Even happy people. They may not admit it to anyone, but I think they feel it. I think they close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-carmack/i-think-everyone-does-even-happy-people-they-may-not-admit-it-to/)

[Cora Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-carmack/)

## More by Édouard Levé

> [“Once you confessed to someone that you had been very depressed when dining with her several months earlier. She was stunned, discovering her blindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/once-you-confessed-to-someone-that-you-had-been-very-depressed-when/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried away by the whirling bass, it didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exactly-despite-the-music/)

[Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“Only the living seem incoherent. Death closes the series of events that constitutes their lives. So we resign ourselves to finding a meaning for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-the-living-seem-incoherent-death-closes-the-series-of-events/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“I am slow to notice when someone mistreats me, it’s always so surprising: evil is somehow unreal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-am-slow-to-notice-when-someone-mistreats-me-it-s-always-so/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“You directed toward yourself a violence that you did not feel toward others. For them you reserved all your patience and tolerance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-directed-toward-yourself-a-violence-that-you-did-not-feel-toward/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“I have never attended a nudist funeral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-attended-a-nudist-funeral/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“I want this epitaph engraved on my tombstone: “See you soon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-want-this-epitaph-engraved-on-my-tombstone-see-you-soon/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced only to kill time. But the emptiness that you believed yourself confronted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-had-felt-idle-in-this-city-through-which-you-had-paced-only-to/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“In their beginnings, events preserve the potential that they lose in their completion. Desire prolongs itself so long as it is not achieved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/in-their-beginnings-events-preserve-the-potential-that-they-lose-in/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“I wonder whether anyone besides old people like riot police.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-wonder-whether-anyone-besides-old-people-like-riot-police/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“You were said to have died of suffering. But there was not as much sadness in you as there is now in those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-were-said-to-have-died-of-suffering-but-there-was-not-as-much/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“Only once can I say “I’m dying” without telling a lie. The best day of my life may already be behind me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-once-can-i-say-i-m-dying-without-telling-a-lie-the-best-day-of/)

[Edouard Leve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“I have never considered sleeping with a nun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-considered-sleeping-with-a-nun/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“At a public urinal the presence of a neighbor delays my micturition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/at-a-public-urinal-the-presence-of-a-neighbor-delays-my-micturition/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

> [“When I am coming back from a trip, the best part isn’t going through the airport or getting home, but the taxi ride in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/when-i-am-coming-back-from-a-trip-the-best-part-isn-t-going-through/)

[Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

[Explore all 62 Édouard Levé quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/)

## More Failed quotes

> [ I failed, I think, seven \[or\] eight times before I finally got my first \[championship\]. It was just, you know, just about me growing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/i-failed-i-think-seven-or-eight-times-before-i-finally-got-my-first/)

[Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/)

> [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/)

[George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/)

> [The very first company I started failed with a great bang. The second one failed a little bit less, but still failed. The third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-levchin/the-very-first-company-i-started-failed-with-a-great-bang-the-second/)

[Max Levchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-levchin/)

> [I wanted to be a huge star and I have failed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-otway/i-wanted-to-be-a-huge-star-and-i-have-failed/)

[John Otway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-otway/)

> [When the enemy is driven back, we have failed, and when he is cut off, encircled and dispersed, we have succeeded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-suvorov/when-the-enemy-is-driven-back-we-have-failed-and-when-he-is-cut-off/)

[Alexander Suvorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-suvorov/)

> [“Humility is what you strive for when you've failed at everything else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephan-pastis/humility-is-what-you-strive-for-when-you-ve-failed-at-everything-else/)

[Stephan Pastis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephan-pastis/)

> [Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/paradox-how-do-we-know-what-we-have-failed-to-see-because-we-have-no/)

[Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/)

> [I almost failed out of high school. I nearly gave in to the deep anger and resentment harbored by everyone around me... Whatever talents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance-2/i-almost-failed-out-of-high-school-i-nearly-gave-in-to-the-deep-anger/)

[J. D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance-2/)

> [Actually, I failed drama in high school because of nerves. I wasn't able to memorize the words. I had complete stage fright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-marie/actually-i-failed-drama-in-high-school-because-of-nerves-i-wasn-t/)

[Constance Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-marie/)

> [“WASHINGTON—Citigroup Inc. failed to get Federal Reserve”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/washington-citigroup-inc-failed-to-get-federal-reserve/)

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

> [I tried to go to college; I just picked a trade, did a plumbing test - and failed. And then I thought, 'I may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-campbell/i-tried-to-go-to-college-i-just-picked-a-trade-did-a-plumbing-test/)

[Luke Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-campbell/)

> [When I started out I was a failed actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/when-i-started-out-i-was-a-failed-actor/)

[David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/)

> [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/)

[Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/)

> [Before I was a champion, I failed, and I was afraid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-long/before-i-was-a-champion-i-failed-and-i-was-afraid/)

[Chris Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-long/)

> [Alternative services would mean that there would be services available to compete with Google, Facebook, Amazon, Dropbox, Skype, etc., and they would be run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikko-hypponen/alternative-services-would-mean-that-there-would-be-services/)

[Mikko Hypponen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikko-hypponen/)

Browse all 907 Failed quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in everything, or succeeded in nothing.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Édouard Levé"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-and-in-your-excessiveness-you/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Failed"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-and-in-your-excessiveness-you/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c94/douard-lev-10437_failed_you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-an_263101.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c94/douard-lev-10437_failed_you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-an_263101.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c94/douard-lev-10437_failed_you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-an_263101.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in…” — Édouard Levé",
                "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": "Édouard Levé",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“You didn’t identify with happy people,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-and-in-your-excessiveness-you/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-and-in-your-excessiveness-you/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
