--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man's real life is happy, chiefly because…" description: "\"Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.\" — Edgar Allan Poe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/edgar-allan-poe-315_happiest_man-s-real-life-is-happy-chiefly-because_589202.jpg" --- # Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever… ![“Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.” quote by Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/edgar-allan-poe-315_happiest_man-s-real-life-is-happy-chiefly-because_589202.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/edgar-allan-poe-315_happiest_man-s-real-life-is-happy-chiefly-because_589202.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/edgar-allan-poe-315_happiest_man-s-real-life-is-happy-chiefly-because_589202.jpg) > “Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.” [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Optimism about future happiness drives present contentment. **In simple terms:** Hope for future happiness makes life feel happy now. Key Takeaway Cultivate hopeful expectations. Themes optimism contentment future hope mindset Mood hopeful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily life - stress management - goal setting - mental health - relationship building Key Concepts psychology positive expectation well‑being Questions to Reflect On - What future outcome are you counting on? - How does hope affect your daily mood? A Different Perspective Hope can lead to complacency if reality is ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) ## Related quotes > [I'm a very serious man in real life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajpal-yadav/i-m-a-very-serious-man-in-real-life/) [Rajpal Yadav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajpal-yadav/) > [A man's real life is that accorded to him in the thoughts of other men by reason of respect or natural love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-man-s-real-life-is-that-accorded-to-him-in-the-thoughts-of-other/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I mean, I’m quite happy. I’m happy in all aspects of my life. I'm very happy in all aspects of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-mean-i-m-quite-happy-i-m-happy-in-all-aspects-of-my-life-i-m-very/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [A man, a real man, a 'wonderful man,' will be too busy protecting your heart to play with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-a-real-man-a-wonderful-man-will-be-too-busy-protecting-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A man's real possession is his memory. In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-smith/a-man-s-real-possession-is-his-memory-in-nothing-else-is-he-rich-in/) [Alexander Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-smith/) > [A brave man, a real fighter is not measured by how many times he falls, but how many times he stands up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rickson-gracie/a-brave-man-a-real-fighter-is-not-measured-by-how-many-times-he-falls/) [Rickson Gracie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rickson-gracie/) > [Man's real home is not a house, but the Road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/man-s-real-home-is-not-a-house-but-the-road-and-that-life-itself-is-a/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [But remember what drives a man; real men do what they have to do to make sure their people are taken care of, clothed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-harvey/but-remember-what-drives-a-man-real-men-do-what-they-have-to-do-to/) [Steve Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-harvey/) > [A Real Man is real, honesty, dependable and willing to do things for the ones he loves because he loves them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enhance-dreams/a-real-man-is-real-honesty-dependable-and-willing-to-do-things-for/) Enhance Dreams > [Man, you cannot be real," the human said softly. "Why not?" "You just can't." She laughed a little. "Well, I am." He cleared his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/man-you-cannot-be-real-the-human-said-softly-why-not-you-just-can-t/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [The chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/the-chief-proof-of-man-s-real-greatness-lies-in-his-perception-of-his/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [A man's real belief is that which he lives by. What a man believes is the thing he does, not the thing he thinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-man-s-real-belief-is-that-which-he-lives-by-what-a-man-believes-is/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“If it has to be done, a man—a real man—shoots his own dog himself; he doesn’t”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-it-has-to-be-done-a-man-a-real-man-shoots-his-own-dog-himself-he/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“A real man—real in all the ways that we recognize as real—finds himself suddenly abstracted from the world and deposited in a physical situation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-donaldson/a-real-man-real-in-all-the-ways-that-we-recognize-as-real-finds/) [Stephen R. Donaldson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-donaldson/) > [The man who is in real danger is the man who thinks he is perfectly safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-barrie/the-man-who-is-in-real-danger-is-the-man-who-thinks-he-is-perfectly/) [James M. Barrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-barrie/) ## More by Edgar Allan Poe > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-vilify-a-great-man-is-the-readiest-way-in-which-a-little-man-can/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-skillful-literary-artist-has-constructed-a-tale-if-wise-he-has-not/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-eyes-we-have-no-models-in-the-remotely-antique/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/during-the-whole-of-a-dull-dark-and-soundless-day-in-the-autumn-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/those-who-dream-by-day-are-cognizant-of-many-things-that-escape-those/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-have-said-that-the-sole-effect-of-my-somewhat-childish-experiment/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Other friends have flown before — On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/other-friends-have-flown-before-on-the-morrow-he-will-leave-me-as-my/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“To the right and left, as far as the eye could reach, there lay outstretched, like ramparts of the world, lines of horridly black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-the-right-and-left-as-far-as-the-eye-could-reach-there-lay/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Men die nightly in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors ... on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-die-nightly-in-their-beds-wringing-the-hands-of-ghostly/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-the-raven-never-flitting-still-is-sitting-still-is-sitting-on-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-was-forced-to-fall-back-upon-the-unsatisfactory-conclusion-that/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but i feel the bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-the-moon-never-beams-without-bringing-me-dreams-of-the-beautiful/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) [Explore all 615 Edgar Allan Poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More Happiest quotes > [“Truth is, I’m generally happiest when it’s just me. It’s okay to be madly in love with yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/truth-is-i-m-generally-happiest-when-it-s-just-me-it-s-okay-to-be/) [Richelle E. 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Was that the true test of love?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/the-happiest-she-d-ever-been-was-with-him-and-the-saddest-was-that/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [“My family was poor, but my childhood days in Mizonokuchi were the happiest of my life. Even now, when I think about my hometown,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/my-family-was-poor-but-my-childhood-days-in-mizonokuchi-were-the/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/the-happiest-people-in-the-world-are-those-who-feel-absolutely/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [“She loves the sun and the sea. 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