---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forgetting wasn’t the same as being…"
description: "\"“Forgetting wasn’t the same as being happy. Being drunk wasn’t the same as forgetting … we were at our most miserable when we’re doing it to ourselves...."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/eleanor-brown-9492_memory_forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happ_1120396.jpg"
---

#  Forgetting wasn’t the same as being happy. Being drunk…

![“Forgetting wasn’t the same as being happy. Being drunk wasn’t the same as forgetting … we were at our most miserable when we’re doing it to ourselves.” quote by Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/eleanor-brown-9492_memory_forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happ_1120396.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/eleanor-brown-9492_memory_forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happ_1120396.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/eleanor-brown-9492_memory_forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happ_1120396.jpg)

> ““Forgetting wasn’t the same as being happy. Being drunk wasn’t the same as forgetting … we were at our most miserable when we’re doing it to ourselves.””

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

## About This Quote

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

Forgetting and drinking are not true happiness; self‑destructive habits bring misery.

**In simple terms:** Drunk or forgetful, we still suffer.

Key Takeaway

Seek genuine happiness, avoid self‑harm.

Themes

addiction mental health self‑destruction happiness self‑awareness

Mood

somber reflective cautious

Type

psychological literary

When to use this quote

- stressful periods
- relationship breakups
- loneliness
- grief

Key Concepts

psychology coping mechanisms emotional regulation

Questions to Reflect On

- What healthier coping strategies can you adopt?
- How does avoidance affect long‑term wellbeing?

A Different Perspective

Self‑harm may seem like relief.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Forgetting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/)

## Related quotes

> [Grief was like a terrible burden, but at least you could lay it down by the side of the road and walk away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamunde-pilcher/grief-was-like-a-terrible-burden-but-at-least-you-could-lay-it-down/)

[Rosamunde Pilcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamunde-pilcher/)

> [“It wasn't the forgetting Caleb didn't like, it was the remembering”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/it-wasn-t-the-forgetting-caleb-didn-t-like-it-was-the-remembering/)

[C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/)

> [“In this journey, it wasn’t her forgetting that broke me. It was the glimpses of her remembering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barb-drummond/in-this-journey-it-wasn-t-her-forgetting-that-broke-me-it-was-the/)

Barb Drummond

> [I will have spent my life trying to understand the function of remembering, which is not the opposite of forgetting, but rather its lining.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-marker/i-will-have-spent-my-life-trying-to-understand-the-function-of/)

[Chris Marker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-marker/)

> [I thought about forgetting about you, but it just never works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-thought-about-forgetting-about-you-but-it-just-never-works/)

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

> [“The struggle of man against power is the struggle  of memory against forgetting. —Milan Kundera       A”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rana-ayyub/the-struggle-of-man-against-power-is-the-struggle-of-memory-against/)

Rana Ayyub

> [That feeling you get when you know you are forgetting something, but you don't know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-feeling-you-get-when-you-know-you-are-forgetting-something-but/)

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

> [“Who was it said, ‘We forget because we must’? He was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/who-was-it-said-we-forget-because-we-must-he-was-right/)

[L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/)

> [“Forgetting is what nature does best. The universe is a huge forgetting machine. It erases information no matter how hard we try to hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-ives-gilman/forgetting-is-what-nature-does-best-the-universe-is-a-huge-forgetting/)

Carolyn Ives Gilman

> [“Keeping histories is as much about knowing what needs forgetting as what ought to be remembered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-bobet/keeping-histories-is-as-much-about-knowing-what-needs-forgetting-as/)

[Leah Bobet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-bobet/)

> [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/)

[Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/)

> [I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-focus-on-this-one-thing-forgetting-the-past-and-looking-forward-to/)

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

> [The most painful thing in life is losing yourself in the process of valuing someone too much & forgetting that you are special too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-painful-thing-in-life-is-losing-yourself-in-the-process-of/)

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

> [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/)

[Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/)

## More by Eleanor Brown

> [There is no problem a library card can't solve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/there-is-no-problem-a-library-card-can-t-solve/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“But Rose learned an important lesson: people don't always do what you tell them to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/but-rose-learned-an-important-lesson-people-don-t-always-do-what-you/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“She remembered one of her boyfriends asking, offhandedly, how many books she read in a year. "A few hundred," she said. "How do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/she-remembered-one-of-her-boyfriends-asking-offhandedly-how-many/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“Sisters keep secrets. Because sisters' secrets are swords.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/sisters-keep-secrets-because-sisters-secrets-are-swords/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“Instead, we'd do what we always did, the only thing we'd ever been dependably stellar at: we'd read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/instead-we-d-do-what-we-always-did-the-only-thing-we-d-ever-been/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“Here's one of the problems with communicating in the words of a man who is not around to explain himself: it's damn hard sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/here-s-one-of-the-problems-with-communicating-in-the-words-of-a-man/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“Yes, you'd make a great partner for him. What with the embezzling and the adultery and the drinking. That's what every man wants in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/yes-you-d-make-a-great-partner-for-him-what-with-the-embezzling-and/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“Oh honey, we’re all fuckups in our own special ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/oh-honey-we-re-all-fuckups-in-our-own-special-ways/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“This conversation, you will not be surprised to know, was the impetus for their breakup, given that it caused her to realize the emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/this-conversation-you-will-not-be-surprised-to-know-was-the-impetus/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“We don't just come from the womb bearing our talents. They grow from all the things we learn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-don-t-just-come-from-the-womb-bearing-our-talents-they-grow-from/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“Despite his money and his looks and all the good-on-paper attributes he possessed, he was not a reader, and, well, let's just say that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/despite-his-money-and-his-looks-and-all-the-good-on-paper-attributes/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“And the baby would never know what it meant to hate Barnwell so deeply that she couldn't help but return to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/and-the-baby-would-never-know-what-it-meant-to-hate-barnwell-so/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“We've all done foolish, foolish things, dear. In my experience, good people punish themselves far more than any external body can manage. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-ve-all-done-foolish-foolish-things-dear-in-my-experience-good/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [“We all have stories we tell ourselves. We tell ourselves we are too fat, or too ugly, or too old, or too foolish. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-all-have-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell-ourselves-we-are-too/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

> [Every room has a mood or personality...and it is this that one desires to develop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/every-room-has-a-mood-or-personality-and-it-is-this-that-one-desires/)

[Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

[Explore all 67 Eleanor Brown quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/)

## More Forgetting quotes

> [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/)

[Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/)

> [The most painful thing in life is losing yourself in the process of valuing someone too much & forgetting that you are special too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-painful-thing-in-life-is-losing-yourself-in-the-process-of/)

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

> [I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-focus-on-this-one-thing-forgetting-the-past-and-looking-forward-to/)

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

> [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/)

[Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/)

> [If you can't forgive and forget, pick only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-brault/if-you-can-t-forgive-and-forget-pick-only-one/)

[Robert Brault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-brault/)

> [Absolute is a game with only one player where Absolute forgets itself so it would have a reason to fulfill the motion while returning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/absolute-is-a-game-with-only-one-player-where-absolute-forgets-itself/)

[Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/)

> [“Several times that day, the name or thought of Papa had come up. And each time, Francie had felt a flash of tenderness instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/several-times-that-day-the-name-or-thought-of-papa-had-come-up-and/)

[Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/)

> [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/falling-out-of-love-is-chiefly-a-matter-of-forgetting-how-charming/)

[Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/)

> [“She's sure, absolutely sure, that what she's waiting for will happen, just the way she wants it to; and I'm so uncertain, so fearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/she-s-sure-absolutely-sure-that-what-she-s-waiting-for-will-happen/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [Im afraid of being forgotten. Because, it seems everyone I get close to, ends up forgetting me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/im-afraid-of-being-forgotten-because-it-seems-everyone-i-get-close-to/)

[Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/)

> [“Keeping histories is as much about knowing what needs forgetting as what ought to be remembered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-bobet/keeping-histories-is-as-much-about-knowing-what-needs-forgetting-as/)

[Leah Bobet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-bobet/)

> [“Forgetting is what nature does best. The universe is a huge forgetting machine. It erases information no matter how hard we try to hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-ives-gilman/forgetting-is-what-nature-does-best-the-universe-is-a-huge-forgetting/)

Carolyn Ives Gilman

> [“Who was it said, ‘We forget because we must’? He was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/who-was-it-said-we-forget-because-we-must-he-was-right/)

[L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/)

> [Moving on isnt forgetting the past, its learning from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/moving-on-isnt-forgetting-the-past-its-learning-from-it/)

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

[Browse all 1,010 Forgetting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Forgetting wasn’t the same as being happy. Being drunk wasn’t the same as forgetting … we were at our most miserable when we’re doing it to ourselves.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Eleanor Brown"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happy-being-drunk-wasn-t-the-same/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Forgetting"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happy-being-drunk-wasn-t-the-same/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/eleanor-brown-9492_memory_forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happ_1120396.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/eleanor-brown-9492_memory_forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happ_1120396.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/eleanor-brown-9492_memory_forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happ_1120396.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Forgetting wasn’t the same as being happy. Being drunk wasn’t the same as forgetting … we were at our most…” — Eleanor Brown",
                "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": "Eleanor Brown",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Forgetting wasn’t the same as being...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happy-being-drunk-wasn-t-the-same/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/forgetting-wasn-t-the-same-as-being-happy-being-drunk-wasn-t-the-same/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```