--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I usually describe my father as a man…" description: "\"“I usually describe my father as a man given to impenetrable solitude. If I turn the phrase I can apply it to Johnny. Impenetrable happiness. For a lon..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/elizabeth-hay-22753_father_i-usually-describe-my-father-as-a-man-gi_1458709.png" --- # I usually describe my father as a man given to… ![“I usually describe my father as a man given to impenetrable solitude. If I turn the phrase I can apply it to Johnny. Impenetrable happiness. For a long time I couldn't enter his life because his happiness, or appearance of happiness - his unending smiles - locked the door. An ingenious strategy…” quote by Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/elizabeth-hay-22753_father_i-usually-describe-my-father-as-a-man-gi_1458709.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/elizabeth-hay-22753_father_i-usually-describe-my-father-as-a-man-gi_1458709.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/elizabeth-hay-22753_father_i-usually-describe-my-father-as-a-man-gi_1458709.png) > ““I usually describe my father as a man given to impenetrable solitude. If I turn the phrase I can apply it to Johnny. Impenetrable happiness. For a long time I couldn't enter his life because his happiness, or appearance of happiness - his unending smiles - locked the door. An ingenious strategy, to surround the thorns with a castle.”” [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote portrays a father whose deep, seemingly impenetrable happiness creates an emotional barrier, making it hard for others to connect with him. **In simple terms:** A man’s intense happiness can isolate him from others. Key Takeaway Recognize that outward joy may hide inner distance. Themes family isolation emotional barriers perception relationships Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type literary psychological insightful When to use this quote - parent‑child relationships - friendship building - mental health counseling - creative writing - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology emotional intelligence family dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern true feelings behind a smile? - What can you do to gently breach emotional walls? A Different Perspective Even a happy exterior can conceal loneliness, limiting genuine connection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Given Impenetrable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-impenetrable-5264895/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Impenetrable Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impenetrable-happiness-5264892/) [Impenetrable Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impenetrable-solitude-5264893/) [Johnny Impenetrable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/johnny-impenetrable-5264894/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) ## Related quotes > [“Nevertheless, in the impenetrable solitude of decrepitude she had such a clairvoyance as she examined the most insignificant happenings in the family that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/nevertheless-in-the-impenetrable-solitude-of-decrepitude-she-had-such/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“Seclusion wasn't good for anyone; it made you forget how to protect yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-james/seclusion-wasn-t-good-for-anyone-it-made-you-forget-how-to-protect/) [Heather James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-james/) > [“Well…there’s only one glove. 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Solitude will transmit the message better than the murmurs of crowds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-roerich/cease-speaking-of-enemies-when-an-achievement-can-kindle-a-great/) [Nicholas Roerich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-roerich/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“The journey towards your inner self is Solitude!!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farheen-viquas/the-journey-towards-your-inner-self-is-solitude/) [Farheen Viquas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farheen-viquas/) > [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“...the solitude was intoxicating. On my first night there I lay on my back on the sticky carpet for hours, in the murky orange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-french/the-solitude-was-intoxicating-on-my-first-night-there-i-lay-on-my/) [Tana French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-french/) > [By all means use some time to be alone, salute thyself, see what thy soul doth wear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/by-all-means-use-some-time-to-be-alone-salute-thyself-see-what-thy/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [“Point is, that’s when I really realized that I don’t think like most people. I’m fine with solitude. In fact, I get antsy when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-e-taylor/point-is-that-s-when-i-really-realized-that-i-don-t-think-like-most/) [Dennis E. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-e-taylor/) > [You will not find a soulmate in the quiet of your room. You must go to a noisy place and look in the quiet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/you-will-not-find-a-soulmate-in-the-quiet-of-your-room-you-must-go-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“I still love to love my friends, but I punctuate those moments with solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-klein/i-still-love-to-love-my-friends-but-i-punctuate-those-moments-with/) [Stephanie Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-klein/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“How can you make an informed decision about whether to save the world if you never leave your tiny part of it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-david-hutchinson/how-can-you-make-an-informed-decision-about-whether-to-save-the-world/) [Shaun David Hutchinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-david-hutchinson/) > [“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. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) ## More by Elizabeth Hay > [“You see the same plain landscape day after day, and then one day, perhaps it's the play of light or the time of year,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/you-see-the-same-plain-landscape-day-after-day-and-then-one-day/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [“What we lose is any sense that life is alive, she thought. The days follow one after the other and everything passes us by.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/what-we-lose-is-any-sense-that-life-is-alive-she-thought-the-days/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [“You're brave to have driven all this way." Gwen considered for a moment whether this made her brave. 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We go on and on through the long months of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/the-phrase-that-came-to-her-mind-was-the-long-and-sudden-of-i-we-go/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [“Who's to say we can't have many loves and many identities? we can hold more in our heads than we think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/who-s-to-say-we-can-t-have-many-loves-and-many-identities-we-can-hold/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [ “Oh Harry," \[Gwen\] said. "I wish I were a different kind of person." What kind of person, he wanted to know. "Someone," she said… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/oh-harry-gwen-said-i-wish-i-were-a-different-kind-of-person-what-kind/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [You stand next to the sea and you're in touch with all your longings and all your losses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/you-stand-next-to-the-sea-and-you-re-in-touch-with-all-your-longings/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [A child lies like a grey pebble on the shore until a certain teacher picks him up and dips him in water, and suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/a-child-lies-like-a-grey-pebble-on-the-shore-until-a-certain-teacher/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [“That's always the question. How to defend yourself without being nasty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/that-s-always-the-question-how-to-defend-yourself-without-being-nasty/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [“You stay loyal to what increasingly disappoints you. It happens all the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/you-stay-loyal-to-what-increasingly-disappoints-you-it-happens-all/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [“This is the way of long and empty roads: nearly forgotten things surface and singing voices improve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/this-is-the-way-of-long-and-empty-roads-nearly-forgotten-things/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [And when is it ever convincing, the belief others have in your abilities? You know perfectly well they can't see the mess inside you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/and-when-is-it-ever-convincing-the-belief-others-have-in-your/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) > [“And then he only had eyes for the pie. Watch any man, he could be ninety years old and drooling spit, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hay/and-then-he-only-had-eyes-for-the-pie-watch-any-man-he-could-be/) [Elizabeth Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) [Explore all 27 Elizabeth Hay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hay/) ## More Father quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [My parents were not musical, and they were not effervescent people; everything was very quiet. The music that I played was loud; it used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/my-parents-were-not-musical-and-they-were-not-effervescent-people/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [“My father called twice and left a voicemail—who does that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-erickson/my-father-called-twice-and-left-a-voicemail-who-does-that/) [Megan Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-erickson/) > [My father longed for a better life for us, and when I was nine he got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-melua/my-father-longed-for-a-better-life-for-us-and-when-i-was-nine-he-got/) [Katie Melua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-melua/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [The old men of the village of Mahotière say that the Mistress of the Water is a mulatto woman. At midnight she comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/the-old-men-of-the-village-of-mahoti-re-say-that-the-mistress-of-the/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) > [“I don’t know. We all have to bear things, Ari. All of us. Your father has to bear the war and what it did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-know-we-all-have-to-bear-things-ari-all-of-us-your-father-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This was, I sometimes thought, the last gift my father gave me. 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They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 19,784 Father quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I usually describe my father as a man given to impenetrable solitude. If I turn the phrase I can apply it to Johnny. Impenetrable happiness. For a long time I couldn't enter his life because his happiness, or appearance of happiness - his unending smiles - locked the door. 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