--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But happiness is a difficult thing-it is…" description: "\"“But happiness is a difficult thing-it is, as Aristotle posited in The Nicomachean Ethics, an activity, is is about good social behavior, about being a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_cotton-candy_but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is_1600859.png" --- # But happiness is a difficult thing-it is, as Aristotle… ![“But happiness is a difficult thing-it is, as Aristotle posited in The Nicomachean Ethics, an activity, is is about good social behavior, about being a solid citizen. Happiness is about community, intimacy, relationships, rootedness, closeness, family, stability, a sense of place, a feeling of…” quote by Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_cotton-candy_but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is_1600859.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_cotton-candy_but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is_1600859.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_cotton-candy_but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is_1600859.png) > ““But happiness is a difficult thing-it is, as Aristotle posited in The Nicomachean Ethics, an activity, is is about good social behavior, about being a solid citizen. Happiness is about community, intimacy, relationships, rootedness, closeness, family, stability, a sense of place, a feeling of love. And in this country, where people move from state to state and city to city so much, where rootlessness is almost a virtue ("anywhere I hang my hat...is someone else's home"), where family units regularly implode and leave behind fragments of divorce, where the long loneliness of life finds its antidote not in a hardy, ancient culture (as it would in Europe), not in some blood-deep tribal rites (as it would in the few still-hale Third World nations), but in our vast repository of pop culture, of consumer goods, of cotton candy for all-in this America, happiness is hard.”” [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness is rooted in stable community ties and meaningful relationships, not in transient consumer culture. **In simple terms:** Happiness needs community and stability. Key Takeaway Cultivate lasting relationships and a sense of place. Themes community relationships stability culture rootlessness Mood reflective melancholic hopeful Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - family life - urban living - career - moving cities - social media use Key Concepts Aristotelian ethics social capital modern alienation consumerism Questions to Reflect On - How can you build deeper community ties in a mobile society? - What role does consumer culture play in your sense of fulfillment? A Different Perspective Happiness may be elusive when societal norms value mobility over rootedness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-happiness-6087622/) [Citizen Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citizen-happiness-6087623/) [Cotton candy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cotton-candy/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-community-1674437/) [Happiness Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-difficult-640147/) [Happiness Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-hard-919334/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Nicomachean ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nicomachean-ethics/) [Pop culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pop-culture/) [Sense of place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-place/) [Social behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-behavior/) [Third world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/third-world/) ## Related quotes > [All around the country, individuals are choosing to redefine their lives and the pursuit of happiness in ways much closer to the original notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/all-around-the-country-individuals-are-choosing-to-redefine-their/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [After initial needs are met—enough food, shelter, comfort—there is no correlation between money and happiness. That's a difficult thing for people to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/after-initial-needs-are-met-enough-food-shelter-comfort-there-is-no/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [Happiness may be difficult to obtain. The obstacles are not primarily financial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/happiness-may-be-difficult-to-obtain-the-obstacles-are-not-primarily/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“And because questions of beauty and happiness have become such difficult and convoluted propositions for me now, I suspect, I find myself clinging instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-because-questions-of-beauty-and-happiness-have-become-such/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our predicament is not the difficulty of attaining happiness, but the difficult of avoiding the misery to which the pursuit of happiness exposes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/our-predicament-is-not-the-difficulty-of-attaining-happiness-but-the/) [Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/) > [“counterpart. If something is lacking in your perspective—if something is missing in your heart—then despite the most luxurious surroundings, you cannot be happy. However,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama-xiv/counterpart-if-something-is-lacking-in-your-perspective-if-something/) [Dalai Lama XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama-xiv/) > [“If someone offered the chance to be happy for the rest of your life, everyone in the room will bid, but what they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rksj-rohit-kumar-singh-jadon/if-someone-offered-the-chance-to-be-happy-for-the-rest-of-your-life/) [RKSJ(Rohit Kumar Singh Jadon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rksj-rohit-kumar-singh-jadon/) > [“...he said:"To love, we need passion, but also respect. Once, someone told me that all you needed to build lasting happiness was a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thu-huong-duong/he-said-to-love-we-need-passion-but-also-respect-once-someone-told-me/) [Thu Huong Duong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thu-huong-duong/) > [Heroism is accessible. Happiness is more difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/heroism-is-accessible-happiness-is-more-difficult/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Happiness is often hard-hearted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/happiness-is-often-hard-hearted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Happiness is a hard master, particularly other people's happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/happiness-is-a-hard-master-particularly-other-people-s-happiness/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [There is no happiness without hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-happiness-without-hard-work/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Be a hard worker. Work and happiness are like mother and daughter. Work brings forth happiness. Hard work brings great happiness. Enjoy life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/be-a-hard-worker-work-and-happiness-are-like-mother-and-daughter-work/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [What excuses do you make? Happiness is hard to find. I didn't catch a break. maybe I'm dying inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-excuses-do-you-make-happiness-is-hard-to-find-i-didn-t-catch-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [So long as we are under the control of disturbing emotions, real happiness is hard to find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/so-long-as-we-are-under-the-control-of-disturbing-emotions-real/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) ## More by Elizabeth Wurtzel > [Belief is a good thing in principle, but an annoying thing in human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/belief-is-a-good-thing-in-principle-but-an-annoying-thing-in-human/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I myself am hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-myself-am-hell/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I can see that I imagine all kinds of rejection that never happens. I can see that I beg and plead for love that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-can-see-that-i-imagine-all-kinds-of-rejection-that-never-happens-i/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [“...if you ask anyone in the throes of depression how he got there, to pin down the turning point, he'll never know. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/if-you-ask-anyone-in-the-throes-of-depression-how-he-got-there-to-pin/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I want to explain how exhausted I am. Even in my dreams. How I wake up tired. How I’m being drowned by some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-want-to-explain-how-exhausted-i-am-even-in-my-dreams-how-i-wake-up/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Its the people you are close to, the ones who love you, the ones who have seen your heart, who have touched your soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/its-the-people-you-are-close-to-the-ones-who-love-you-the-ones-who/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [if only my whole life could be words and music, if only everything else could slip away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/if-only-my-whole-life-could-be-words-and-music-if-only-everything/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [What I would do to be Alice climbing through the looking glass, taking one of those pills that makes you small ... so small.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/what-i-would-do-to-be-alice-climbing-through-the-looking-glass-taking/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Divorce has taught us how to sleep with friends, sleep with enemies, and then act like its all perfectly normal in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/divorce-has-taught-us-how-to-sleep-with-friends-sleep-with-enemies/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Just as our parents quieted us when we were noisy by putting us in front of the television set, maybe we're now learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/just-as-our-parents-quieted-us-when-we-were-noisy-by-putting-us-in/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I am sick of the girl who cries 'wolf' all the time. Even though not one of those cries was ever a false alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-am-sick-of-the-girl-who-cries-wolf-all-the-time-even-though-not-one/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [I'm lost in a loneliness that feels like forever ... like a solitude that never goes away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-m-lost-in-a-loneliness-that-feels-like-forever-like-a-solitude-that/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [It's the people you are close to, the ones who love you, theo nes who have seen your heart, who have touched your soul-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/it-s-the-people-you-are-close-to-the-ones-who-love-you-theo-nes-who/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [“When you do drugs, you count like a chemist: The numbers are wild, the formulas are easy. Then, when you try to get clean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/when-you-do-drugs-you-count-like-a-chemist-the-numbers-are-wild-the/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Everything's plastic, we're all going to die sooner or later, so what does it matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/everything-s-plastic-we-re-all-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-so-what/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) [Explore all 261 Elizabeth Wurtzel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## More Cotton candy quotes > [“I haven’t had cotton candy in forever,” he said. “I’d forgotten how…sugary it is.” “It’s pure sugar.” “I wonder who invented it.” “I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawthorne/i-haven-t-had-cotton-candy-in-forever-he-said-i-d-forgotten-how/) [Rachel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawthorne/) > [“I feel like cotton candy: sugar and air. Squeeze me and I’d turn into a small sickly damp wad of weeping pinky-red. “I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-feel-like-cotton-candy-sugar-and-air-squeeze-me-and-i-d-turn-into-a/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The only feel-good situation I could hypothetically equate it to would be lying in a kiddie pool full of cotton candy while spinning around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-faust/the-only-feel-good-situation-i-could-hypothetically-equate-it-to/) [Piper Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-faust/) > [“What is the price of freedom! I'm not talking about the physical restraining kind, but the spiritual, mental, emotional kind! If we glance at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larissa-qat/what-is-the-price-of-freedom-i-m-not-talking-about-the-physical/) [Larissa Qat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larissa-qat/) > [I ate fiberglass insulation. It wasn’t cotton candy like the guy said… my tummy itches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/i-ate-fiberglass-insulation-it-wasn-t-cotton-candy-like-the-guy-said/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [“Kiss without hug is like cotton candy without sugar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-neves-ferreira/kiss-without-hug-is-like-cotton-candy-without-sugar/) [Ana Neves Ferreira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-neves-ferreira/) > [“This stuff is better than cotton candy, really it is. It’s made out of real cotton. Yossarian, you’ve got to help me make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/this-stuff-is-better-than-cotton-candy-really-it-is-it-s-made-out-of/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [“I don't like how you smell like honey and cotton candy. I dislike your blue eyes that I don't get lost in. I really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittainy-c-cherry/i-don-t-like-how-you-smell-like-honey-and-cotton-candy-i-dislike-your/) [Brittainy C. Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittainy-c-cherry/) > [But if they ever saw a sunrise on a mountain morning/Watched those cotton candy clouds roll by/They'd know why I live beneath these Western…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-ledoux/but-if-they-ever-saw-a-sunrise-on-a-mountain-morning-watched-those/) [Chris LeDoux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-ledoux/) > [To seek approval is to have no resting place, no sanctuary. Like all judgement, approval encourages a constant striving. It makes us uncertain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-naomi-remen/to-seek-approval-is-to-have-no-resting-place-no-sanctuary-like-all/) [Rachel Naomi Remen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-naomi-remen/) > [“few odd souls wandered about Surf Avenue looking for something to do. Sheets of newspaper blew like tumbleweed down broad, empty streets. Overhead, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hjortsberg/few-odd-souls-wandered-about-surf-avenue-looking-for-something-to-do/) [William Hjortsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hjortsberg/) > [I accept him, I love him, just as he is. he accepts me, loves me, just as i am. we choose each other. everyday.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/i-accept-him-i-love-him-just-as-he-is-he-accepts-me-loves-me-just-as/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [If you wait until you got time to write a novel, or time to write a story, or time to read the hundred thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-crews/if-you-wait-until-you-got-time-to-write-a-novel-or-time-to-write-a/) [Harry Crews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-crews/) > [Cotton candy, laced in gold. Stack that money, sushi roll. Bottles up, feeling throw'd. V.I.P it, overload.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-azalea/cotton-candy-laced-in-gold-stack-that-money-sushi-roll-bottles-up/) [Iggy Azalea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-azalea/) > [Never in a million years would I want to live at Versailles with Marie Antoinette or anybody else. I hate to tell you this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-lasky/never-in-a-million-years-would-i-want-to-live-at-versailles-with/) [Kathryn Lasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-lasky/) [Browse all 88 Cotton candy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cotton-candy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But happiness is a difficult thing-it is, as Aristotle posited in The Nicomachean Ethics, an activity, is is about good social behavior, about being a solid citizen. Happiness is about community, intimacy, relationships, rootedness, closeness, family, stability, a sense of place, a feeling of love. And in this country, where people move from state to state and city to city so much, where rootlessness is almost a virtue (\"anywhere I hang my hat...is someone else's home\"), where family units regularly implode and leave behind fragments of divorce, where the long loneliness of life finds its antidote not in a hardy, ancient culture (as it would in Europe), not in some blood-deep tribal rites (as it would in the few still-hale Third World nations), but in our vast repository of pop culture, of consumer goods, of cotton candy for all-in this America, happiness is hard.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Wurtzel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is-as-aristotle-posited-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cotton candy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is-as-aristotle-posited-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_cotton-candy_but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is_1600859.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_cotton-candy_but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is_1600859.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/elizabeth-wurtzel-1275_cotton-candy_but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is_1600859.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But happiness is a difficult thing-it is, as Aristotle posited in The Nicomachean Ethics, an activity, is is…” — Elizabeth Wurtzel", "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": "Elizabeth Wurtzel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But happiness is a difficult thing-it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is-as-aristotle-posited-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/but-happiness-is-a-difficult-thing-it-is-as-aristotle-posited-in-the/#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 } } ] } ```