--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If a man is unhappy, remember that his…" description: "\"If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.\" — Epictetus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57a/epictetus-413_faults_if-a-man-is-unhappy-remember-that-his-un_1426253.jpg" --- # If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his… ![“If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57a/epictetus-413_faults_if-a-man-is-unhappy-remember-that-his-un_1426253.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57a/epictetus-413_faults_if-a-man-is-unhappy-remember-that-his-un_1426253.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57a/epictetus-413_faults_if-a-man-is-unhappy-remember-that-his-un_1426253.jpg) > “If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.” [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unhappiness stems from personal fault; happiness is a natural state intended by the divine. **In simple terms:** Unhappiness is self-caused; happiness is natural. Key Takeaway Take responsibility for your mindset and seek inner peace. Themes philosophy ethics well‑being Mood calm thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - self‑help - spiritual practice - mental health Key Concepts stoicism personal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What personal habits foster true happiness? - How do you reconcile personal fault with external challenges? A Different Perspective Blaming oneself can ignore external hardships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fault God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fault-god-637379/) [Faults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faults/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Man Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-unhappy-754396/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Remember Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-unhappiness-5065158/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) [Unhappiness Fault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness-fault-5065157/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) ## Related quotes > [If anyone is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault... Nothing else is the cause of anxiety or loss of tranquility except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-anyone-is-unhappy-remember-that-his-unhappiness-is-his-own-fault/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/our-eyes-are-at-fault-that-is-all-god-is-in-the-manger-wealth-in/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [We are suffering from our own Karma. It is not the fault of God. What we do is our own fault, nothing else. Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-are-suffering-from-our-own-karma-it-is-not-the-fault-of-god-what/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Face the fact and the fact is that many unhappy circumstances appear from the fault of our own and not God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/face-the-fact-and-the-fact-is-that-many-unhappy-circumstances-appear/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) > [“If you suppose that the things that are not within your power are good or bad for you, then if you suffer a bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-you-suppose-that-the-things-that-are-not-within-your-power-are/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [But if we judge only those things which are in our power to be good or bad, there remains no reason either for finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/but-if-we-judge-only-those-things-which-are-in-our-power-to-be-good/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“She began to fret about God's exact location. It was the Sunday-school teacher's fault: God is everywhere, she'd said, and Laura wanted to know:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-began-to-fret-about-god-s-exact-location-it-was-the-sunday-school/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [No matter whose fault, God sends us through storms so we can land in a place we never would have otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/no-matter-whose-fault-god-sends-us-through-storms-so-we-can-land-in-a/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [“Because if it's not her fault, it's God's, and I'm not ready to be pissed at the Almighty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-hand/because-if-it-s-not-her-fault-it-s-god-s-and-i-m-not-ready-to-be/) [Cynthia Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-hand/) > [If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/if-you-don-t-want-a-man-unhappy-politically-don-t-give-him-two-sides-2/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“He was a complicated man, and an unhappy one. But he knew also that the world was full of simple miracles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-macdonald/he-was-a-complicated-man-and-an-unhappy-one-but-he-knew-also-that-the/) [Helen Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-macdonald/) > [People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only be unhappy about a person who is worth his while;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves-feel-that-a-clever-man-should/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that which he had, but of that which he did not have, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-deprived-not-of-that-which-he/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [“I would fave preferred the happy man to the unhappy poems he's left us”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-would-fave-preferred-the-happy-man-to-the-unhappy-poems-he-s-left-us/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Dogs are happy with few things because they have already observed man who is unhappy with many things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/dogs-are-happy-with-few-things-because-they-have-already-observed-man/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) ## More by Epictetus > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-at-the-mercy-of-whoever-wields-authority-over-the-things-we/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/practice-yourself-for-heaven-s-sake-in-little-things-and-then-proceed/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-laugh-much-or-often-or-unrestrainedly/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-not-disturbed-by-what-happens-to-us-but-by-our-thoughts-about/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/don-t-be-prideful-with-any-excellence-that-is-not-your-own/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/you-know-yourself-what-you-are-worth-in-your-own-eyes-and-at-what/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/as-a-man-casting-off-worn-out-garments-taketh-new-ones-so-the-dweller/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/for-it-is-not-death-or-pain-that-is-to-be-feared-but-the-fear-of-pain/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [What else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God? If I were a nightingale, I would do the nightingale's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-else-can-i-do-a-lame-old-man-but-sing-hymns-to-god-if-i-were-a/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [People are disturbed not by things, but by the view they take of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them-2/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/small-minded-people-blame-others-average-people-blame-themselves-the/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/all-philosophy-lies-in-two-words-sustain-and-abstain/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) [Explore all 577 Epictetus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## More Faults quotes > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. 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Each soul is a Compos'tor, of whose faults The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/the-world-s-a-printing-house-our-words-our-thoughts-our-deeds-are/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [How come you don't feel that magic in the air? I guess I knew you'll never be there. I guess I knew you never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-come-you-don-t-feel-that-magic-in-the-air-i-guess-i-knew-you-ll/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Talent is like a birthmark - it's a gift and no credit nor fault to those who wear them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-marion-russell/talent-is-like-a-birthmark-it-s-a-gift-and-no-credit-nor-fault-to/) [Charles Marion Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-marion-russell/) > [LEGO has announced that they are shutting down their U.S. factory and moving it to Canada. LEGO employees say it's their fault because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/lego-has-announced-that-they-are-shutting-down-their-u-s-factory-and/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-want-to-remind-priests-that-the-confessional-must-not-be-a-torture/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [The real fault is to have faults and not amend them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-real-fault-is-to-have-faults-and-not-amend-them/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [We always remember our faults when they are known to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/we-always-remember-our-faults-when-they-are-known-to-people/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [How dare you? 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