--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: you had to have happiness to miss…" description: "\"“you had to have happiness to miss happiness!”\" — Eric Jerome Dickey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/eric-jerome-dickey-2982_happiness_you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happin_248935.png" --- # you had to have happiness to miss happiness! ![“you had to have happiness to miss happiness!” quote by Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/eric-jerome-dickey-2982_happiness_you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happin_248935.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/eric-jerome-dickey-2982_happiness_you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happin_248935.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/eric-jerome-dickey-2982_happiness_you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happin_248935.png) > ““you had to have happiness to miss happiness!”” [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) ## 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 a prerequisite for feeling its loss; without it, the pain of missing is absent. **In simple terms:** You need joy to know its absence. Key Takeaway Cultivate joy to appreciate its value. Themes happiness loss appreciation Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - personal growth - mental health Key Concepts emotional awareness psychology Questions to Reflect On - Do you recognize moments of joy you take for granted? - How does missing something shape your appreciation? A Different Perspective If you never experience happiness, you cannot miss it, limiting emotional depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [I miss being a kid. I miss birthday parties in class with cupcakes and spelling test with the extra credit word being happiness. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-miss-being-a-kid-i-miss-birthday-parties-in-class-with-cupcakes-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“there only one person that understand me for who I am and was allways there too stand by my side and help me through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danie/there-only-one-person-that-understand-me-for-who-i-am-and-was-allways/) Danie > [“Find your happiness, Miss. It's out there, for anyone with the courage to follow it, no matter how many twists and turns the path…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eden-carson/find-your-happiness-miss-it-s-out-there-for-anyone-with-the-courage/) Eden Carson > [Those who seek happiness miss it, and those who discuss it, lack it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holbrook-jackson/those-who-seek-happiness-miss-it-and-those-who-discuss-it-lack-it/) [Holbrook Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holbrook-jackson/) > [If you told me you miss me right now, I would be so damn happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-loveable/if-you-told-me-you-miss-me-right-now-i-would-be-so-damn-happy/) [Arjun Loveable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-loveable/) > [I miss the courtroom every single day. I loved practicing law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine-crockett/i-miss-the-courtroom-every-single-day-i-loved-practicing-law/) [Jasmine Crockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine-crockett/) > [I wish I can forget you forever,the more I tried to not think about you it makes me near to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-amy-gangte/i-wish-i-can-forget-you-forever-the-more-i-tried-to-not-think-about/) [Jane Amy Gangte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-amy-gangte/) > [It's strange that those we miss the most Are those we take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-betjeman/it-s-strange-that-those-we-miss-the-most-are-those-we-take-for-granted/) [John Betjeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-betjeman/) > [Its always Happen u miss them but u cant talk them...u cant explain them how much u miss them...:(](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter/its-always-happen-u-miss-them-but-u-cant-talk-them-u-cant-explain/) [Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter/) > [At times you are going to miss people. When that happens, others have to come to the front and show the calibre that brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-phelan/at-times-you-are-going-to-miss-people-when-that-happens-others-have/) [Mike Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-phelan/) > [You couldn't get me to go travel around and sit in a hotel room again. I have no interest in doing that. So everybody's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-everly/you-couldn-t-get-me-to-go-travel-around-and-sit-in-a-hotel-room-again/) [Phil Everly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-everly/) > [I miss you like a double amputee misses masterbation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-miss-you-like-a-double-amputee-misses-masterbation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [There's no ifs and buts or maybes, you're gonna miss, you're gonna miss my loving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-rawls/there-s-no-ifs-and-buts-or-maybes-you-re-gonna-miss-you-re-gonna-miss/) [Lou Rawls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-rawls/) > [What I do miss that I don't get anymore? You're going to think I'm crazy, but you want the truth, so here it is.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-mandrell/what-i-do-miss-that-i-don-t-get-anymore-you-re-going-to-think-i-m/) [Barbara Mandrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-mandrell/) ## More by Eric Jerome Dickey > [“Inside every pause lived a contemplation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/inside-every-pause-lived-a-contemplation/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“We'd had sex like we were whores to each other, and when it was done, we each moved to our side of the bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/we-d-had-sex-like-we-were-whores-to-each-other-and-when-it-was-done/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [love is a mental illness, an obsessive-compulsive disorder romanticized!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/love-is-a-mental-illness-an-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-romanticized/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“. . . Your hair--it's kind of wavy. Indian in your blood, or are you a hypocrite and texturize your hair?" He hesitated, appeared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/your-hair-it-s-kind-of-wavy-indian-in-your-blood-or-are-you-a/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“Rainwater diluted redness, created a pink death, his matter mixing through mud and grass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/rainwater-diluted-redness-created-a-pink-death-his-matter-mixing/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“. . . I had on . . . black jeggings under a fitted, sleeveless, flowered dress, so he could see my true shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/i-had-on-black-jeggings-under-a-fitted-sleeveless-flowered-dress-so/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“We disconnected. And I wondered if we had ever truly connected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/we-disconnected-and-i-wondered-if-we-had-ever-truly-connected/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [For a lot of people, becoming an author is a change in occupation... they are coming from something that totally has nothing to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/for-a-lot-of-people-becoming-an-author-is-a-change-in-occupation-they/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [We see what we want to see. We idealize each other with our own fantasies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/we-see-what-we-want-to-see-we-idealize-each-other-with-our-own/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [It’s scary telling someone you care about, someone you love who you really are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/it-s-scary-telling-someone-you-care-about-someone-you-love-who-you/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“Ownership, even in love, is an illusion. No woman owned any man and no man owned any woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/ownership-even-in-love-is-an-illusion-no-woman-owned-any-man-and-no/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [hate isn't healthy, it damages the hater more than the one who's hated!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/hate-isn-t-healthy-it-damages-the-hater-more-than-the-one-who-s-hated/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“Losing your job is like having your identity stolen, like having what defined you run through a paper shredder. After a while the despair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/losing-your-job-is-like-having-your-identity-stolen-like-having-what/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“It is silent, an anagram for listen. That is what I do. Listen while she remains silent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/it-is-silent-an-anagram-for-listen-that-is-what-i-do-listen-while-she/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [“Preacher pulled her gun to her lap, the trigger aimed toward the stranger. . . . He stared at her like he was ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/preacher-pulled-her-gun-to-her-lap-the-trigger-aimed-toward-the/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) [Explore all 142 Eric Jerome Dickey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“you had to have happiness to miss happiness!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Jerome Dickey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happiness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happiness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/eric-jerome-dickey-2982_happiness_you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happin_248935.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/eric-jerome-dickey-2982_happiness_you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happin_248935.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/eric-jerome-dickey-2982_happiness_you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happin_248935.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“you had to have happiness to miss happiness!” — Eric Jerome Dickey", "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": "Eric Jerome Dickey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“you had to have happiness to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happiness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/you-had-to-have-happiness-to-miss-happiness/#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 } } ] } ```