---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But happiness, Albert knew, is something…"
description: "\"“But happiness, Albert knew, is something that appears to you suddenly, that is meant for you, a thing which you reach for and pick up and hide at your..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/eudora-welty-1564_albert_but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-t_2337286.png"
---

#  But happiness, Albert knew, is something that appears to…

![“But happiness, Albert knew, is something that appears to you suddenly, that is meant for you, a thing which you reach for and pick up and hide at your breast, a shiny thing that reminds you of something alive and leaping.” quote by Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/eudora-welty-1564_albert_but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-t_2337286.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/eudora-welty-1564_albert_but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-t_2337286.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/eudora-welty-1564_albert_but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-t_2337286.png)

> ““But happiness, Albert knew, is something that appears to you suddenly, that is meant for you, a thing which you reach for and pick up and hide at your breast, a shiny thing that reminds you of something alive and leaping.””

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

## About This Quote

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

Happiness arrives unexpectedly, feels personal, and becomes a treasured, vivid reminder of vitality.

**In simple terms:** Joy comes suddenly and feels personal.

Key Takeaway

Cherish moments that spark joy.

Themes

happiness unexpectedness personal treasure

Mood

reflective hopeful

Type

literary inspirational

When to use this quote

- personal milestones
- creative inspiration
- emotional healing

Key Concepts

serendipity emotional resonance

Questions to Reflect On

- What small moments bring you sudden joy?
- How can you hold onto that feeling?

A Different Perspective

Happiness may be fleeting and hard to sustain.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/)

## Related quotes

> [“Albert knew that one could never be sure about magic, but a lack of certainty is not a good reason to do nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-l-anderson/albert-knew-that-one-could-never-be-sure-about-magic-but-a-lack-of/)

Howard L. Anderson

> [Isn't it Amazing how a person how was once just a stranger suddenly meant the world to you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbigail-horan/isn-t-it-amazing-how-a-person-how-was-once-just-a-stranger-suddenly/)

Abbigail Horan

> [Isn't it amazing how a person who was once just a stranger, suddenly meant the world to you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/isn-t-it-amazing-how-a-person-who-was-once-just-a-stranger-suddenly/)

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

> [“I’d discovered that when the most precious thing in your life could slip through your fingers, investments, money, those things suddenly meant absolutely jack.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fisher-amelie/i-d-discovered-that-when-the-most-precious-thing-in-your-life-could/)

[Fisher Amelie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fisher-amelie/)

> [“Nothing that happens to you was meant to be. The only thing about you that was meant to be is you. Blaze your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-alexiou/nothing-that-happens-to-you-was-meant-to-be-the-only-thing-about-you/)

[George Alexiou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-alexiou/)

> [I was never meant to be this thing...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-koyczan/i-was-never-meant-to-be-this-thing/)

[Shane Koyczan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-koyczan/)

> [“Your plans can be cast in concrete, and you can carry an unshakable belief that you were meant to do one thing and one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-platt/your-plans-can-be-cast-in-concrete-and-you-can-carry-an-unshakable/)

[Sean Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-platt/)

> [“I’ve never been so clear about anything in my life. I turned around, made my way to that room you were in, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-ve-never-been-so-clear-about-anything-in-my-life-i-turned-around/)

[Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/)

> [You and I are meant to be. It's the only thing I'm absolutely sure of. And while I have no idea what to expect,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-noel/you-and-i-are-meant-to-be-it-s-the-only-thing-i-m-absolutely-sure-of/)

[Alyson Noel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-noel/)

> [When you were young, you had your own set of values. Values that nothing could change. An ice cream cone was a snow-capped mountain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhaboo/when-you-were-young-you-had-your-own-set-of-values-values-that/)

[Bhaboo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhaboo/)

> [“She had taken everything else from him, and now she meant to take the one thing that made up for it all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/she-had-taken-everything-else-from-him-and-now-she-meant-to-take-the/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“I’m still the same guy, which means I’ll still hurt people. It also meant he had to do the one thing he didn’t want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ashby/i-m-still-the-same-guy-which-means-i-ll-still-hurt-people-it-also/)

[Amanda Ashby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ashby/)

> [I am deeply honored that my team is being recognized by H.S.H. Prince Albert II and the Festival de Television de Monte-Carlo for Disney/ABC's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sweeney/i-am-deeply-honored-that-my-team-is-being-recognized-by-h-s-h-prince/)

[Anne Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sweeney/)

> [My favorite country blues player was Big Bill Broonzy. City blues was Freddie King, but I liked them all - Muddy Waters, John Lee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-lee/my-favorite-country-blues-player-was-big-bill-broonzy-city-blues-was/)

[Alvin Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-lee/)

> [If I were to write my epitaph... Epitaph? Hey, shut-up Albert. I'd want to be remembered as someone who loved his sport and tried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-ii-prince-of-monaco/if-i-were-to-write-my-epitaph-epitaph-hey-shut-up-albert-i-d-want-to/)

[Albert II, Prince of Monaco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-ii-prince-of-monaco/)

## More by Eudora Welty

> [“She (my mother) could still recite them (the poems) in full when she was lying helpless and nearly blind, in her bed, an old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-could-still-recite-them-the-poems-in-full-when-she-was/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/long-before-i-wrote-stories-i-listened-for-stories-listening-for-them/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [Once you're into a story everything seems to apply-what you overhear on a city bus is exactly what your character would say on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/once-you-re-into-a-story-everything-seems-to-apply-what-you-overhear/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/two-by-two-i-read-library-books-as-fast-as-i-could-go-rushing-them/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“When somebody, no matter who, gives everything, it makes people feel ashamed for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-somebody-no-matter-who-gives-everything-it-makes-people-feel/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Daydreaming had started me on the way; but story writing, once I was truly in its grip, took me and shook me awake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/daydreaming-had-started-me-on-the-way-but-story-writing-once-i-was/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“All children in those small-town, unhurried days had a vast inner life going on in the movies. Children were allowed to go without chaperone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/all-children-in-those-small-town-unhurried-days-had-a-vast-inner-life/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“At the sting in her eyes, she remembered for him that there must be no tears in his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/at-the-sting-in-her-eyes-she-remembered-for-him-that-there-must-be-no/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Could she ever be, would she be, where she was going?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/could-she-ever-be-would-she-be-where-she-was-going/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“When one of us (children) caught measles or whooping cough and we were isolated in bad upstairs, we wrote notes to each other perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-one-of-us-children-caught-measles-or-whooping-cough-and-we-were/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“She (my mother) stood always prepared in herself to challenge the world in our place. She did indeed tend to make the world look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-stood-always-prepared-in-herself-to-challenge-the-world/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“For there is hate as well as love, she supposed, in the coming together and continuing of our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/for-there-is-hate-as-well-as-love-she-supposed-in-the-coming-together/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“In children's art class we sat in a ring of kindergarten chairs and drew three daffodils that had just been picked out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/in-children-s-art-class-we-sat-in-a-ring-of-kindergarten-chairs-and/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [People are mostly layers of violence and tenderness wrapped like bulbs, and it is difficult to say what makes them onions or hyacinths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/people-are-mostly-layers-of-violence-and-tenderness-wrapped-like/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

[Explore all 227 Eudora Welty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

## More Albert quotes

> [If I were to write my epitaph... Epitaph? Hey, shut-up Albert. I'd want to be remembered as someone who loved his sport and tried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-ii-prince-of-monaco/if-i-were-to-write-my-epitaph-epitaph-hey-shut-up-albert-i-d-want-to/)

[Albert II, Prince of Monaco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-ii-prince-of-monaco/)

> [My favorite country blues player was Big Bill Broonzy. City blues was Freddie King, but I liked them all - Muddy Waters, John Lee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-lee/my-favorite-country-blues-player-was-big-bill-broonzy-city-blues-was/)

[Alvin Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-lee/)

> [I am deeply honored that my team is being recognized by H.S.H. Prince Albert II and the Festival de Television de Monte-Carlo for Disney/ABC's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sweeney/i-am-deeply-honored-that-my-team-is-being-recognized-by-h-s-h-prince/)

[Anne Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sweeney/)

> [By the time my first solo record came out, I was making a handsome living as a record producer. I had worked with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-rundgren/by-the-time-my-first-solo-record-came-out-i-was-making-a-handsome/)

[Todd Rundgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-rundgren/)

> [“I reviewed some of his articles and knew Albert couldn’t manage all those mathematical calculations on his own. You were always better at math…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-benedict/i-reviewed-some-of-his-articles-and-knew-albert-couldn-t-manage-all/)

[Marie Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-benedict/)

> [ \[Albert Camus\] was not an existentialist! ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-camus/albert-camus-was-not-an-existentialist/)

[Catherine Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-camus/)

> [“Albert had heard of nutritional values, and didn’t hold with them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/albert-had-heard-of-nutritional-values-and-didn-t-hold-with-them/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [...Albert-next-door doesn't care for reading, and he has not read nearly so many books as we have, so he is very foolish and ignorant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/albert-next-door-doesn-t-care-for-reading-and-he-has-not-read-nearly/)

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

> [“Jules-Albert could”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/jules-albert-could/)

[Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/)

> [I will remember the night I won the New Comedy Awards, as I was young and unformed, so that sticks in the mind. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-conti/i-will-remember-the-night-i-won-the-new-comedy-awards-as-i-was-young/)

[Nina Conti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-conti/)

> [“Well, there is rough old Albert, as ornery as any big brother a girl could have, putting his arm around Savannah and cooing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-e-turner/well-there-is-rough-old-albert-as-ornery-as-any-big-brother-a-girl/)

[Nancy E. Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-e-turner/)

> [Albert Einstain quote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/albert-einstain-quote/)

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

> [“Like a spider, Albert became busy building a name for himself in the center of the intricate web of European physicists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-benedict/like-a-spider-albert-became-busy-building-a-name-for-himself-in-the/)

[Marie Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-benedict/)

> [Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Albert Camus, Graham Greene - they influenced my life to a profound extent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/henry-miller-jack-kerouac-albert-camus-graham-greene-they-influenced/)

[Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/)

> [The lives of those such as Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein are plainly of interest in their own right, as well as for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-lives-of-those-such-as-charles-darwin-and-albert-einstein-are/)

[Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/)

Browse all 62 Albert quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“But happiness, Albert knew, is something that appears to you suddenly, that is meant for you, a thing which you reach for and pick up and hide at your breast, a shiny thing that reminds you of something alive and leaping.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Eudora Welty"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-that-appears-to-you-suddenly/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Albert"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-that-appears-to-you-suddenly/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/eudora-welty-1564_albert_but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-t_2337286.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/eudora-welty-1564_albert_but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-t_2337286.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26a/eudora-welty-1564_albert_but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-t_2337286.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“But happiness, Albert knew, is something that appears to you suddenly, that is meant for you, a thing which…” — Eudora Welty",
                "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": "Eudora Welty",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“But happiness, Albert knew, is something...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-that-appears-to-you-suddenly/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/but-happiness-albert-knew-is-something-that-appears-to-you-suddenly/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
