--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They can afford to smile because they all…" description: "\"They can afford to smile because they all have teeth so dazzling if they dropped them in the snow they'd be lost forever.\" — Frank McCourt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/frank-mccourt-2576_dazzling_they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-al_2584446.png" --- # They can afford to smile because they all have teeth so… ![“They can afford to smile because they all have teeth so dazzling if they dropped them in the snow they'd be lost forever.” quote by Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/frank-mccourt-2576_dazzling_they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-al_2584446.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/frank-mccourt-2576_dazzling_they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-al_2584446.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/frank-mccourt-2576_dazzling_they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-al_2584446.png) > “They can afford to smile because they all have teeth so dazzling if they dropped them in the snow they'd be lost forever.” [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People smile despite hardships, but losing something essential would be devastating. **In simple terms:** Smile hides pain; loss feels endless. Key Takeaway Appreciate what you have before it’s gone. Themes resilience humor loss gratitude human condition Mood melancholic hopeful Type reflective social commentary When to use this quote - daily life - health crises - personal loss - community support Key Concepts coping mechanisms value of health social bonds Questions to Reflect On - What do you take for granted? - How can you support others in hidden struggles? A Different Perspective Humor can mask deeper suffering, risking neglect of real issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Smile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smile/) [Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snow/) ## Related quotes > [There are few faces that can afford to smile: a smile is sometimes bewitching, in general vapid, often a contortion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/there-are-few-faces-that-can-afford-to-smile-a-smile-is-sometimes/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Life is short. Smile while you have teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danish/life-is-short-smile-while-you-have-teeth/) [Danish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danish/) > [Life is too short,smile while you still have teeth!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/green-monk/life-is-too-short-smile-while-you-still-have-teeth/) [Green Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/green-monk/) > [“What’s past is past, nothing to do but smile through teeth that have been kicked in; only the future matters, the decisions you make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-e-vaughan/what-s-past-is-past-nothing-to-do-but-smile-through-teeth-that-have/) Ralph E. Vaughan > [“Your spirit is sweet So pull off your sheet And give me a ghost of a smile Show me your teeth 'Cause you're teddy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owl-city/your-spirit-is-sweet-so-pull-off-your-sheet-and-give-me-a-ghost-of-a/) [Owl City](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owl-city/) > [Behind every smile there's teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/behind-every-smile-there-s-teeth/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Life is short, smile while you still have teeth. Be happy, not because everything is good, But because you can always find the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-short-smile-while-you-still-have-teeth-be-happy-not-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Open-faced sandwiches take risks and live big and smile with all their teeth. These are the people I want to be around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-poehler/open-faced-sandwiches-take-risks-and-live-big-and-smile-with-all/) [Amy Poehler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-poehler/) > [Life is short so Smile if you have teeth :D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-p/life-is-short-so-smile-if-you-have-teeth-d/) I :P > [Life is short, SMILE while you still have teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-short-smile-while-you-still-have-teeth/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth xU xQ!! :D :D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-ultimate/life-is-short-smile-while-you-still-have-teeth-xu-xq-d-d/) THE ULTIMATE > [“Smile, so your teeth won't suffocate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-evans/smile-so-your-teeth-won-t-suffocate/) Katherine Evans > [Look deep into my eyes, And feel my pain… You think that's a smile, But my teeth grinding Its not the shame. These scars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/look-deep-into-my-eyes-and-feel-my-pain-you-think-that-s-a-smile-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is short, so smile while you still have teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-davies/life-is-short-so-smile-while-you-still-have-teeth/) [Grace Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-davies/) > [Smile while you still have teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-angelo-de-leon/smile-while-you-still-have-teeth/) [Michael Angelo De Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-angelo-de-leon/) ## More by Frank McCourt > [I'm not one of those James Joyce intellectuals who can stand back and look at the whole edifice... It was a slow process for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-m-not-one-of-those-james-joyce-intellectuals-who-can-stand-back-and/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [I admire certain priests and nuns who go off on their own and do God's work on their own, who help in the ghettos,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-admire-certain-priests-and-nuns-who-go-off-on-their-own-and-do-god/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [When I act tough they listen politely till the spasm passes. They know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/when-i-act-tough-they-listen-politely-till-the-spasm-passes-they-know/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [Just luxuriate in a certain memory, and the details will come. It's like a magnet attracting steel filings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/just-luxuriate-in-a-certain-memory-and-the-details-will-come-it-s/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [Sing your song. Dance your dance. Tell your tale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/sing-your-song-dance-your-dance-tell-your-tale/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [They all went into the bar business. Which was a mistake, because they began to sip at the merchandise and it set them back,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/they-all-went-into-the-bar-business-which-was-a-mistake-because-they/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [My childhood here... was very limited. So it was a long, long time before I actually went out to Brooklyn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/my-childhood-here-was-very-limited-so-it-was-a-long-long-time-before/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [We never really had any kind of a Christmas. This is one part where my memory fails me completely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/we-never-really-had-any-kind-of-a-christmas-this-is-one-part-where-my/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [A lot of people say writers start losing their powers after 60 or 65. But I look at the best-seller list and see a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/a-lot-of-people-say-writers-start-losing-their-powers-after-60-or-65/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [“When the dark clouds flutter like bats in my head I wish I could open a window and release them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/when-the-dark-clouds-flutter-like-bats-in-my-head-i-wish-i-could-open/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [Shakespeare is like mashed potatoes, you can never get enough of him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/shakespeare-is-like-mashed-potatoes-you-can-never-get-enough-of-him/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [I just have to proceed as usual. No matter what happens, nothing helps with the writing of the next book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-just-have-to-proceed-as-usual-no-matter-what-happens-nothing-helps/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [Worse than the ordinary, miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/worse-than-the-ordinary-miserable-childhood-is-the-miserable-irish/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [It's not enough to be American. You always have to be something else, Irish-American, German-American, and you'd wonder how they'd get along if someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/it-s-not-enough-to-be-american-you-always-have-to-be-something-else/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [I had to get rid of any idea of hell or any idea of the afterlife. That's what held me, kept me down. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-had-to-get-rid-of-any-idea-of-hell-or-any-idea-of-the-afterlife/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) [Explore all 159 Frank McCourt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) ## More Dazzling quotes > [...and there I suddenly found my articulate self in a dazzling land of smiling, jostling people wearing and not wearing all sorts of costumes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-grant/and-there-i-suddenly-found-my-articulate-self-in-a-dazzling-land-of/) [Cary Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-grant/) > [We also ascend dazzling and tremendous as the sun, We found our own O my soul in the calm and cool of the daybreak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/we-also-ascend-dazzling-and-tremendous-as-the-sun-we-found-our-own-o/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Michelle Alexander's brave and bold new book paints a haunting picture in which dreary felon garb, post-prison joblessness, and loss of voting rights now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lani-guinier/michelle-alexander-s-brave-and-bold-new-book-paints-a-haunting/) Lani Guinier > [Let man then contemplate nature in full and lofty majesty, and turn his eyes away from the mean objects which surround him. Let him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/let-man-then-contemplate-nature-in-full-and-lofty-majesty-and-turn/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The pure air and dazzling snow belong to things beyond the reach of all personal feeling, almost beyond the reach of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/the-pure-air-and-dazzling-snow-belong-to-things-beyond-the-reach-of/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [How many of us have been attracted to reason; first learned to think, to draw conclusions, to extract a moral from the follies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-many-of-us-have-been-attracted-to-reason-first-learned-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The thing we often forget to talk about, or perhaps we take for granted, is our country’s dazzling beauty. Our natural environment is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-bryce/the-thing-we-often-forget-to-talk-about-or-perhaps-we-take-for/) [Quentin Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-bryce/) > [As slavery died for the greater good of America, and the movement for equality sputtered to life, the white woman was on the cover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-scott/as-slavery-died-for-the-greater-good-of-america-and-the-movement-for/) [Jill Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-scott/) > [You will notice the phenomena of meditation. You may see dazzling lights, feel energy coursing through different parts of your body, feel as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-will-notice-the-phenomena-of-meditation-you-may-see-dazzling/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The aged love what is practical while impetuous youth longs only for what is dazzling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petrarch/the-aged-love-what-is-practical-while-impetuous-youth-longs-only-for/) [Petrarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petrarch/) > [Immortality—dazzling idea! who first imagined thee! Was it some jolly burgher of Nuremburg, who with night-cap on his head, and white clay pipe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/immortality-dazzling-idea-who-first-imagined-thee-was-it-some-jolly/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [Maggie Shipstead's prose is so graceful and muscular, so dazzling, so sure-handed and fearless, that at times I had to remind myself to breathe.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/maggie-shipstead-s-prose-is-so-graceful-and-muscular-so-dazzling-so/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [The sun penetrates crystal and makes it more dazzling. In the same way, the sanctifying Spirit indwells in souls and makes them more radiant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/the-sun-penetrates-crystal-and-makes-it-more-dazzling-in-the-same-way/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [In the adverts, I look like I do because 150 people have spent seven hours making me look dazzling. That's not me at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keeley-hawes/in-the-adverts-i-look-like-i-do-because-150-people-have-spent-seven/) [Keeley Hawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keeley-hawes/) > [“The rake himself lived up to Amy’s expectations, however, when he came out to greet his guests. Tall, dark, handsome, and dressed with devastating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-beverley/the-rake-himself-lived-up-to-amy-s-expectations-however-when-he-came/) [Jo Beverley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-beverley/) Browse all 176 Dazzling quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "They can afford to smile because they all have teeth so dazzling if they dropped them in the snow they'd be lost forever.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frank McCourt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-all-have-teeth-so-dazzling-if/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dazzling" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-all-have-teeth-so-dazzling-if/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/frank-mccourt-2576_dazzling_they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-al_2584446.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/frank-mccourt-2576_dazzling_they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-al_2584446.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/frank-mccourt-2576_dazzling_they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-al_2584446.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They can afford to smile because they all have teeth so dazzling if they dropped them in the snow they'd be…” — Frank McCourt", "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": "Frank McCourt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "They can afford to smile because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-all-have-teeth-so-dazzling-if/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/they-can-afford-to-smile-because-they-all-have-teeth-so-dazzling-if/#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 } } ] } ```