--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness is like perfume: You can't give…" description: "\"Happiness is like perfume: You can't give it away without getting a little on yourself.\" — Freya Stark" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f4/freya-stark-3403_happiness_happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give_2985157.png" --- # Happiness is like perfume: You can't give it away without… ![“Happiness is like perfume: You can't give it away without getting a little on yourself.” quote by Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f4/freya-stark-3403_happiness_happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give_2985157.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f4/freya-stark-3403_happiness_happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give_2985157.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f4/freya-stark-3403_happiness_happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give_2985157.png) > “Happiness is like perfume: You can't give it away without getting a little on yourself.” [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Compares happiness to perfume that spreads when shared, leaving some on the giver **In simple terms:** Sharing happiness benefits both giver and receiver Key Takeaway Share joy to experience it yourself Themes happiness generosity reciprocity Mood warm optimistic Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - friendship - volunteering - family gatherings - social media interactions Key Concepts psychology of well‑being social exchange Questions to Reflect On - How do you sustain happiness after sharing? - What gives you joy to give? A Different Perspective Happiness may be fleeting if not cultivated internally ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness is like a perfume, you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-like-a-perfume-you-cannot-pour-on-others-without-getting/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This perfume was not like any perfume known before. It was not a scent that made things smell better... it was completely new, capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/this-perfume-was-not-like-any-perfume-known-before-it-was-not-a-scent/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [Sweet praise is like perfume. It is fine if you don't swallow it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/sweet-praise-is-like-perfume-it-is-fine-if-you-don-t-swallow-it/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Polls are like perfume-nice to smell, dangerous to swallow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/polls-are-like-perfume-nice-to-smell-dangerous-to-swallow/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [Music at times is more like perfume than mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/music-at-times-is-more-like-perfume-than-mathematics/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [A story can fly like a bee, so straight and swift you catch only the hum of its passing. Or move so slowly it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-dokey/a-story-can-fly-like-a-bee-so-straight-and-swift-you-catch-only-the/) [Cameron Dokey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-dokey/) > [The greatest style is when you can't see the style though you walk away knowing it was there. It's like a perfume - there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benton/the-greatest-style-is-when-you-can-t-see-the-style-though-you-walk/) [Robert Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benton/) > [Prosperity is like perfume, it often makes the head ache.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cavendish/prosperity-is-like-perfume-it-often-makes-the-head-ache/) [Margaret Cavendish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cavendish/) > [Cubism is not a reality you can take in your hand. It's more like a perfume, in front of you, behind you, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/cubism-is-not-a-reality-you-can-take-in-your-hand-it-s-more-like-a/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [I think allure is something around you, like a perfume or like a scent. It's like a memory ... it pervades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/i-think-allure-is-something-around-you-like-a-perfume-or-like-a-scent/) [Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/) > [Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/beauty-is-an-ecstasy-it-is-as-simple-as-hunger-there-is-really/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Dignity is like a perfume; those who use it are scarcely conscious of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dignity-is-like-a-perfume-those-who-use-it-are-scarcely-conscious-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no women who do not like perfume, there are women who have not found their scent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/there-are-no-women-who-do-not-like-perfume-there-are-women-who-have/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [I like perfume and flowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donatella-versace/i-like-perfume-and-flowers/) [Donatella Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donatella-versace/) > [“The snow wears moonlight like perfume.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-murdoch/the-snow-wears-moonlight-like-perfume/) [Emily Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-murdoch/) ## More by Freya Stark > [I do think we should be provided with a new body about the age of thirty or so when we have learnt to attend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/i-do-think-we-should-be-provided-with-a-new-body-about-the-age-of/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [The world has become too full of many things, an over furnished room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-world-has-become-too-full-of-many-things-an-over-furnished-room/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [From love one can only escape at the price of life itself; and no lessening of sorrow is worth exile from that stream of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/from-love-one-can-only-escape-at-the-price-of-life-itself-and-no/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [The unexpectedness of life, waiting round every corner, catches even wise women unawares (...) To avoid corners altogether is, after all, to refuse to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-unexpectedness-of-life-waiting-round-every-corner-catches-even/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [Words are the only arteries of thought our poor human body possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/words-are-the-only-arteries-of-thought-our-poor-human-body-possesses/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [The past is our treasure. Its works, whether we know them or not, flourish in our lives with whatever strength they had. From it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-past-is-our-treasure-its-works-whether-we-know-them-or-not/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [On the other hand, there is a certain advantage in traveling with someone who has a reputation for shooting rather than being shot: as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/on-the-other-hand-there-is-a-certain-advantage-in-traveling-with/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [If one were given a single window from which to look upon the changing Eastern world, it should face, I think, the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/if-one-were-given-a-single-window-from-which-to-look-upon-the/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [advertisement ... has brought our disregard for truth into the open without even a figleaf to cover it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/advertisement-has-brought-our-disregard-for-truth-into-the-open/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [Who dares to be intellectual in the presence of death?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/who-dares-to-be-intellectual-in-the-presence-of-death/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [The Persian's mind, like his illuminated manuscripts, does not deal in perspective: two thousand years, if he happens to know anything about them, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-persian-s-mind-like-his-illuminated-manuscripts-does-not-deal-in/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [Curiosity is the one thing invincible in Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/curiosity-is-the-one-thing-invincible-in-nature/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [There are, I sometimes think, only two sorts of people in this world - the settled and the nomad - and there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/there-are-i-sometimes-think-only-two-sorts-of-people-in-this-world/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [Nearly all trouble comes from mis-timing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/nearly-all-trouble-comes-from-mis-timing/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [“I have no reason to go, except that I have never been, and knowledge is better than ignorance. What better reason could there be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/i-have-no-reason-to-go-except-that-i-have-never-been-and-knowledge-is/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) [Explore all 131 Freya Stark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) ## 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": "Happiness is like perfume: You can't give it away without getting a little on yourself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Freya Stark" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give-it-away-without-getting-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give-it-away-without-getting-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f4/freya-stark-3403_happiness_happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give_2985157.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f4/freya-stark-3403_happiness_happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give_2985157.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f4/freya-stark-3403_happiness_happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give_2985157.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Happiness is like perfume: You can't give it away without getting a little on yourself.” — Freya Stark", "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": "Freya Stark", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Happiness is like perfume: You can't...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give-it-away-without-getting-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/happiness-is-like-perfume-you-can-t-give-it-away-without-getting-a/#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 } } ] } ```