---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness is only the threshold to…"
description: "\"Happiness is only the threshold to misery. When a friend refuses to share in joys.\" — Georg Ebers"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/georg-ebers-45111_friendship_happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-miser_2002582.jpg"
---

#  Happiness is only the threshold to misery. When a friend…

![“Happiness is only the threshold to misery. When a friend refuses to share in joys.” quote by Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/georg-ebers-45111_friendship_happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-miser_2002582.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/georg-ebers-45111_friendship_happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-miser_2002582.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/georg-ebers-45111_friendship_happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-miser_2002582.jpg)

> “Happiness is only the threshold to misery. When a friend refuses to share in joys.”

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

## About This Quote

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

The quote suggests that happiness is merely a prelude to suffering, especially when joy is not shared with friends, implying that joy is incomplete without communal experience.

**In simple terms:** Happiness precedes misery when not shared with friends.

Key Takeaway

Share joy to prevent it from turning sour.

Themes

friendship joy misery

Mood

contemplative melancholic

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- celebrations
- support groups
- personal milestones

Key Concepts

existentialism social connection

Questions to Reflect On

- Do you share your happiness with others?
- How does shared joy affect resilience?

A Different Perspective

Joy alone may not sustain happiness.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Friend Refuses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend-refuses-3531687/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Threshold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-threshold-3531686/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Misery Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery-friend-3531684/) [Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuse/) [Share](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/share/) [Threshold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threshold/) [Threshold Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threshold-misery-3531685/)

## Related quotes

> [A home isn't just a roof over our heads. A home is a place where we feel loved and where we love others. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-home-isn-t-just-a-roof-over-our-heads-a-home-is-a-place-where-we/)

[Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/)

> [Inner silence works from the moment you begin to accrue it. What the old sorcerers were after was the final dramatic, end result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/inner-silence-works-from-the-moment-you-begin-to-accrue-it-what-the/)

[Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/)

> [Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view, That stand upon the threshold of the new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/leaving-the-old-both-worlds-at-once-they-view-that-stand-upon-the/)

[Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/)

> [Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/where-will-you-drive-your-own-picket-stake-where-will-you-choose-to/)

[Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/)

> [In terms of threshold, as long as it's based in reality, you can go pretty far, as long as you buy that it's really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-mccarthy/in-terms-of-threshold-as-long-as-it-s-based-in-reality-you-can-go/)

[Melissa McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-mccarthy/)

> [We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/we-stand-today-at-the-threshold-of-a-great-event-both-in-the-life-of/)

[Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/)

> [It was right then and there that she'd realized there was no quota on misery for people, no quantifiable threshold that once reached, got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/it-was-right-then-and-there-that-she-d-realized-there-was-no-quota-on/)

[J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/)

> [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/)

[Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/)

> [Nearly all runners do their slow runs too fast, and their fast runs too slow." Ken Mierke says. "So they're just training their bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/nearly-all-runners-do-their-slow-runs-too-fast-and-their-fast-runs/)

[Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/)

> [Our task today is to bring India to the threshold of the twenty-first century, free of burden of poverty, legacy of our colonial past,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajiv-gandhi/our-task-today-is-to-bring-india-to-the-threshold-of-the-twenty-first/)

[Rajiv Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajiv-gandhi/)

> [We take people to the threshold of religion. Our aim is to induce immediate experience that is beyond the odd, beyond the strange, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-harvey/we-take-people-to-the-threshold-of-religion-our-aim-is-to-induce/)

[Larry Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-harvey/)

> [The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-tipping-point-is-that-magic-moment-when-an-idea-trend-or-social/)

[Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/)

> [The figure of the enthusiast who has just discovered jogging or a new way to fix tofu can be said to stand or, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-figure-of-the-enthusiast-who-has-just-discovered-jogging-or-a-new/)

[Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/)

> [The blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it's overturned the order of the soul...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/the-blizzard-of-the-world-has-crossed-the-threshold-and-it-s/)

[Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/)

> [Quite a few people have to believe something is normal before it becomes normal - a sort of 'voting' situation. But once the threshold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/quite-a-few-people-have-to-believe-something-is-normal-before-it/)

[Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/)

## More by Georg Ebers

> [Youth has a right to go astray now and then Feeling themselves oppressed by the benevolence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/youth-has-a-right-to-go-astray-now-and-then-feeling-themselves/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

> [Pretended to see nothing in the old woman's taunts. Very hard to imagine nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/pretended-to-see-nothing-in-the-old-woman-s-taunts-very-hard-to/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

> [“More to the purpose to think of the future than of the past”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/more-to-the-purpose-to-think-of-the-future-than-of-the-past/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

> [True love does not paralyze, but doubles the high qualities of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/true-love-does-not-paralyze-but-doubles-the-high-qualities-of-man/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

> [Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death. He may talk about the soul-what he is after is the girl Love means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/christian-hypocrites-who-pretend-to-hate-life-and-love-death-he-may/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

> [Christianity had ceased to be the creed of the poor. He spoke with pompous exaggeration. Whether man were the best or the worst of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/christianity-had-ceased-to-be-the-creed-of-the-poor-he-spoke-with/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

> [Great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow. It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/great-happiness-and-mingled-therefor-with-bitter-sorrow-it-is-not-by/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

> [People who have nothing to do always lack time. Perish all those who do not think as we do. Reason is a feeble weapon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/people-who-have-nothing-to-do-always-lack-time-perish-all-those-who/)

[Georg Ebers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

[Explore all 9 Georg Ebers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/)

## More Friendship 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/)

> [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [“ever day Maureen is Selfish To her friend and Family One she get mad at her friend and family and She need to Grad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-andeson/ever-day-maureen-is-selfish-to-her-friend-and-family-one-she-get-mad/)

[Maureen Andeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-andeson/)

> [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/)

[Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/)

> [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/)

[Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/)

> [Friends are like stars you can't always see them, but you know they're there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknwon/friends-are-like-stars-you-can-t-always-see-them-but-you-know-they-re/)

[Unknwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknwon/)

> [I've been writing songs since I was 10 years old and always had a penchant for rhyming. I started listening to hip hop through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoodie-allen/i-ve-been-writing-songs-since-i-was-10-years-old-and-always-had-a/)

[Hoodie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hoodie-allen/)

> [If you love some one for who they are not for there body or how many friend so when you say I love you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/if-you-love-some-one-for-who-they-are-not-for-there-body-or-how-many/)

[Unknow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknow/)

> [“But my best friend from college was silent for a long time. She, of all of my friends, had seen the parade of sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-groff/but-my-best-friend-from-college-was-silent-for-a-long-time-she-of-all/)

[Lauren Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-groff/)

> [You smile upon your friend to-day, To-day his ills are over; You hearken to the lover's say, And happy is the lover. 'Tis late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-smile-upon-your-friend-to-day-to-day-his-ills-are-over-you/)

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

> [“way. A true friend isn't the one that agrees with everything you say or do. A true friend is someone that has your back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shameek-speight/way-a-true-friend-isn-t-the-one-that-agrees-with-everything-you-say/)

[Shameek Speight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shameek-speight/)

> [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/)

[Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/)

> [“Kings don’t move mountains as a favor to a friend,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-whalen-turner/kings-don-t-move-mountains-as-a-favor-to-a-friend/)

[Megan Whalen Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-whalen-turner/)

> [I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mace/i-have-friends-and-family-that-identify-as-lgbtq/)

[Nancy Mace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mace/)

> [“The real purpose of friendship was to discover and exploit weakness in others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-thompson/the-real-purpose-of-friendship-was-to-discover-and-exploit-weakness/)

[Brian Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-thompson/)

[Browse all 45,469 Friendship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Happiness is only the threshold to misery. When a friend refuses to share in joys.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Georg Ebers"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-misery-when-a-friend-refuses-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Friendship"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-misery-when-a-friend-refuses-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/georg-ebers-45111_friendship_happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-miser_2002582.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/georg-ebers-45111_friendship_happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-miser_2002582.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/georg-ebers-45111_friendship_happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-miser_2002582.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Happiness is only the threshold to misery. When a friend refuses to share in joys.” — Georg Ebers",
                "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": "Georg Ebers",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-ebers/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Happiness is only the threshold to...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-misery-when-a-friend-refuses-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-ebers/happiness-is-only-the-threshold-to-misery-when-a-friend-refuses-to/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
