--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These memories of happiness are fleeting…" description: "\"“These memories of happiness are fleeting things, reflections in a stream, glimpsed all broken for a second and then swept away in the current of grief..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/geraldine-brooks-1324_grief_these-memories-of-happiness-are-fleeting_930154.png" --- # These memories of happiness are fleeting things… ![“These memories of happiness are fleeting things, reflections in a stream, glimpsed all broken for a second and then swept away in the current of grief that is our life now. I can't say that I ever feel what it felt like then, when I was happy. But sometimes something will touch the place where…” quote by Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/geraldine-brooks-1324_grief_these-memories-of-happiness-are-fleeting_930154.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/geraldine-brooks-1324_grief_these-memories-of-happiness-are-fleeting_930154.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/371/geraldine-brooks-1324_grief_these-memories-of-happiness-are-fleeting_930154.png) > ““These memories of happiness are fleeting things, reflections in a stream, glimpsed all broken for a second and then swept away in the current of grief that is our life now. I can't say that I ever feel what it felt like then, when I was happy. But sometimes something will touch the place where that feeling was, a touch as slight and swift as the brush of a moth's wing in the dark.”” [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) ## 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 fleeting, like a brief reflection in a stream, but moments can briefly revive that feeling, akin to a moth’s wing brushing the dark. **In simple terms:** Happiness is fleeting but can be briefly revived. Key Takeaway Cherish and notice brief moments of joy. Themes transience memory grief Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - life’s hardships - moments of joy - reflective writing Key Concepts impermanence nostalgia emotional resonance Questions to Reflect On - How do you capture fleeting joy? - What practices help sustain happiness? A Different Perspective Focusing on fleeting joy may overlook lasting fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## Related quotes > [“the ten thousand things are all reflections the moon originally has no light”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/han-shan/the-ten-thousand-things-are-all-reflections-the-moon-originally-has/) Han-shan > [“It is the curse of age, that all things are reflections of other things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-is-the-curse-of-age-that-all-things-are-reflections-of-other-things/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Wishing you a happy birthday with all those special things, the things which make memories and for all the happiness it brings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-smith/wishing-you-a-happy-birthday-with-all-those-special-things-the-things/) [Susan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-smith/) > [Good things comes unexpectedly but when it happens everyone hopes for it to last forever. But even when good things comes to the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshjefftan/good-things-comes-unexpectedly-but-when-it-happens-everyone-hopes-for/) JoshJeffTan > [“I do not want to spend my life clinging stubbornly to wispy memories of a happiness that may have never been.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mako-yoshikawa/i-do-not-want-to-spend-my-life-clinging-stubbornly-to-wispy-memories/) Mako Yoshikawa > [The satisfaction derived from the fleeting things of life is not lasting; and our wants remain unfulfilled. There is thus a general sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meher-baba/the-satisfaction-derived-from-the-fleeting-things-of-life-is-not/) [Meher Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meher-baba/) > [The world is fleeting; all things pass away; Or is it we that pass and they that stay?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian/the-world-is-fleeting-all-things-pass-away-or-is-it-we-that-pass-and/) [Lucian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian/) > [“Memories were such fleeting things, yet the human brain stored them like food for the winter of old age.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-bylin/memories-were-such-fleeting-things-yet-the-human-brain-stored-them/) Victoria Bylin > [“Happiness was a fleeting gift, and Bay-Lee learned long ago to treasure those rare moments when she found them. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kasi-blake/happiness-was-a-fleeting-gift-and-bay-lee-learned-long-ago-to/) Kasi Blake > [Happiness is fleeting and life is brief, but we know that, nonetheless, life can be savored and that happiness, even of the ecstatic kind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/happiness-is-fleeting-and-life-is-brief-but-we-know-that-nonetheless/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Joy is a noble thing, but happiness though fleeting can be found every day and in every small little way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/joy-is-a-noble-thing-but-happiness-though-fleeting-can-be-found-every/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Why are we here? We exist not to pursue happiness, which is fleeting, or outer accomplishment, which can always be bettered. We are here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/why-are-we-here-we-exist-not-to-pursue-happiness-which-is-fleeting-or/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Happiness is fleeting - I think that's the main lesson I have learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/happiness-is-fleeting-i-think-that-s-the-main-lesson-i-have-learned/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [“For what it's worth, I think happiness is a fleeting condition, not a permanent state of goddamn mind. I've learned that if you chase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/for-what-it-s-worth-i-think-happiness-is-a-fleeting-condition-not-a/) [Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/) > [“If I identify happiness with fleeting pleasant sensations, and crave to experience more and more of them, I have no choice but to pursue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/if-i-identify-happiness-with-fleeting-pleasant-sensations-and-crave/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More by Geraldine Brooks > [“The word for mother, umm, is the root of the words for “source, nation, mercy, first principle, rich harvest; stupid, illiterate, parasite, weak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/the-word-for-mother-umm-is-the-root-of-the-words-for-source-nation/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“The lieutenant colonel wondered if the high scores reflected a defect in the newly built shooting range at the women’s academy. To find out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/the-lieutenant-colonel-wondered-if-the-high-scores-reflected-a-defect/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“No wonder simple men have always had their gods dwell in the high places. For as soon as a man lets his eye drop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/no-wonder-simple-men-have-always-had-their-gods-dwell-in-the-high/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [I was really interested in how marriages work, how you can, you know, be in love with somebody and spend many years with your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/i-was-really-interested-in-how-marriages-work-how-you-can-you-know-be/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [Writing is like bricklaying; you put down one word after another. 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Your own theologians have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/the-author-of-this-text-did-not-write-to-provoke-but-merely-to/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“So, you are happy to be a pigeon?” “Maybe so. But at least a pigeon does no harm. The hawk lives at the expense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/so-you-are-happy-to-be-a-pigeon-maybe-so-but-at-least-a-pigeon-does/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“Many men believe in the saying that educating women is like allowing the nose of the camel into the tent: eventually the beast will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/many-men-believe-in-the-saying-that-educating-women-is-like-allowing/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“No, no,” he said. “She can’t raise it at all. She may only clap. Women must be very careful of their voices. If”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/no-no-he-said-she-can-t-raise-it-at-all-she-may-only-clap-women-must/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [If a man is to lose his fortune, it is a good thing if he were poor before he acquired it, for poverty requires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/if-a-man-is-to-lose-his-fortune-it-is-a-good-thing-if-he-were-poor/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) [Explore all 256 Geraldine Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. 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Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. 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