--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Her face looked ugly in the attempt to…" description: "\"Her face looked ugly in the attempt to avoid tears; it was an ugliness which bound him to her more than any beauty could have done. It isn't being happ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e25/graham-greene-441_being-unhappy_her-face-looked-ugly-in-the-attempt-to-a_2837449.jpg" --- # Her face looked ugly in the attempt to avoid tears; it was… ![“Her face looked ugly in the attempt to avoid tears; it was an ugliness which bound him to her more than any beauty could have done. It isn't being happy together, he thought as though it were a fresh discovery, that makes one love--it's being unhappy together.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e25/graham-greene-441_being-unhappy_her-face-looked-ugly-in-the-attempt-to-a_2837449.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e25/graham-greene-441_being-unhappy_her-face-looked-ugly-in-the-attempt-to-a_2837449.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e25/graham-greene-441_being-unhappy_her-face-looked-ugly-in-the-attempt-to-a_2837449.jpg) > “Her face looked ugly in the attempt to avoid tears; it was an ugliness which bound him to her more than any beauty could have done. It isn't being happy together, he thought as though it were a fresh discovery, that makes one love--it's being unhappy together.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ugly moments bind deeper than beauty; love thrives in shared unhappiness. **In simple terms:** Unhappiness can deepen love more than beauty. Key Takeaway Embrace imperfect connections. Themes love imperfection bonding Mood melancholy introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - marriage - friendship - creative collaboration Key Concepts existentialism human condition Questions to Reflect On - Can love survive unhappiness? - What transforms pain into love? A Different Perspective Unhappy togetherness may be unsustainable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-unhappy/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Happy together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-together/) [One love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-love/) [Relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationship/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Ugliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugliness/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) ## Related quotes > [It isn't being happy together, he thought as though it were a fresh discovery, that makes one love -- it's being unhappy together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-isn-t-being-happy-together-he-thought-as-though-it-were-a-fresh/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I sat back and looked at it. It was ugly, dark, uncontrolled. Like a monster's face. Or maybe what I saw there was my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-brown/i-sat-back-and-looked-at-it-it-was-ugly-dark-uncontrolled-like-a/) [Jennifer Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-brown/) > [Ah, mother! How do you do?' said he, giving her a hearty shake of the hand; 'Where did you get that quiz of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/ah-mother-how-do-you-do-said-he-giving-her-a-hearty-shake-of-the-hand/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [People have never looked so ugly as they do today. We just consume far too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-westwood/people-have-never-looked-so-ugly-as-they-do-today-we-just-consume-far/) [Vivienne Westwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-westwood/) > [I'm only saying I want you to be happy. I hate your being unhappy. I don't mind anything you do that makes you happy."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-m-only-saying-i-want-you-to-be-happy-i-hate-your-being-unhappy-i/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“I loved her; we were happy; I miss her. She didn't love me; we were unhappy; I miss her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-loved-her-we-were-happy-i-miss-her-she-didn-t-love-me-we-were/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Love what you do and do what you love, otherwise you will become unhappy and self-defeating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sugar/love-what-you-do-and-do-what-you-love-otherwise-you-will-become/) [Alan Sugar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sugar/) > [It is better to be unhappy in love than unhappy in marriage, but some people manage to be both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/it-is-better-to-be-unhappy-in-love-than-unhappy-in-marriage-but-some/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) > [The worst part of depression is not the emptiness, but when you see the people you love unhappy because of who you are, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/the-worst-part-of-depression-is-not-the-emptiness-but-when-you-see/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) > [One hates to see the one they love happy with somebody else but u surely should hate it more to see the one u…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raveen/one-hates-to-see-the-one-they-love-happy-with-somebody-else-but-u/) [Raveen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raveen/) > [Itll break your heart to see that the one you love is happy with some one else, but its more painful to know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/itll-break-your-heart-to-see-that-the-one-you-love-is-happy-with-some/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [It breaks your heart to see the one you love is happywith someone else, but it's more painful to knowthatthe one you love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinku-razoria/it-breaks-your-heart-to-see-the-one-you-love-is-happywith-someone/) [Tinku Razoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinku-razoria/) > [“What a waste! What a horrible, senseless waste. When happiness was so wonderful, how could anyone cling to a love that made them unhappy?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-ripley/what-a-waste-what-a-horrible-senseless-waste-when-happiness-was-so/) [Alexandra Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-ripley/) > [It breaks your heart to see the one you love is happy with someone else, but it's more painful to know that the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-breaks-your-heart-to-see-the-one-you-love-is-happy-with-someone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you are happy, you can give happiness. If you don't love yourself and if you are unhappy with yourself, you can't give anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gisele-bundchen/if-you-are-happy-you-can-give-happiness-if-you-don-t-love-yourself/) [Gisele Bundchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gisele-bundchen/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Being unhappy quotes > [If you have to go through life being unhappy to conform to society around you, that's not a very good deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dell/if-you-have-to-go-through-life-being-unhappy-to-conform-to-society/) [Michael Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dell/) > [Never compromise and sell yourself short. I've been in the music business, a girl group . . . I've been through so many different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naturi-naughton/never-compromise-and-sell-yourself-short-i-ve-been-in-the-music/) [Naturi Naughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naturi-naughton/) > [You can be fully satisfied with where you are, understanding that you're eternally evolving. When you get into that place of feeling appreciation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/you-can-be-fully-satisfied-with-where-you-are-understanding-that-you/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Why be unhappy about something if it can be remedied? And what is the use of being unhappy about something if it cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shantideva/why-be-unhappy-about-something-if-it-can-be-remedied-and-what-is-the/) [Shantideva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shantideva/) > [... there are two ways of being unhappy. Not getting what you want is one. Getting what you want is the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/there-are-two-ways-of-being-unhappy-not-getting-what-you-want-is-one/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [If you walk away and they dont follow you. Keep going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-walk-away-and-they-dont-follow-you-keep-going/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What's the good of dragging up sufferings which are over, of being unhappy now just because you were then.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/what-s-the-good-of-dragging-up-sufferings-which-are-over-of-being/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [It was a silly, silly dream, being unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-was-a-silly-silly-dream-being-unhappy/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Happiness to me is simply not being unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-carrott/happiness-to-me-is-simply-not-being-unhappy/) [Jasper Carrott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-carrott/) > [I find to my astonishment that an unhappy marriage goes on being unhappy when it is over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/i-find-to-my-astonishment-that-an-unhappy-marriage-goes-on-being/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/i-have-just-one-day-today-and-i-m-going-to-be-happy-in-it/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [All happy people are grateful. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain, but it’s truer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/all-happy-people-are-grateful-ungrateful-people-cannot-be-happy-we/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [If you want to be happy, learn to be alone without being lonely. Learn that being alone does not mean being unhappy. The world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-josephson/if-you-want-to-be-happy-learn-to-be-alone-without-being-lonely-learn/) [Michael Josephson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-josephson/) > [Putin has made life difficult for a lot of Russia's richest men; they don't like the sanctions; they don't like the war with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/putin-has-made-life-difficult-for-a-lot-of-russia-s-richest-men-they/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [It never occurred to me to be a film director, partly because I hadn't seen a single film by a female director, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-harron/it-never-occurred-to-me-to-be-a-film-director-partly-because-i-hadn-t/) [Mary Harron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-harron/) [Browse all 44 Being unhappy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-unhappy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Her face looked ugly in the attempt to avoid tears; it was an ugliness which bound him to her more than any beauty could have done. 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