--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what was happiness but an…" description: "\"“But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible state to maintain, partly because it was so difficult to articulate? He couldn't remember be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/hanya-yanagihara-4245_friendship_but-what-was-happiness-but-an-extravagan_1469531.jpg" --- # But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible… ![“But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible state to maintain, partly because it was so difficult to articulate? He couldn't remember being a child and being able to define happiness (...) "I think he's shy," he finished” quote by Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/hanya-yanagihara-4245_friendship_but-what-was-happiness-but-an-extravagan_1469531.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/hanya-yanagihara-4245_friendship_but-what-was-happiness-but-an-extravagan_1469531.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/hanya-yanagihara-4245_friendship_but-what-was-happiness-but-an-extravagan_1469531.jpg) > ““But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible state to maintain, partly because it was so difficult to articulate? He couldn't remember being a child and being able to define happiness (...) "I think he's shy," he finished”” [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) ## 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 portrayed as fleeting, hard to define, and often elusive, especially when childhood innocence is lost. **In simple terms:** Happiness is rare and hard to express. Key Takeaway Cherish simple joys before they fade. Themes happiness memory identity Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - mental health - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What defines happiness for you? - How does childhood perception shape adult joy? A Different Perspective Happiness may be an unattainable ideal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [I talk about it a lot to my students. 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I express myself through the characters that I play,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-pearce/i-find-it-really-difficult-to-even-articulate-things-that-i-ve-done/) [Guy Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-pearce/) > [I think of myself as a shy, modest, relatively unassuming person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-landgraf/i-think-of-myself-as-a-shy-modest-relatively-unassuming-person/) [John Landgraf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-landgraf/) > [You think I'm shy and boring & you don't like me because of that but I don't really care. You just don't know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-think-i-m-shy-and-boring-you-don-t-like-me-because-of-that-but-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In a lot of ways I look at these old photos, and I don't know if I would have been able to communicate with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-mcginley/in-a-lot-of-ways-i-look-at-these-old-photos-and-i-don-t-know-if-i/) [Ryan McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-mcginley/) > [I guess because theater's so ephemeral and it's gone. You make this nightly contract with the audience and you redraw that contract for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cillian-murphy/i-guess-because-theater-s-so-ephemeral-and-it-s-gone-you-make-this/) [Cillian Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cillian-murphy/) > [People that don't know me think I'm shy. People that do know me wish I were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babloo/people-that-don-t-know-me-think-i-m-shy-people-that-do-know-me-wish-i/) [Babloo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babloo/) > [I was always very shy but as I get older I think, What am I being shy for? You just grow weary of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/i-was-always-very-shy-but-as-i-get-older-i-think-what-am-i-being-shy/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [People can think I'm shy, or whatever. Those who know me, like really know me, know I'm not like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-wan-bissaka/people-can-think-i-m-shy-or-whatever-those-who-know-me-like-really/) [Aaron Wan-Bissaka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-wan-bissaka/) > [If you think shy, you act shy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arfa-karim/if-you-think-shy-you-act-shy/) [Arfa Karim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arfa-karim/) > [I think I was a shy kid. I grew up without television. I had a dog, and we lived up in the White Mountains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/i-think-i-was-a-shy-kid-i-grew-up-without-television-i-had-a-dog-and/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [I don't look into myself too much. I don't think I'm shy so much as a better listener than I am a speaker. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-sumner/i-don-t-look-into-myself-too-much-i-don-t-think-i-m-shy-so-much-as-a/) [Eliot Sumner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-sumner/) > [I think, for a shy person - and I was very shy until my mid-20s - having been to an all-girls' school is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-hart/i-think-for-a-shy-person-and-i-was-very-shy-until-my-mid-20s-having/) [Miranda Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-hart/) ## More by Hanya Yanagihara > [“People who don’t love math always accuse mathematicians of trying to make math complicated,” Dr. Li had said. “But anyone who does love math…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/people-who-don-t-love-math-always-accuse-mathematicians-of-trying-to/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“At night, as beneath him his parents completed their routines, the banging of the old pipes as they washed their faces and the sudden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/at-night-as-beneath-him-his-parents-completed-their-routines-the/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [To be a scientist you have to be willing to live with uncertainty for a long time. Research scientists begin with a question and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/to-be-a-scientist-you-have-to-be-willing-to-live-with-uncertainty-for/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“Why wasn’t friendship as good as a relationship? Why wasn’t it even better?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/why-wasn-t-friendship-as-good-as-a-relationship-why-wasn-t-it-even/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“But fairness is not the only, or even the most important, consideration in law: the law is not always fair. 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I don't think that genius goes hand in hand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/the-big-characters-who-occupy-science-especially-modern-science-are/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“Sometimes I would have to take my glasses off simply so the world would smudge and recede for a moment and cease to seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/sometimes-i-would-have-to-take-my-glasses-off-simply-so-the-world/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [I credit my parents for many things that had never seemed remarkable when I was growing up, and one of those things is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/i-credit-my-parents-for-many-things-that-had-never-seemed-remarkable/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [I have one friend to whom I've told more than I've ever told anyone, and yet there are significant territories I have and will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/i-have-one-friend-to-whom-i-ve-told-more-than-i-ve-ever-told-anyone/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“If you keep trying to find everything, you’ll wind up with nothing. AMY:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/if-you-keep-trying-to-find-everything-you-ll-wind-up-with-nothing-amy/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) [Explore all 94 Hanya Yanagihara quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) ## 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. 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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 > [“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": "“But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible state to maintain, partly because it was so difficult to articulate? 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