--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What makes man most unhappy is to be…" description: "\"What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that which he had, but of that which he did not have, and did not really know.\" — Jacques Maritain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/jacques-maritain-8918_deprived_what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-dep_1007893.jpg" --- # What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that… ![“What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that which he had, but of that which he did not have, and did not really know.” quote by Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/jacques-maritain-8918_deprived_what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-dep_1007893.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/jacques-maritain-8918_deprived_what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-dep_1007893.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/jacques-maritain-8918_deprived_what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-dep_1007893.jpg) > “What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that which he had, but of that which he did not have, and did not really know.” [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unhappiness stems from longing for unknown, unattainable things, not loss of owned possessions. **In simple terms:** Desire for the unknown causes sorrow. Key Takeaway Focus on appreciating what you have. Themes psychology desire contentment Mood reflective somber Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - career dissatisfaction - relationship expectations - consumerism Key Concepts existentialism comparative analysis need vs. want Questions to Reflect On - What unattainable desire dominates your thoughts? - How can you shift focus to present blessings? A Different Perspective Chasing unknowns can lead to chronic dissatisfaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deprived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deprived/) [Deprived Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deprived-did-2170058/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Man Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-unhappy-754396/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Unhappy Deprived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy-deprived-2170057/) ## Related quotes > [“Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy; only because of that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/man-is-unhappy-because-he-doesn-t-know-he-s-happy-only-because-of-that/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [Today in the west we are asking the question, why is man unhappy? Answer is very simple. We have created a very fast society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/today-in-the-west-we-are-asking-the-question-why-is-man-unhappy/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-man-is-more-unhappy-than-he-who-never-faces-adversity-for-he-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. If anyone finds out he'll become happy at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/man-is-unhappy-because-he-doesn-t-know-he-s-happy-if-anyone-finds-out/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-is-as-unhappy-as-he-has-convinced-himself-he-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nobody bores any man as much as an unhappy female.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moss-hart/nobody-bores-any-man-as-much-as-an-unhappy-female/) [Moss Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moss-hart/) > [Happy is the hearing man; unhappy the speaking man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/happy-is-the-hearing-man-unhappy-the-speaking-man/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/if-you-don-t-want-a-man-unhappy-politically-don-t-give-him-two-sides-2/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-a-man-is-unhappy-remember-that-his-unhappiness-is-his-own-fault/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“He was a complicated man, and an unhappy one. But he knew also that the world was full of simple miracles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-macdonald/he-was-a-complicated-man-and-an-unhappy-one-but-he-knew-also-that-the/) [Helen Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-macdonald/) > [People who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only be unhappy about a person who is worth his while;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/people-who-not-being-in-love-themselves-feel-that-a-clever-man-should/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“I would fave preferred the happy man to the unhappy poems he's left us”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-would-fave-preferred-the-happy-man-to-the-unhappy-poems-he-s-left-us/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Dogs are happy with few things because they have already observed man who is unhappy with many things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/dogs-are-happy-with-few-things-because-they-have-already-observed-man/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [That moment when you burst out crying alone in your room. And you realize that no one truly knows how unhappy you are. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-moment-when-you-burst-out-crying-alone-in-your-room-and-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One moment of gratification is not worth a lifetime of being unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-moment-of-gratification-is-not-worth-a-lifetime-of-being-unhappy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jacques Maritain > [It has never been recommended to confuse "loving" with "seeking to please"... ...Salome pleased Herod's guests; I can hardly believe she was burning with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/it-has-never-been-recommended-to-confuse-loving-with-seeking-to/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [A great philosopher in the wrong is like a beacon on the reefs which says to seamen: steer clear of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/a-great-philosopher-in-the-wrong-is-like-a-beacon-on-the-reefs-which/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [I don't see America as a mainland, but as a sea, a big ocean. Sometimes a storm arises, a formidable current develops, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/i-don-t-see-america-as-a-mainland-but-as-a-sea-a-big-ocean-sometimes/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [It is impossible for a Christian to be a relativist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/it-is-impossible-for-a-christian-to-be-a-relativist/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [The light of common sense is fundamentally the same light as that of science, that is to say, the natural light of the intellect.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/the-light-of-common-sense-is-fundamentally-the-same-light-as-that-of/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [Absolute atheism starts in an act of faith in reverse gear and is a full-blown religious commitment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/absolute-atheism-starts-in-an-act-of-faith-in-reverse-gear-and-is-a/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [Poetry proceeds from the totality of man, sense, imagination, intellect, love, desire, instinct, blood and spirit together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/poetry-proceeds-from-the-totality-of-man-sense-imagination-intellect/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [The great and admirable strength of America consists in this, that America is truly the American people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/the-great-and-admirable-strength-of-america-consists-in-this-that/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [That is why I think, in defiance of Plato, that there is at once error and vulgarity in saying that poetry is a lie,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/that-is-why-i-think-in-defiance-of-plato-that-there-is-at-once-error/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [The first step to be taken by everyone who wishes to act morally is to decide not to act according to the general customs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/the-first-step-to-be-taken-by-everyone-who-wishes-to-act-morally-is/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [The only artist who does not deserve respect is the one who works to please the public, for commercial success or for official success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/the-only-artist-who-does-not-deserve-respect-is-the-one-who-works-to/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [Things are opaque to us, and we are opaque to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/things-are-opaque-to-us-and-we-are-opaque-to-ourselves/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [Thus society is born, as something required by nature, and (because this nature is human nature) as something accomplished through a work of reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/thus-society-is-born-as-something-required-by-nature-and-because-this/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [Poetic experience is distinct in nature from mystical experience. Because poetry emanates from the free creativity of the spirit,it is from the very start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/poetic-experience-is-distinct-in-nature-from-mystical-experience/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [We do not need a truth to serve us, we need a truth that we can serve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/we-do-not-need-a-truth-to-serve-us-we-need-a-truth-that-we-can-serve/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) [Explore all 76 Jacques Maritain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) ## More Deprived quotes > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [It required unusual inquisitiveness to pursue the development of scientific curiosities such as charged pith balls, the voltaic cell, and the electrostatic machine. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-seitz/it-required-unusual-inquisitiveness-to-pursue-the-development-of/) [Frederick Seitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-seitz/) > [My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever again have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity for an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/no-poor-rural-weak-or-black-person-should-ever-again-have-to-bear-the/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [I have received delegations of working men who, apparently speaking with the utmost sincerity, have declared that they would regard it as a genuine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-have-received-delegations-of-working-men-who-apparently-speaking/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. Most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-role-of-the-writer-is-not-to-say-what-we-can-all-say-but-what-we/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [If we are deprived of hope as well as fear, we are compensated by being given an almost endless patience for enduring or simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/if-we-are-deprived-of-hope-as-well-as-fear-we-are-compensated-by/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Yes, I was deprived of sleep, especially during the first few days, ... However, there was nothing physical, no touching or anything like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/yes-i-was-deprived-of-sleep-especially-during-the-first-few-days/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Any system that is deprived of its natural volatility, with government up (unintelligible) volatile, any system becomes very fragile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/any-system-that-is-deprived-of-its-natural-volatility-with-government/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Women have been charged with deviousness and duplicity since the dawn of civilization so they have never been able to pretend that their masks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/women-have-been-charged-with-deviousness-and-duplicity-since-the-dawn/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water, but we also know what it means to see our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/the-people-of-liberia-know-what-it-means-to-be-deprived-of-clean/) [Ellen Johnson Sirleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [ ... deprived of pain, and also deprived of danger, able to do what it wants, \[Nature\] does not need us, nor understands our deserts,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/deprived-of-pain-and-also-deprived-of-danger-able-to-do-what-it-wants/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [I think there is this sensation of being deprived of something that you are entitled to have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-betancourt/i-think-there-is-this-sensation-of-being-deprived-of-something-that/) [Ingrid Betancourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-betancourt/) > [Usage is like oxygen for ideas. That means every moment you're working on something without it being in the public it's actually dying, deprived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg/usage-is-like-oxygen-for-ideas-that-means-every-moment-you-re-working/) [Matt Mullenweg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mullenweg/) [Browse all 424 Deprived quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deprived/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that which he had, but of that which he did not have, and did not really know.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jacques Maritain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-deprived-not-of-that-which-he/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deprived" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-deprived-not-of-that-which-he/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/jacques-maritain-8918_deprived_what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-dep_1007893.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/jacques-maritain-8918_deprived_what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-dep_1007893.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/jacques-maritain-8918_deprived_what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-dep_1007893.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What makes man most unhappy is to be deprived not of that which he had, but of that which he did not have…” — Jacques Maritain", "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": "Jacques Maritain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What makes man most unhappy is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-deprived-not-of-that-which-he/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/what-makes-man-most-unhappy-is-to-be-deprived-not-of-that-which-he/#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 } } ] } ```