--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not every man who can be…" description: "\"It is not every man who can be exquisitely miserable, any more than exquisitely happy.\" — James Boswell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/james-boswell-7136_every-man_it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisite_2760705.jpg" --- # It is not every man who can be exquisitely miserable, any… ![“It is not every man who can be exquisitely miserable, any more than exquisitely happy.” quote by James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/james-boswell-7136_every-man_it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisite_2760705.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/james-boswell-7136_every-man_it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisite_2760705.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/james-boswell-7136_every-man_it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisite_2760705.jpg) > “It is not every man who can be exquisitely miserable, any more than exquisitely happy.” [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Not everyone can be intensely miserable or intensely happy; extremes are rare. **In simple terms:** Extreme emotions are uncommon. Key Takeaway Seek balanced emotional health. Themes emotion balance extremes Mood reflective calm Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - personal journaling - therapy - stress management Key Concepts psychology well‑being Questions to Reflect On - What steadies your emotions? - Can you experience moderate joy? A Different Perspective May overlook nuanced feelings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Miserable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable/) ## Related quotes > [No man is so exquisitely honest or upright in living, but that ten times in his life he might not lawfully be hanged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-man-is-so-exquisitely-honest-or-upright-in-living-but-that-ten/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [And now more than anything I want beautiful prose. I relish it more and more exquisitely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/and-now-more-than-anything-i-want-beautiful-prose-i-relish-it-more/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The more exquisitely and delightfully you can do nothing, the higher your life's achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/the-more-exquisitely-and-delightfully-you-can-do-nothing-the-higher/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [“She knew all about love—that beautiful, exquisitely painful but precious journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hart-perry/she-knew-all-about-love-that-beautiful-exquisitely-painful-but/) Mary Hart Perry > [My love for him was so exquisitely pure that if we all were capable of giving and receiving such a beautiful gift the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/my-love-for-him-was-so-exquisitely-pure-that-if-we-all-were-capable/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [“So exquisitely slopped that he didn't know if he was on land or at sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/so-exquisitely-slopped-that-he-didn-t-know-if-he-was-on-land-or-at-sea/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I think on some level you owe me for deceiving me sooooo exquisitely..!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/closer-movie/i-think-on-some-level-you-owe-me-for-deceiving-me-sooooo-exquisitely/) Closer: Movie > [“And, together, the two soft forms, overlapping yet distinct, were like misty wings of silence, exquisitely-spun and spread full, surrounding our Lord in graceful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-marinello-sweeney/and-together-the-two-soft-forms-overlapping-yet-distinct-were-like/) [Gina Marinello-Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-marinello-sweeney/) > [Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/photography-deals-exquisitely-with-appearances-but-nothing-is-what-it/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [The life and death of a human being is so exquisitely calibrated as to automatically produce union with Spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/the-life-and-death-of-a-human-being-is-so-exquisitely-calibrated-as/) [Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/) > [Photography is about being exquisitely present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-meyerowitz/photography-is-about-being-exquisitely-present/) [Joel Meyerowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-meyerowitz/) > [The simplicity of your character makes you exquisitely incomprehensible to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-simplicity-of-your-character-makes-you-exquisitely/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Her INNER BEAUTY is what makes her outer beauty exquisitely beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lahart/her-inner-beauty-is-what-makes-her-outer-beauty-exquisitely-beautiful/) [Stephanie Lahart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lahart/) > [Every canvas that can awaken us more exquisitely and accurately to the infinite and various surface of our experience does that much to sharpen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alton-tobey/every-canvas-that-can-awaken-us-more-exquisitely-and-accurately-to/) [Alton Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alton-tobey/) > [“Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and loves you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/exquisitely-painful-isn-t-it-not-being-sure-who-you-love-and-loves-you/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) ## More by James Boswell > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Drinking is in reality an occupation which employs a considerable portion of the time of many people; and to conduct it in the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/drinking-is-in-reality-an-occupation-which-employs-a-considerable/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [“His OFELLUS in the Art of Living in London, I have heard him relate, was an Irish painter, whom he knew at Birmingham, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/his-ofellus-in-the-art-of-living-in-london-i-have-heard-him-relate/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [If a man who is born to a fortune cannot make himself easier and freer than those who are not, he gains nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/if-a-man-who-is-born-to-a-fortune-cannot-make-himself-easier-and/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [He had no settled plan of life, nor looked forward at all, but merely lived from day to day. Yet he read a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/he-had-no-settled-plan-of-life-nor-looked-forward-at-all-but-merely/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Nay, Sir, it was not the WINE that made your head ache, but the SENSE that I put into it' 'What, Sir! will sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/nay-sir-it-was-not-the-wine-that-made-your-head-ache-but-the-sense/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Have a sense of piety ever on your mind, and be ever mindful that this is subject to no change, but will last you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/have-a-sense-of-piety-ever-on-your-mind-and-be-ever-mindful-that-this/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [There is indeed a strange prejudice against Quotation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/there-is-indeed-a-strange-prejudice-against-quotation/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [We must take our friends as they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/we-must-take-our-friends-as-they-are/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [ \[A\]s a lady adjusts her dress before a mirror, a man adjusts his character by looking at his journal. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/a-s-a-lady-adjusts-her-dress-before-a-mirror-a-man-adjusts-his/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [We had some port, and drank damnation to the play and eternal remorse to the author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/we-had-some-port-and-drank-damnation-to-the-play-and-eternal-remorse/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [I find I journalize too tediously. Let me try to abbreviate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/i-find-i-journalize-too-tediously-let-me-try-to-abbreviate/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [ In comparing these two writers, he \[Samuel Johnson\] used this expression: "that there was as great a difference between them as between a man… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/in-comparing-these-two-writers-he-samuel-johnson-used-this-expression/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [I make it a kind of pious rule to go to every funeral to which I am invited, both as I wish to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/i-make-it-a-kind-of-pious-rule-to-go-to-every-funeral-to-which-i-am/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [All censure of a man's self is oblique praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/all-censure-of-a-man-s-self-is-oblique-praise/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) [Explore all 94 James Boswell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) ## More Every man quotes > [I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. MARTIN LUTHER, letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/i-cannot-forbid-a-person-to-marry-several-wives-for-it-does-not/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Every man has his secret sadness and sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-has-his-secret-sadness-and-sorrows-which-the-world-knows/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [ Vote for Donald Trump. You're going to see something and you'll be so happy, you'll be so thrilled. This \[presidential\] election is about every… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/vote-for-donald-trump-you-re-going-to-see-something-and-you-ll-be-so/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“The old intergenerational give-and-take of the country-that-used-to-be, when everyone knew his role and took the rules dead seriously, the acculturating back-and-forth that all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-old-intergenerational-give-and-take-of-the-country-that-used-to/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [Every man must wear out at least one pair of fools shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-derr-biggers/every-man-must-wear-out-at-least-one-pair-of-fools-shoes/) [Earl Derr Biggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-derr-biggers/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven in his own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-religions-must-be-tolerated-for-every-man-must-get-to-heaven-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“China reminds me most of America at its own moment of transformation—the period that Mark Twain and Charles Warner named the Gilded Age, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-osnos/china-reminds-me-most-of-america-at-its-own-moment-of-transformation/) [Evan Osnos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-osnos/) > [Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chalmers/every-man-is-a-missionary-now-and-forever-for-good-or-for-evil/) [Thomas Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chalmers/) > [“John, let me make one thing clear,” Jim said, cutting me off in his most stern, evangelical voice. “Every man is blessed with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/john-let-me-make-one-thing-clear-jim-said-cutting-me-off-in-his-most/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [Every man's heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe a final breath. And if what that man did in his life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-ultimate-warrior/every-man-s-heart-one-day-beats-its-final-beat-his-lungs-breathe-a/) [The Ultimate Warrior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-ultimate-warrior/) Browse all 3,342 Every man quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not every man who can be exquisitely miserable, any more than exquisitely happy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Boswell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisitely-miserable-any-more-than/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Every man" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisitely-miserable-any-more-than/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/james-boswell-7136_every-man_it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisite_2760705.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/james-boswell-7136_every-man_it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisite_2760705.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/james-boswell-7136_every-man_it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisite_2760705.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not every man who can be exquisitely miserable, any more than exquisitely happy.” — James Boswell", "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": "James Boswell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is not every man who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisitely-miserable-any-more-than/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/it-is-not-every-man-who-can-be-exquisitely-miserable-any-more-than/#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 } } ] } ```