--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness There's just no accounting for…" description: "\"“Happiness There's just no accounting for happiness, or the way it turns up like a prodigal who comes back to the dust at your feet having squandered a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6e/jane-kenyon-26365_happiness_happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for_2641172.jpg" --- # Happiness There's just no accounting for happiness, or the… ![“Happiness There's just no accounting for happiness, or the way it turns up like a prodigal who comes back to the dust at your feet having squandered a fortune far away. And how can you not forgive? You make a feast in honor of what was lost, and take from its place the finest garment, which you…” quote by Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6e/jane-kenyon-26365_happiness_happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for_2641172.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6e/jane-kenyon-26365_happiness_happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for_2641172.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6e/jane-kenyon-26365_happiness_happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for_2641172.jpg) > ““Happiness There's just no accounting for happiness, or the way it turns up like a prodigal who comes back to the dust at your feet having squandered a fortune far away. And how can you not forgive? You make a feast in honor of what was lost, and take from its place the finest garment, which you saved for an occasion you could not imagine, and you weep night and day to know that you were not abandoned, that happiness saved its most extreme form for you alone. No, happiness is the uncle you never knew about, who flies a single-engine plane onto the grassy landing strip, hitchhikes into town, and inquires at every door until he finds you asleep midafternoon as you so often are during the unmerciful hours of your despair. It comes to the monk in his cell. It comes to the woman sweeping the street with a birch broom, to the child whose mother has passed out from drink. It comes to the lover, to the dog chewing a sock, to the pusher, to the basket maker, and to the clerk stacking cans of carrots in the night. It even comes to the boulder in the perpetual shade of pine barrens, to rain falling on the open sea, to the wineglass, weary of holding wine.”” [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Kenyon portrays happiness as an unexpected, wandering visitor that appears in all walks of life, urging gratitude and forgiveness. **In simple terms:** Happiness arrives unexpectedly in many places. Key Takeaway Be open to joy in everyday moments. Themes joy forgiveness humility Mood reflective hopeful Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - daily life - grief recovery - creative work Key Concepts transience unexpected blessings Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize happiness when it appears? - What can you do to welcome unexpected joy? A Different Perspective Happiness may be fleeting and hard to control. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Rain falling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain-falling/) ## Related quotes > [Peace is the fairest form of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/peace-is-the-fairest-form-of-happiness/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Every form of happiness if one, every desire is driven by the same motor--by our love for a single value, for the highest potentiality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-form-of-happiness-if-one-every-desire-is-driven-by-the-same/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“Gratitude is the highest form of happiness, vibration-energy at its highest level.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-edwards/gratitude-is-the-highest-form-of-happiness-vibration-energy-at-its/) Susan Edwards > [I think all the characters in 'American Horror Story,' which is why I love it, are looking for some sense of meaning, and also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-o-hare/i-think-all-the-characters-in-american-horror-story-which-is-why-i/) [Denis O'Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-o-hare/) > [There are two kinds of happiness - the temporary pleasure derived primarily from material comfort alone and another more enduring comfort that results from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-two-kinds-of-happiness-the-temporary-pleasure-derived/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [In all of my movies I've tried to address the need for man - not just Cubans - to have a dream and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-perez/in-all-of-my-movies-i-ve-tried-to-address-the-need-for-man-not-just/) [Fernando Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-perez/) > [There's a higher form of happiness in commitment. I'm counting on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-forlani/there-s-a-higher-form-of-happiness-in-commitment-i-m-counting-on-it/) [Claire Forlani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-forlani/) > [“During this kind of highly structured, self-motivated hard work, Csikszentmihalyi wrote, we regularly achieve the greatest form of happiness available to human beings: intense,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-mcgonigal/during-this-kind-of-highly-structured-self-motivated-hard-work/) [Jane McGonigal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-mcgonigal/) > [“To cry for yourself because someone loves you..I think that’s a form of happiness…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satoru-wakabayashi-rec-kimi-ga-naita-hi/to-cry-for-yourself-because-someone-loves-you-i-think-that-s-a-form/) Satoru Wakabayashi rec kimi ga naita hi > [“Most desired form of happiness? 'Contentment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devdutt-pattanaik/most-desired-form-of-happiness-contentment/) [Devdutt Pattanaik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devdutt-pattanaik/) > [To the mediocre, mediocrity is a form of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-the-mediocre-mediocrity-is-a-form-of-happiness/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [That which makes people dissatisfied with their condition, is the chimerical idea they form of the happiness of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thomson/that-which-makes-people-dissatisfied-with-their-condition-is-the/) [James Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thomson/) > [Be happy for no reason is the most authentic form of happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-drummond-de-andrade/be-happy-for-no-reason-is-the-most-authentic-form-of-happiness/) [Carlos Drummond de Andrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-drummond-de-andrade/) > [“The old man must have stopped our car two dozen times to climb out and gather into his hands the small toads blinded by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/the-old-man-must-have-stopped-our-car-two-dozen-times-to-climb-out/) [Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/) > [Can anyone be so foolish as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher than their heads, or places where things may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/can-anyone-be-so-foolish-as-to-believe-that-there-are-men-whose-feet/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) ## More by Jane Kenyon > [“Here You always belonged here. You were theirs, certain as a rock. I’m the one who worries if I fit in with the furniture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/here-you-always-belonged-here-you-were-theirs-certain-as-a-rock-i-m/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [The soul's bliss and suffering are bound together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/the-soul-s-bliss-and-suffering-are-bound-together/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [“All day the blanket snapped and swelled on the line, roused by a hot spring wind… From there it witnessed the first sparrow, early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/all-day-the-blanket-snapped-and-swelled-on-the-line-roused-by-a-hot/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [“Let the light of late afternoon shine through chinks in the barn, moving up the bales as the sun moves down. Let the cricket…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/let-the-light-of-late-afternoon-shine-through-chinks-in-the-barn/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [If you want a different life, you gotta start doing and learning different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/if-you-want-a-different-life-you-gotta-start-doing-and-learning/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [I am the one whose love overcomes you, already with you when you think to call my name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/i-am-the-one-whose-love-overcomes-you-already-with-you-when-you-think/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [“To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop in the oats, to air in the lung let evening come. Let it come, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/to-the-bottle-in-the-ditch-to-the-scoop-in-the-oats-to-air-in-the/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [“I divested myself of despair and fear when I came here. Now there is no more catching one's own eye in the mirror, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/i-divested-myself-of-despair-and-fear-when-i-came-here-now-there-is/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [Everyone longs for love's tense joys and red delights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/everyone-longs-for-love-s-tense-joys-and-red-delights/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [The poet's job is to put into words those feelings we all have that are so deep, so important, and yet so difficult to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/the-poet-s-job-is-to-put-into-words-those-feelings-we-all-have-that/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [Let it come, as it will, and don't be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/let-it-come-as-it-will-and-don-t-be-afraid-god-does-not-leave-us/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [“Reading Aloud to My Father I chose the book haphazard from the shelf, but with Nabokov's first sentence I knew it wasn't the thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/reading-aloud-to-my-father-i-chose-the-book-haphazard-from-the-shelf/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [We try a new drug, a new combination of drugs, and suddenly I fall into my life again like a vole picked up by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/we-try-a-new-drug-a-new-combination-of-drugs-and-suddenly-i-fall-into/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [My ear is not working, my poetry ear. I can't write a line that doesn't sound like pots and pans falling out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/my-ear-is-not-working-my-poetry-ear-i-can-t-write-a-line-that-doesn-t/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) > [If it's darkness we're having, let it be extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/if-it-s-darkness-we-re-having-let-it-be-extravagant/) [Jane Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) [Explore all 22 Jane Kenyon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/) ## More Happiness 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/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Happiness There's just no accounting for happiness, or the way it turns up like a prodigal who comes back to the dust at your feet having squandered a fortune far away. And how can you not forgive? You make a feast in honor of what was lost, and take from its place the finest garment, which you saved for an occasion you could not imagine, and you weep night and day to know that you were not abandoned, that happiness saved its most extreme form for you alone. No, happiness is the uncle you never knew about, who flies a single-engine plane onto the grassy landing strip, hitchhikes into town, and inquires at every door until he finds you asleep midafternoon as you so often are during the unmerciful hours of your despair. It comes to the monk in his cell. It comes to the woman sweeping the street with a birch broom, to the child whose mother has passed out from drink. It comes to the lover, to the dog chewing a sock, to the pusher, to the basket maker, and to the clerk stacking cans of carrots in the night. It even comes to the boulder in the perpetual shade of pine barrens, to rain falling on the open sea, to the wineglass, weary of holding wine.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Kenyon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for-happiness-or-the-way-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for-happiness-or-the-way-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6e/jane-kenyon-26365_happiness_happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for_2641172.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6e/jane-kenyon-26365_happiness_happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for_2641172.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6e/jane-kenyon-26365_happiness_happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for_2641172.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Happiness There's just no accounting for happiness, or the way it turns up like a prodigal who comes back to…” — Jane Kenyon", "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": "Jane Kenyon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kenyon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Happiness There's just no accounting for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for-happiness-or-the-way-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kenyon/happiness-there-s-just-no-accounting-for-happiness-or-the-way-it/#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 } } ] } ```