--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If there is a state where the soul can…" description: "\"“If there is a state where the soul can find a resting-place secure enough to establish itself and concentrate its entire being there, with no need to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_existence_if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-f_362006.jpg" --- # If there is a state where the soul can find a… ![“If there is a state where the soul can find a resting-place secure enough to establish itself and concentrate its entire being there, with no need to remember the past or reach into the future, where time is nothing to it, where the present runs on indefinitely but this duration goes unnoticed…” quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_existence_if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-f_362006.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_existence_if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-f_362006.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_existence_if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-f_362006.jpg) > ““If there is a state where the soul can find a resting-place secure enough to establish itself and concentrate its entire being there, with no need to remember the past or reach into the future, where time is nothing to it, where the present runs on indefinitely but this duration goes unnoticed, with no sign of the passing of time, and no other feeling of deprivation or enjoyment, pleasure or pain, desire or fear than the simple feeling of existence, a feeling that fills our soul entirely, as long as this state lasts, we can call ourselves happy, not with a poor, incomplete and relative happiness such as we find in the pleasures of life, but with a sufficient, complete and perfect happiness which leaves no emptiness to be filled in the soul.”” [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True happiness is found in a timeless, present‑focused state where the soul simply exists without desire, fear, or memory of past and future. **In simple terms:** Happiness is pure presence without longing. Key Takeaway Seek deep, present‑moment awareness. Themes philosophy happiness mindfulness Mood calm reflective Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - Meditation retreats - deep contemplation - creative flow - spiritual practice Key Concepts Existentialism Stoicism Transcendentalism Questions to Reflect On - Can you experience moments of pure presence? - What distractions prevent you from staying in the now? A Different Perspective Achieving such a state may be unrealistic amid daily responsibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Passing Of Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing-of-time/) [Perfect happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect-happiness/) [Pleasures of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures-of-life/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [To live is not merely to breathe; it is to act; it is to make use of our organs, senses, faculties - of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/to-live-is-not-merely-to-breathe-it-is-to-act-it-is-to-make-use-of/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [This body is yours. It is your home. The keeper of your soul. The resting place of your spirit. No one can ever take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susane-colasanti/this-body-is-yours-it-is-your-home-the-keeper-of-your-soul-the/) [Susane Colasanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susane-colasanti/) > [When your soul is resting, your emotions are okay, your mind is okay, and your will is at peace with God, not resisting what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/when-your-soul-is-resting-your-emotions-are-okay-your-mind-is-okay/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [We possess within us a force of incalculable power, which if we direct it in a conscious and wise manner, gives us the mastery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-coue/we-possess-within-us-a-force-of-incalculable-power-which-if-we-direct/) [Emile Coue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-coue/) > [“The good news is that we can sometimes control the “circles” around us, moving toward smaller circles that boost our relative happiness. 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This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ma-jian/i-have-to-live-within-my-memories-within-my-private-universe-and/) [Ma Jian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ma-jian/) > [This happiness consisted of nothing else but the harmony of the few things around me with my own existence, a feeling of contentment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-happiness-consisted-of-nothing-else-but-the-harmony-of-the-few/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/in-the-social-jungle-of-human-existence-there-is-no-feeling-of-being/) [Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/) > [I give the name of cosmic sense to the more or less confused affinity that binds us psychologically to the All which envelops us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/i-give-the-name-of-cosmic-sense-to-the-more-or-less-confused-affinity/) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) > [You exist without the feeling of existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/you-exist-without-the-feeling-of-existence/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [I don't think existence wants you to be serious. I have not seen a serious tree. I have not seen a serious bird. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/i-don-t-think-existence-wants-you-to-be-serious-i-have-not-seen-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When we feel an obligation to test the things we say and to find the boundaries within which what we say has validity, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-steiner/when-we-feel-an-obligation-to-test-the-things-we-say-and-to-find-the/) [Rudolf Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-steiner/) > [ What happens \[in a coma\] is that you lose the grounding of the self, you no longer have access to any feeling of your… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/what-happens-in-a-coma-is-that-you-lose-the-grounding-of-the-self-you/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [“How much more reasonable is it to say with the sage Plato, that the perfect happiness of a state consists in the subjects obeying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/how-much-more-reasonable-is-it-to-say-with-the-sage-plato-that-the/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) ## More by Jean-Jacques Rousseau > [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/) > [Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-the-course-opposite-to-custom-and-you-will-almost-always-do-well/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given to us by education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/everything-we-do-not-have-at-our-birth-and-which-we-need-when-we-are/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [...in respect of riches, no citizen shall ever be wealthy enough to buy another, and none poor enough to be forced to sell himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/in-respect-of-riches-no-citizen-shall-ever-be-wealthy-enough-to-buy/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-from-the-philosopher-the-pleasure-of-being-heard-and-his-desire/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Men, in general, are not this or that, they are what they are made to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/men-in-general-are-not-this-or-that-they-are-what-they-are-made-to-be/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-would-rather-be-a-man-of-paradoxes-than-a-man-of-prejudices/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“O Fabricius! What would your great soul have thought, if to your own misfortune you had been called back to life and had seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/o-fabricius-what-would-your-great-soul-have-thought-if-to-your-own/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“The sword wears out its sheath, as it is sometimes said. That is my story. My passions have made me live, and my passions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-sword-wears-out-its-sheath-as-it-is-sometimes-said-that-is-my/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Whence do I get my rules of conduct? I find them in my heart. Whatever I feel to be good is good. Whatever I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/whence-do-i-get-my-rules-of-conduct-i-find-them-in-my-heart-whatever/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“If one divided all of human science into two parts - the one common to all men, the other particular to the learned -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/if-one-divided-all-of-human-science-into-two-parts-the-one-common-to/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The social compact sets up among the citizens as equality of such kind, that they all bind themselves to observe the same conditions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-compact-sets-up-among-the-citizens-as-equality-of-such/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I do not know is a phrase which becomes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-do-not-know-is-a-phrase-which-becomes-us/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“How could I become wicked, when I had nothing but examples of gentleness before my eyes, and none around me but the best people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/how-could-i-become-wicked-when-i-had-nothing-but-examples-of/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) [Explore all 518 Jean-Jacques Rousseau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If there is a state where the soul can find a resting-place secure enough to establish itself and concentrate its entire being there, with no need to remember the past or reach into the future, where time is nothing to it, where the present runs on indefinitely but this duration goes unnoticed, with no sign of the passing of time, and no other feeling of deprivation or enjoyment, pleasure or pain, desire or fear than the simple feeling of existence, a feeling that fills our soul entirely, as long as this state lasts, we can call ourselves happy, not with a poor, incomplete and relative happiness such as we find in the pleasures of life, but with a sufficient, complete and perfect happiness which leaves no emptiness to be filled in the soul.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean-Jacques Rousseau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-find-a-resting-place-secure/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-find-a-resting-place-secure/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_existence_if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-f_362006.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_existence_if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-f_362006.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cb/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_existence_if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-f_362006.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If there is a state where the soul can find a resting-place secure enough to establish itself and…” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau", "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": "Jean-Jacques Rousseau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If there is a state where...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-find-a-resting-place-secure/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/if-there-is-a-state-where-the-soul-can-find-a-resting-place-secure/#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 } } ] } ```