--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unhappiness is caused when we cannot let…" description: "\"Unhappiness is caused when we cannot let go of our memories.\" — Jed Rubenfeld" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/jed-rubenfeld-24968_happiness_unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let_614455.png" --- # Unhappiness is caused when we cannot let go of our memories. ![“Unhappiness is caused when we cannot let go of our memories.” quote by Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/jed-rubenfeld-24968_happiness_unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let_614455.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/jed-rubenfeld-24968_happiness_unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let_614455.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/jed-rubenfeld-24968_happiness_unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let_614455.png) > “Unhappiness is caused when we cannot let go of our memories.” [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Holding onto memories creates suffering; release them to find peace. **In simple terms:** Memories can cause unhappiness. Key Takeaway Practice letting go of past hurts. Themes psychology memory well‑being Mood thoughtful calm Type therapeutic reflective When to use this quote - therapy - personal growth - relationships Key Concepts cognitive therapy mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - Which memories hinder you? - How can you honor the past while moving forward? A Different Perspective Some memories are essential for identity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) ## Related quotes > [Don't ever let your memories be bigger than your dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-craig/don-t-ever-let-your-memories-be-bigger-than-your-dreams/) [Jim Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-craig/) > [Most unhappiness is caused because people listen to themselves... instead of talking to themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-unhappiness-is-caused-because-people-listen-to-themselves/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Unhappiness that is caused by too much success is a high-class problem. That’s the sort of unhappiness people work all of their lives to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/unhappiness-that-is-caused-by-too-much-success-is-a-high-class/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [All unhappiness is caused by our trying to be limited, to be an ego. The more we are our Self, the happier we are.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-levenson/all-unhappiness-is-caused-by-our-trying-to-be-limited-to-be-an-ego/) [Lester Levenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-levenson/) > [“Unhappiness is often caused by tendency to find fault with others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/unhappiness-is-often-caused-by-tendency-to-find-fault-with-others/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Are you always trying to get somewhere other than where you are so that you can finally be happy? The truth is that all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anthony/are-you-always-trying-to-get-somewhere-other-than-where-you-are-so/) [Robert Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anthony/) > [Yes it is hard to forget, but don't let the memories hold you down. Hold onto them, let go of your sorrows.. and move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bless-tom/yes-it-is-hard-to-forget-but-don-t-let-the-memories-hold-you-down/) Bless Tom > [It's hard to let go when the memories keep pulling you back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shy-boyfriend/it-s-hard-to-let-go-when-the-memories-keep-pulling-you-back/) Shy Boyfriend > [“The future is all possibilities, but the past is set in stone. All those ghosts of ourselves, our youth, still alive inside us, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mass/the-future-is-all-possibilities-but-the-past-is-set-in-stone-all/) [Wendy Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mass/) > [It's hard to let go when the memories are pulling you back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/it-s-hard-to-let-go-when-the-memories-are-pulling-you-back/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [If only I can turn back time. I'd visit your mind, let the memories rewind and make your love bind to mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romeo-huerbana/if-only-i-can-turn-back-time-i-d-visit-your-mind-let-the-memories/) [Romeo Huerbana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romeo-huerbana/) > [~Turn ur face toward me for me to hold let all those memories be here for us to hold < 3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-gone/turn-ur-face-toward-me-for-me-to-hold-let-all-those-memories-be-here/) She's\_gone > [No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/no-matter-how-much-suffering-you-went-through-you-never-wanted-to-let/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Its hard to let go of the memories youve shared with someone¦ when you remember the tears, youll laugh but when you remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hottiedevil/its-hard-to-let-go-of-the-memories-youve-shared-with-someone-when-you/) HOttieDeviL > [“He looks at me now. “Anyway, I want you to be careful, Meda. Careful you don’t wake up one day, an old fool with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-crewe/he-looks-at-me-now-anyway-i-want-you-to-be-careful-meda-careful-you/) [Eliza Crewe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-crewe/) ## More by Jed Rubenfeld > [“Satisfying a savage instinct is incomparably more pleasurable than satisfying a civilized one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/satisfying-a-savage-instinct-is-incomparably-more-pleasurable-than/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [THERE IS NO mystery to happiness. Unhappy men are alike. Some wound they suffered long ago, some wish denied, some blow to pride, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/there-is-no-mystery-to-happiness-unhappy-men-are-alike-some-wound/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [What i literally cannot describe is the hollowness in my lungs when i am out of her presence. It is as if i were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/what-i-literally-cannot-describe-is-the-hollowness-in-my-lungs-when-i/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [Death releases the energy into air. If a true catastrophe is looming, the disturbance becomes such that a sensitive individual may become highly troubled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/death-releases-the-energy-into-air-if-a-true-catastrophe-is-looming/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [“There is no mystery to happiness. Unhappy men are all alike. 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Don't try to figure it out all at once.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/wrong-way-to-think-about-it-don-t-try-to-figure-it-out-all-at-once/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [“For society, marriage is undoubtedly beneficial. But the burdens of civilized morality are too heavy for many to bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/for-society-marriage-is-undoubtedly-beneficial-but-the-burdens-of/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [There is a condition into which many young women fall. They attach themselves to violent men. They forgive any mistreatment. They think it love;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/there-is-a-condition-into-which-many-young-women-fall-they-attach/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [But there's the rub. The present can never deliver one thing: meaning. The way of happiness and meaning are not the same. To find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/but-there-s-the-rub-the-present-can-never-deliver-one-thing-meaning/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [“No man can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/no-man-can-keep-a-secret-if-his-lips-are-silent-he-chatters-with-his/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [A woman's love for a man is half animal passion and half hate. The more a woman loves a man, the more she hates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/a-woman-s-love-for-a-man-is-half-animal-passion-and-half-hate-the/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [“The most exquisite joy is a sting to the heart, and love -- love is a crisis of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/the-most-exquisite-joy-is-a-sting-to-the-heart-and-love-love-is-a/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [“On certain social occasions, otherwise dignified and serious men will begin behaving unconsciously like players on a stage, performing as they talk, acting as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/on-certain-social-occasions-otherwise-dignified-and-serious-men-will/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) [Explore all 22 Jed Rubenfeld quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) ## 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": "Unhappiness is caused when we cannot let go of our memories.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jed Rubenfeld" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let-go-of-our-memories/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let-go-of-our-memories/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/jed-rubenfeld-24968_happiness_unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let_614455.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/jed-rubenfeld-24968_happiness_unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let_614455.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/jed-rubenfeld-24968_happiness_unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let_614455.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Unhappiness is caused when we cannot let go of our memories.” — Jed Rubenfeld", "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": "Jed Rubenfeld", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Unhappiness is caused when we cannot...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let-go-of-our-memories/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/unhappiness-is-caused-when-we-cannot-let-go-of-our-memories/#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 } } ] } ```