--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Or maybe she simply couldn't stay merry…" description: "\"“Or maybe she simply couldn't stay merry. That subversive, candid merriment of hers was enchanting, electric; but it was a social phenomenon. It was so..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/joan-wickersham-29935_sooner-or-later_or-maybe-she-simply-couldn-t-stay-merry_1665220.jpg" --- # Or maybe she simply couldn't stay merry. That subversive… ![“Or maybe she simply couldn't stay merry. That subversive, candid merriment of hers was enchanting, electric; but it was a social phenomenon. It was something elicited by, and dazzling to, a new acquaintance. It was like makeup: it looked good in public, but in private, sooner or later it had to…” quote by Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/joan-wickersham-29935_sooner-or-later_or-maybe-she-simply-couldn-t-stay-merry_1665220.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/joan-wickersham-29935_sooner-or-later_or-maybe-she-simply-couldn-t-stay-merry_1665220.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/joan-wickersham-29935_sooner-or-later_or-maybe-she-simply-couldn-t-stay-merry_1665220.jpg) > ““Or maybe she simply couldn't stay merry. That subversive, candid merriment of hers was enchanting, electric; but it was a social phenomenon. It was something elicited by, and dazzling to, a new acquaintance. It was like makeup: it looked good in public, but in private, sooner or later it had to come off.”” [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Social masks can be charming but hide true self; authenticity eventually emerges. **In simple terms:** Masks hide authenticity. Key Takeaway Value genuine connections over appearances. Themes authenticity social masks relationships Mood thoughtful introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - dating - new friendships - public events Key Concepts psychology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - When have you felt pressured to present a false self? - How does authenticity affect trust? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex social behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Like Makeup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-makeup-800455/) [Makeup Looked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/makeup-looked-800453/) [Merry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merry/) [Merry Subversive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merry-subversive-800454/) [Sooner or later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sooner-or-later/) [Stay Merry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stay-merry-800456/) ## Related quotes > [I saw Song Hye Kyo once, and she was so pretty. She was bare-faced, and I was wearing full makeup, yet she still looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-bo-young/i-saw-song-hye-kyo-once-and-she-was-so-pretty-she-was-bare-faced-and/) [Park Bo-young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-bo-young/) > [Travis: I didn’t know they made permanent makeup. I looked like a clown for a month. Connor: Yeah. They put a curse on me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/travis-i-didn-t-know-they-made-permanent-makeup-i-looked-like-a-clown/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [I like dressing like a guy. I love it. When I was modeling I used to do pictures where I would dress up like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/i-like-dressing-like-a-guy-i-love-it-when-i-was-modeling-i-used-to-do/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [I get a bit insecure if I feel like there's too much makeup on my face or if I feel like I'm cakey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dua-lipa/i-get-a-bit-insecure-if-i-feel-like-there-s-too-much-makeup-on-my/) [Dua Lipa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dua-lipa/) > [“You don’t like all the makeup?” “I just don’t think you need it. I mean, you look pretty without it.” Oh, really? That was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawthorne/you-don-t-like-all-the-makeup-i-just-don-t-think-you-need-it-i-mean/) [Rachel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawthorne/) > [Confidence ; I Wear It Like Makeup .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/confidence-i-wear-it-like-makeup/) [Author Name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/author-name/) > [I don't care if someone makes fun of me, but if someone calls me a mean person or something, I reply. If you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-charles/i-don-t-care-if-someone-makes-fun-of-me-but-if-someone-calls-me-a/) [James Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-charles/) > [I'm girlie in the sense that I like makeup, but I also love sports and man food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-underwood/i-m-girlie-in-the-sense-that-i-like-makeup-but-i-also-love-sports-and/) [Carrie Underwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-underwood/) > [Photoshop is just like makeup. When its done well it looks great, and when its overdone you look like a crazy a\*\*hole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-fey/photoshop-is-just-like-makeup-when-its-done-well-it-looks-great-and/) [Tina Fey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-fey/) > [Don't like makeup. I don't use it much unless I go out - I think it makes you look older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-brown/don-t-like-makeup-i-don-t-use-it-much-unless-i-go-out-i-think-it/) [June Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-brown/) > [I think the best piece of advice that I would give is beauty is really just - I know it sounds cheesy - being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/i-think-the-best-piece-of-advice-that-i-would-give-is-beauty-is/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [I found my style and how I like to do makeup from trying and failing and trying and failing again, and unfortunately, I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-graham/i-found-my-style-and-how-i-like-to-do-makeup-from-trying-and-failing/) [Kat Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-graham/) > [I very much feel like I'm part of the makeup of 'Once Upon a Time.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dornan/i-very-much-feel-like-i-m-part-of-the-makeup-of-once-upon-a-time/) [Jamie Dornan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dornan/) > [There are moments when I am really not happy with how I look, or I think it would be an easy way out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavi-gevinson/there-are-moments-when-i-am-really-not-happy-with-how-i-look-or-i/) [Tavi Gevinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavi-gevinson/) > [Saudi women like makeup. And I'm OK with that. If that's what you want to make you feel good, go for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reema-bint-bandar-al-saud/saudi-women-like-makeup-and-i-m-ok-with-that-if-that-s-what-you-want/) [Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reema-bint-bandar-al-saud/) ## More by Joan Wickersham > [“Young" and "Poor" sounded so promising, the way my mother always told the story. Temporary conditions: poignant "befores" that existed only to contrast with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/young-and-poor-sounded-so-promising-the-way-my-mother-always-told-the/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“What we did not say was that with these hurts an edge was worn down. It happens out of necessity -- it would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/what-we-did-not-say-was-that-with-these-hurts-an-edge-was-worn-down/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [And while some healing does happen, it isn't a healing of redemption or epiphany. It's more like the slow absorption of a bruise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/and-while-some-healing-does-happen-it-isn-t-a-healing-of-redemption/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“Not just the beating. The words. 'Boris, you're stubborn, lazy, worthless, you can't do anything right, you're evil' -- at least once I heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/not-just-the-beating-the-words-boris-you-re-stubborn-lazy-worthless/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [A love story - your own, or anyone else's - is interior, hidden. It can never be accurately reported, only imagined. It is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/a-love-story-your-own-or-anyone-else-s-is-interior-hidden-it-can/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“The word "miss" is so wistful. As is the word "wistful," for that matter. They both have sighs embedded in them, that "iss" sound.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/the-word-miss-is-so-wistful-as-is-the-word-wistful-for-that-matter/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“Those moments of knowing are sharp and merciless, but then they fade out, like stars when the sky gets light in the morning. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/those-moments-of-knowing-are-sharp-and-merciless-but-then-they-fade/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“That's how it went between us. We would have a horrible fight, which at the time would feel insurmountable. It was impossible to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/that-s-how-it-went-between-us-we-would-have-a-horrible-fight-which-at/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“My feelings-let's hold on to this idea of them as shuffling Victorians, let's make them servants, an entire uniformed household staff- were fresh, raw,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/my-feelings-let-s-hold-on-to-this-idea-of-them-as-shuffling/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [But who is ever able to apply to her own current love affair a word like "similar"?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/but-who-is-ever-able-to-apply-to-her-own-current-love-affair-a-word/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“You are like a nearsighted person who can see the cracks in the bowl when she's wearing glasses -- and so chooses not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/you-are-like-a-nearsighted-person-who-can-see-the-cracks-in-the-bowl/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“Time and judgment collaborate to produce farce, and farce in turn contains much truth; major characters upon the stage may turn out to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/time-and-judgment-collaborate-to-produce-farce-and-farce-in-turn/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“She knows by now that grief is about endurance, understanding over and over that the person you loved is not coming back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/she-knows-by-now-that-grief-is-about-endurance-understanding-over-and/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [There is also something deeply lovely about uncertainty: the possibility of optimism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/there-is-also-something-deeply-lovely-about-uncertainty-the/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) > [“A story went around that someone had asked Mozart how he intended to refute his detractors. "I will refute them with new works," he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-wickersham/a-story-went-around-that-someone-had-asked-mozart-how-he-intended-to/) [Joan Wickersham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) [Explore all 18 Joan Wickersham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-wickersham/) ## More Merry quotes > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [The merry cuckow, messenger of Spring, His trumpet shrill hath thrice already sounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/the-merry-cuckow-messenger-of-spring-his-trumpet-shrill-hath-thrice/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/a-father-may-turn-his-back-on-his-child-brothers-and-sisters-may/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Middle-aged life is merry, and I love to lead it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/middle-aged-life-is-merry-and-i-love-to-lead-it/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [French wines may be said but to pickle meat in the stomach, but this is the wine that digests, and doth not only breed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howell/french-wines-may-be-said-but-to-pickle-meat-in-the-stomach-but-this/) [James Howell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howell/) > [I have always considered The Merry Wives one of the worst plays, if not altogether the worst, that Shakespeare has left us. The wit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/i-have-always-considered-the-merry-wives-one-of-the-worst-plays-if/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) > [“For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle, And the merry love to dance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-b-yeats/for-the-good-are-always-the-merry-save-by-an-evil-chance-and-the/) [W.B. Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-b-yeats/) > [Kate Bernheimer's fiction offers a unique and delicate gift, the tempting mirage of a grace that constantly escapes. The Complete Tales of Merry Gold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-millet/kate-bernheimer-s-fiction-offers-a-unique-and-delicate-gift-the/) [Lydia Millet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-millet/) > [I would much rather have been merry than wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-would-much-rather-have-been-merry-than-wise/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster. Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride! I always wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lowell-ganz/you-know-when-i-was-nineteen-grandpa-took-me-on-a-roller-coaster-up/) [Lowell Ganz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lowell-ganz/) > [I guess you will have to go to jail. 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His wife, Yashodhara, must have created the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/without-marriage-there-will-be-no-renunciation-buddha-would-not-have/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Nothing on earth is so well-suited to make the sad merry, the merry sad, to give courage to the despairing, to make the proud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/nothing-on-earth-is-so-well-suited-to-make-the-sad-merry-the-merry/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) [Browse all 329 Merry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Or maybe she simply couldn't stay merry. That subversive, candid merriment of hers was enchanting, electric; but it was a social phenomenon. It was something elicited by, and dazzling to, a new acquaintance. 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