--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we take an examination of what is…" description: "\"If we take an examination of what is understood by happiness ... we shall find all its properties ... under this short definition, that it is a perpetu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a1/jonathan-swift-433_deceived_if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-und_2160981.jpg" --- # If we take an examination of what is understood by… ![“If we take an examination of what is understood by happiness ... we shall find all its properties ... under this short definition, that it is a perpetual possession of being well deceived.” quote by Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a1/jonathan-swift-433_deceived_if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-und_2160981.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a1/jonathan-swift-433_deceived_if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-und_2160981.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a1/jonathan-swift-433_deceived_if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-und_2160981.jpg) > “If we take an examination of what is understood by happiness ... we shall find all its properties ... under this short definition, that it is a perpetual possession of being well deceived.” [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness is portrayed as a fleeting, deceptive state, suggesting that true contentment is elusive and often self‑deceived. **In simple terms:** Happiness is often an illusion. Key Takeaway Question the authenticity of your joy. Themes philosophy illusion contentment Mood skeptical thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal reflection - mental health - goal setting Key Concepts hedonism self‑deception Questions to Reflect On - Do you accept happiness as a constant? - What evidence supports your sense of well‑being? A Different Perspective Happiness may be a self‑fulfilling lie. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceived/) [Definitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definitions/) [Examination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examination/) [Examination Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examination-understood-4584757/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Perpetual Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual-possession-3384363/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Possession Deceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession-deceived-3384364/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) [Understood Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood-happiness-4584756/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [For, if we take an examination of what is generally understood by happiness, as it has respect either to the understanding or the senses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/for-if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-generally-understood-by/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Happiness is a perpetual possession of being well-deceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/happiness-is-a-perpetual-possession-of-being-well-deceived/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Happiness is the perpetual possession of being well deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/happiness-is-the-perpetual-possession-of-being-well-deceived/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [If, after a rigid examination, it be found an imposition, it should be extensively published to the world as such; the evidences and arguments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-pratt/if-after-a-rigid-examination-it-be-found-an-imposition-it-should-be/) [Orson Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-pratt/) > [After taking my B.A. degree in 1939 I remained at the University for a further year to take an advanced course in Biochemistry, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-sanger/after-taking-my-b-a-degree-in-1939-i-remained-at-the-university-for-a/) [Frederick Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-sanger/) > [Even when I'm writing in character I'm normally still writing about things I know or things that have happened to me or using that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-walker/even-when-i-m-writing-in-character-i-m-normally-still-writing-about/) [Karen Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-walker/) > [But since the Modernists (as they are commonly and rightly called) employ a very clever artifice, namely, to present their doctrines without order and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-x/but-since-the-modernists-as-they-are-commonly-and-rightly-called/) [Pope Pius X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-x/) > [The story revolved around this universal identifiable fear that we must all have, at some point, when you commit yourself to being with another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-treadaway/the-story-revolved-around-this-universal-identifiable-fear-that-we/) [Harry Treadaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-treadaway/) > [Wherever God erects a house of prayer the Devil always builds a chapel there; And 't will be found, upon examination, the latter has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-defoe/wherever-god-erects-a-house-of-prayer-the-devil-always-builds-a/) [Daniel Defoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-defoe/) > [Creativity requires introspection, self-examination, and a willingness to take risks. Because of this, artists are perhaps more susceptible to self-doubt and despair than those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-maisel/creativity-requires-introspection-self-examination-and-a-willingness/) [Eric Maisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-maisel/) > [EXams are there, at the paper u stare; the answer is nowhere, which makes u pull ur hair. The teachers make u glare, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azgraybebly-joslan/exams-are-there-at-the-paper-u-stare-the-answer-is-nowhere-which/) [Azgraybebly Joslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azgraybebly-joslan/) > [On examinations: Das Wissen ist der Tad der Forschung. Knowledge is the death of research. Nernst's motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walther-nernst/on-examinations-das-wissen-ist-der-tad-der-forschung-knowledge-is-the/) [Walther Nernst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walther-nernst/) > [The criterion of true beauty is, that it increases in examination; of false, that it lessens. There is something, therefore, in true beauty that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grenville/the-criterion-of-true-beauty-is-that-it-increases-in-examination-of/) [George Grenville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grenville/) > [The examining physician often hesitates to make the necessary examination because it involves soiling the finger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james-mayo/the-examining-physician-often-hesitates-to-make-the-necessary/) [William James Mayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james-mayo/) > [“Remaining absolutely non-acquisitive (aparigrahi) amidst all possessions is the ultimate ‘test examination’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/remaining-absolutely-non-acquisitive-aparigrahi-amidst-all/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) ## More by Jonathan Swift > [Time is painted with a lock before, and bald behind, signifying thereby that we must take time by the forelock; for, when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/time-is-painted-with-a-lock-before-and-bald-behind-signifying-thereby/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [“He said, he knew no reason why those who entertain opinions prejudicial to the public should be obliged to change, or should not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/he-said-he-knew-no-reason-why-those-who-entertain-opinions/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [I with borrow'd silver shine, What you see is none of mine. First I show you but a quarter, Like the bow that guards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-with-borrow-d-silver-shine-what-you-see-is-none-of-mine-first-i/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [A favor is half granted, when graciously refused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/a-favor-is-half-granted-when-graciously-refused/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-never-wonder-to-see-men-wicked-but-i-often-wonder-to-see-them-not/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [The best Maxim I know in this life is, to drink your Coffee when you can, and when you cannot, to be easy without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/the-best-maxim-i-know-in-this-life-is-to-drink-your-coffee-when-you/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [A lie is an excuse guarded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/a-lie-is-an-excuse-guarded/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [A forward critic often dupes us With sham quotations peri hupsos, And if we have not read Longinus, Will magisterially outshine us. Then, lest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/a-forward-critic-often-dupes-us-with-sham-quotations-peri-hupsos-and/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [May you live every day of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/may-you-live-every-day-of-your-life/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Ale is meat, drink and cloth; it will make a cat speak and a wise man dumb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/ale-is-meat-drink-and-cloth-it-will-make-a-cat-speak-and-a-wise-man/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [All fits of pleasure are balanced by an equal degree of pain or languor; it is like spending this year part of the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/all-fits-of-pleasure-are-balanced-by-an-equal-degree-of-pain-or/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/satire-is-a-sort-of-glass-wherein-beholders-do-generally-discover/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [“When a great genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/when-a-great-genius-appears-in-the-world-you-may-know-him-by-this/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [I have ever hated all nations, professions, and communities, and all my love is toward individuals: for instance, I hate the tribe of lawyers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-have-ever-hated-all-nations-professions-and-communities-and-all-my/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [So endless and exorbitant are the desires of men that they will grasp at all, and can form no scheme of perfect happiness with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/so-endless-and-exorbitant-are-the-desires-of-men-that-they-will-grasp/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) [Explore all 535 Jonathan Swift quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) ## More Deceived quotes > [You have been deceived by your own cold heart - a curse upon your house and all within it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beauty-and-the-beast/you-have-been-deceived-by-your-own-cold-heart-a-curse-upon-your-house/) [Beauty And The Beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beauty-and-the-beast/) > [In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/mundus-vult-decipi-the-world-wants-to-be-deceived/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [When self-interest inclines a man to print, he should consider that the purchaser expects a pennyworth for his penny, and has reason to asperse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shenstone/when-self-interest-inclines-a-man-to-print-he-should-consider-that/) [William Shenstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shenstone/) > [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Self-deceit is a sure defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/self-deceit-is-a-sure-defeat/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [We have been deceived into believing prayer is all about persuading God to release His power. We no longer need to beg or plead;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wommack/we-have-been-deceived-into-believing-prayer-is-all-about-persuading/) [Andrew Wommack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wommack/) > [It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-sometimes-necessary-to-play-the-fool-to-avoid-being-deceived-by/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Excessive distrust is not less hurtfJul than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/excessive-distrust-is-not-less-hurtfjul-than-its-opposite-most-men/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [The intention of never deceiving often exposes us to deception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-intention-of-never-deceiving-often-exposes-us-to-deception/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [“To recklessly excuse a failure is to believe that I’ve effectively erased it from the story of my life, when I’ve actually imprinted it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-recklessly-excuse-a-failure-is-to-believe-that-i-ve-effectively/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [In the long run it makes little difference how cleverly others are deceived; if we are not doing what we are best equipped to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-brande/in-the-long-run-it-makes-little-difference-how-cleverly-others-are/) [Dorothea Brande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-brande/) > [The man who while he gives thinks of what he will get in return, deserves to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-man-who-while-he-gives-thinks-of-what-he-will-get-in-return/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“The marquis de Carabas was not a good man, and he knew himself well enough to be perfectly certain that he was not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-marquis-de-carabas-was-not-a-good-man-and-he-knew-himself-well/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) [Browse all 605 Deceived quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceived/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we take an examination of what is understood by happiness ... we shall find all its properties ... under this short definition, that it is a perpetual possession of being well deceived.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Swift" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-understood-by-happiness-we-shall/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deceived" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-understood-by-happiness-we-shall/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a1/jonathan-swift-433_deceived_if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-und_2160981.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a1/jonathan-swift-433_deceived_if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-und_2160981.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a1/jonathan-swift-433_deceived_if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-und_2160981.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we take an examination of what is understood by happiness ... we shall find all its properties ... under…” — Jonathan Swift", "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": "Jonathan Swift", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If we take an examination of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-understood-by-happiness-we-shall/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/if-we-take-an-examination-of-what-is-understood-by-happiness-we-shall/#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 } } ] } ```