--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man’s chase after happiness is a feverish…" description: "\"“Man’s chase after happiness is a feverish and unceasing thing. As we grow older, we search more frantically for it than formerly—and it can be found n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/justin-spring-97903_happiness_man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feveris_1141617.jpg" --- # Man’s chase after happiness is a feverish and unceasing… ![“Man’s chase after happiness is a feverish and unceasing thing. As we grow older, we search more frantically for it than formerly—and it can be found no longer. “If I were just as happy now as I was then,” we say, and sigh. But the truth is that few men have more to their account than a dozen hours…” quote by Justin Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/justin-spring-97903_happiness_man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feveris_1141617.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/justin-spring-97903_happiness_man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feveris_1141617.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/justin-spring-97903_happiness_man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feveris_1141617.jpg) > ““Man’s chase after happiness is a feverish and unceasing thing. As we grow older, we search more frantically for it than formerly—and it can be found no longer. “If I were just as happy now as I was then,” we say, and sigh. But the truth is that few men have more to their account than a dozen hours of happiness—a fragment here and there out of the dull and sullen roll of life…How much happier man would be were he only to realize that a state of unhappiness or frustration or despair is the usual thing, the lot of nearly all men nearly all of the time! The frenetic reachings would cease, the compulsions disappear, the nervous chase smooth itself into a serene and contented acceptance.”” Justin Spring ## 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 fleeting; most people spend life chasing it, but acceptance of ordinary contentment is healthier. **In simple terms:** Happiness is rare and fleeting. Key Takeaway Embrace contentment. Themes Happiness contentment acceptance Mood reflective calm Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - mental health - life philosophy - stress reduction Key Concepts ephemeral joy psychological adaptation Questions to Reflect On - How can you find joy in ordinary life? - What practices foster acceptance? A Different Perspective Constant pursuit can cause anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) ## Related quotes > [What can be happier than for a man, conscious of virtuous acts, and content with liberty, to despise all human affairs?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/what-can-be-happier-than-for-a-man-conscious-of-virtuous-acts-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Do not chase happiness. Instead, define success for yourself; then go out and live it. Be unapologetic in your commitment and honorable in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/do-not-chase-happiness-instead-define-success-for-yourself-then-go/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Chase your happiness in a way you desire rather than going for anybody else's or society's idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-khosla-kumar/chase-your-happiness-in-a-way-you-desire-rather-than-going-for/) [Divya Khosla Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-khosla-kumar/) > [“We all make choices to chase our own happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naima-coster/we-all-make-choices-to-chase-our-own-happiness/) [Naima Coster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naima-coster/) > [Chase happiness , run from misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/chase-happiness-run-from-misery/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [If you pursue happiness, you are an ordinary person. If happiness pursues you, you are an extraordinary person. Do not chase happiness; let it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-deunov/if-you-pursue-happiness-you-are-an-ordinary-person-if-happiness/) [Peter Deunov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-deunov/) > [Some people CHASE happiness. And some people CHOOSE happiness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-holden/some-people-chase-happiness-and-some-people-choose-happiness/) [Robert Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-holden/) > [Chase happiness, and run from misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/chase-happiness-and-run-from-misery/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [What can be happier than for a man, conscious of virtuous acts, and content with liberty, to despise all human affairs? \[Lat., Quid enim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-junius-brutus-the-younger/what-can-be-happier-than-for-a-man-conscious-of-virtuous-acts-and-2/) [Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-junius-brutus-the-younger/) > [The folly of endless consumerism sends us on a wild goose-chase for happiness through materialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-h-mcgill/the-folly-of-endless-consumerism-sends-us-on-a-wild-goose-chase-for/) [Bryant H. McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-h-mcgill/) > [I become a happier man each time I suffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/i-become-a-happier-man-each-time-i-suffer/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [Frog in the mud is happier than the man, because it has no ambition to reach the stars!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/frog-in-the-mud-is-happier-than-the-man-because-it-has-no-ambition-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Again, dopamine is associated with craving, with novelty and the chase, while happiness and pleasure are something else again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/again-dopamine-is-associated-with-craving-with-novelty-and-the-chase/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I really think that technology has the greatest potential to accelerate happiness of most things in the world. The companies that will ultimately do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-kutcher/i-really-think-that-technology-has-the-greatest-potential-to/) [Ashton Kutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashton-kutcher/) > [It's very easy to look for happiness outside ourselves; in a relationship, a dream job, or the perfect body weight. When we chase happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-bernstein/it-s-very-easy-to-look-for-happiness-outside-ourselves-in-a/) [Gabrielle Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-bernstein/) ## More by Justin Spring > [“George was an atheist, and so am I. But how I long now for an afterlife - a world of light or of deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-spring/george-was-an-atheist-and-so-am-i-but-how-i-long-now-for-an-afterlife/) Justin Spring Explore all 2 Justin Spring quotes ## 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": "“Man’s chase after happiness is a feverish and unceasing thing. As we grow older, we search more frantically for it than formerly—and it can be found no longer. “If I were just as happy now as I was then,” we say, and sigh. But the truth is that few men have more to their account than a dozen hours of happiness—a fragment here and there out of the dull and sullen roll of life…How much happier man would be were he only to realize that a state of unhappiness or frustration or despair is the usual thing, the lot of nearly all men nearly all of the time! The frenetic reachings would cease, the compulsions disappear, the nervous chase smooth itself into a serene and contented acceptance.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Justin Spring" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-spring/man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feverish-and-unceasing-thing-as-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-spring/man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feverish-and-unceasing-thing-as-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/justin-spring-97903_happiness_man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feveris_1141617.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/justin-spring-97903_happiness_man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feveris_1141617.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/justin-spring-97903_happiness_man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feveris_1141617.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man’s chase after happiness is a feverish and unceasing thing. As we grow older, we search more frantically…” — Justin Spring", "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": "Justin Spring", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-spring/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Man’s chase after happiness is a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-spring/man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feverish-and-unceasing-thing-as-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-spring/man-s-chase-after-happiness-is-a-feverish-and-unceasing-thing-as-we/#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 } } ] } ```