--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No matter when, at whatever moment, if…" description: "\"No matter when, at whatever moment, if she were asked what she was thinking about she could reply quite correctly - one thing, her happiness and her un..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/leo-tolstoy-55_happiness_no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she_609288.png" --- # No matter when, at whatever moment, if she were asked what… ![“No matter when, at whatever moment, if she were asked what she was thinking about she could reply quite correctly - one thing, her happiness and her unhappiness.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/leo-tolstoy-55_happiness_no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she_609288.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/leo-tolstoy-55_happiness_no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she_609288.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/leo-tolstoy-55_happiness_no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she_609288.png) > “No matter when, at whatever moment, if she were asked what she was thinking about she could reply quite correctly - one thing, her happiness and her unhappiness.” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The character can always identify her emotional state as either happiness or unhappiness, suggesting a binary view of feeling. **In simple terms:** She sees emotions as happy or sad only. Key Takeaway Recognize the nuance beyond simple binaries. Themes emotion self‑awareness binary thinking Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal journaling - therapy sessions - relationship counseling Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Do you reduce feelings to simple labels? - How might embracing mixed emotions help? A Different Perspective Human emotions are often more complex than two categories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-unhappiness/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Quite Correctly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quite-correctly-1807012/) [Thing Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-happiness-472295/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) ## Related quotes > [I am quite correctly described as 'more of a sponge than an inventor…'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-am-quite-correctly-described-as-more-of-a-sponge-than-an-inventor/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Happiness and unhappiness are not primarily created by the material world or the physical body. First and foremost, they are decisions of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yongey-mingyur-rinpoche/happiness-and-unhappiness-are-not-primarily-created-by-the-material/) [Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yongey-mingyur-rinpoche/) > [There are many more attempts to define happiness than unhappiness. It is because people know all too well what unhappiness is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-chanel/there-are-many-more-attempts-to-define-happiness-than-unhappiness-it/) [Coco Chanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-chanel/) > [There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. Only a man who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/there-is-neither-happiness-nor-unhappiness-in-this-world-there-is/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [“The opposite of happiness is unhappiness, not depression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/the-opposite-of-happiness-is-unhappiness-not-depression/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [There is, after all, a kind of happiness in unhappiness, if it's the right unhappiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/there-is-after-all-a-kind-of-happiness-in-unhappiness-if-it-s-the/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [Joy is not like happiness, unhappiness. It is singular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/joy-is-not-like-happiness-unhappiness-it-is-singular/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [Ah, how little you know of human happiness - you comfortable and benevolent people! For happiness and unhappiness are brother and sister - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/ah-how-little-you-know-of-human-happiness-you-comfortable-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Both happiness and unhappiness depend on perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/both-happiness-and-unhappiness-depend-on-perception/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Happiness and unhappiness differ as a bucket hammered from gold differs from one pressed in tin ... Each carries the same water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/happiness-and-unhappiness-differ-as-a-bucket-hammered-from-gold/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [Happiness or unhappiness is often a matter of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-or-unhappiness-is-often-a-matter-of-choice/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The fact that there is always a positive side to life is the one thing that gives me a lot of happiness. This world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-fact-that-there-is-always-a-positive-side-to-life-is-the-one/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [If you don't enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/if-you-don-t-enjoy-getting-up-and-working-and-finishing-your-work-and/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [“They haven’t an idea what happiness is; they don’t know that without our love, for us there is neither happiness nor unhappiness—no life at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/they-haven-t-an-idea-what-happiness-is-they-don-t-know-that-without/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [They've got no idea what happiness is, they don't know that without this love there is no happiness or unhappiness for us--there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/they-ve-got-no-idea-what-happiness-is-they-don-t-know-that-without/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. 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She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## 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. 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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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No matter when, at whatever moment, if she were asked what she was thinking about she could reply quite correctly - one thing, her happiness and her unhappiness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she-were-asked-what-she-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she-were-asked-what-she-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/leo-tolstoy-55_happiness_no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she_609288.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/leo-tolstoy-55_happiness_no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she_609288.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/leo-tolstoy-55_happiness_no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she_609288.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No matter when, at whatever moment, if she were asked what she was thinking about she could reply quite…” — Leo Tolstoy", "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": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No matter when, at whatever moment,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she-were-asked-what-she-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/no-matter-when-at-whatever-moment-if-she-were-asked-what-she-was/#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 } } ] } ```