--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Living did not mean one joy piled upon…" description: "\"“Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain...”\" — Lorrie Moore" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/lorrie-moore-870_grief_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_533240.png" --- # Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was… ![“Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain...” quote by Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/lorrie-moore-870_grief_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_533240.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/lorrie-moore-870_grief_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_533240.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/lorrie-moore-870_grief_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_533240.png) > ““Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain...”” [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life offers hope for reduced suffering rather than continuous joy, emphasizing endurance over blissful accumulation. **In simple terms:** Hope for less pain guides existence. Key Takeaway Prioritize resilience and meaningful moments. Themes suffering hope existence philosophy resilience Mood thoughtful inspirational empathetic Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - chronic illness - grief counseling - personal growth - mindfulness Key Concepts existentialism minimalism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance pain reduction with seeking joy? - What practices foster resilient hope? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on pain avoidance may limit joy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Hope Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-pain-998749/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Joy Piled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy-piled-4475190/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mean Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean-joy-3271966/) [Merely Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merely-hope-3271967/) ## Related quotes > [“Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain, hope played like a playing card upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-another-it-was-merely-the-hope-2/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“NEVER LOSE HOPE AS THE PAIN YOU'VE BEEN FEELING, WILL SOON GO AWAY, AND JOY IS ON THE WAY.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mouloud-benzadi/never-lose-hope-as-the-pain-you-ve-been-feeling-will-soon-go-away-and/) [Mouloud Benzadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mouloud-benzadi/) > [You must never aspire to 'finish' a house, you can merely hope to start it, and from then on it's an evolutionary process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-bayley/you-must-never-aspire-to-finish-a-house-you-can-merely-hope-to-start/) [Stephen Bayley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-bayley/) > [“My friends ask a new kind of question: How is today? I hope the pain is manageable today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-riggs/my-friends-ask-a-new-kind-of-question-how-is-today-i-hope-the-pain-is/) [Nina Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-riggs/) > [“There are no shortcuts, in life or in love. This pain must be felt. The alternative is much worse. It's what makes us special,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brothers-sisters/there-are-no-shortcuts-in-life-or-in-love-this-pain-must-be-felt-the/) [Brothers Sisters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brothers-sisters/) > [Hope itself is a pain, while it is overmatched by fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/hope-itself-is-a-pain-while-it-is-overmatched-by-fear/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [We can have hope even while maintaining a negative--or sometimes simply realistic--attitude. For instance, if you're dying of cancer, you can still hope for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-hope/we-can-have-hope-even-while-maintaining-a-negative-or-sometimes/) [Lori Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-hope/) > [For in the sorrow, there is also our happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-in-the-sorrow-there-is-also-our-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Yet that grief and this joy were alike outside all the ordinary conditions of life; they were loop-holes, as it were, in that ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/yet-that-grief-and-this-joy-were-alike-outside-all-the-ordinary/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [We cant choose our lives, but we can decide what to do with the joys or griefs were given.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-cant-choose-our-lives-but-we-can-decide-what-to-do-with-the-joys/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The consolation of fairy-stories, the joy of the happy ending; or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous "turn" (for there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/the-consolation-of-fairy-stories-the-joy-of-the-happy-ending-or-more/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [“Who were these people? Where was all this joy, and where does joy go when it leaves your family? Does it go into someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crystal-chan/who-were-these-people-where-was-all-this-joy-and-where-does-joy-go/) [Crystal Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crystal-chan/) > [“When we understand the illusory nature of life and the profound power of eternal love, which enables us to create miracles and experience the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-understand-the-illusory-nature-of-life-and-the-profound-power/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [“The mass of men have been forced to be gay about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-mass-of-men-have-been-forced-to-be-gay-about-the-little-things/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [Sorrow and happiness are the heresies of virtue; joy and anger lead astray from TAO; love and hate cause loss of virtue. The heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/sorrow-and-happiness-are-the-heresies-of-virtue-joy-and-anger-lead/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) ## More by Lorrie Moore > [But I believed in starting over. There was finally, I knew, only rupture and hurt and falling short between all persons, but, Shirley, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/but-i-believed-in-starting-over-there-was-finally-i-knew-only-rupture/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I'm very interested in what people will do for money. Money: it's timeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-m-very-interested-in-what-people-will-do-for-money-money-it-s/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“One of the problems with people in Chicago, she remembered, was that they were never lonely at the same time. Their sadness occurred in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/one-of-the-problems-with-people-in-chicago-she-remembered-was-that/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“If you had forgotten, it would quickly come back to you. Aloneness was like riding a bike. At gunpoint. With the gun in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/if-you-had-forgotten-it-would-quickly-come-back-to-you-aloneness-was/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [Once love had seemed like magic. Now it seemed like tricks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/once-love-had-seemed-like-magic-now-it-seemed-like-tricks/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Observing others go through them, he used to admire midlife crises, the courage and shamelessness and existential daring of them, but after he'd watched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/observing-others-go-through-them-he-used-to-admire-midlife-crises-the/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [Start dating someone who is funny, someone who has what in high school you called a "really great sense of humor" and what now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/start-dating-someone-who-is-funny-someone-who-has-what-in-high-school/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [You are unhappy because you believe in such a thing as happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/you-are-unhappy-because-you-believe-in-such-a-thing-as-happy/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Amber was not shy. If she had been shy, not one of us would be at Perkins right now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/amber-was-not-shy-if-she-had-been-shy-not-one-of-us-would-be-at/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [People will do anything, anything, for a really nice laugh,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/people-will-do-anything-anything-for-a-really-nice-laugh/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Farmers aren't rich. They have land but no money." Actually, my father didn't even have that much land. He had once stood on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/farmers-aren-t-rich-they-have-land-but-no-money-actually-my-father/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“My grandmother, who, when I visited, stared at me with the staggering, arrogant stare of the dying, the wise vapidity of the already gone;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/my-grandmother-who-when-i-visited-stared-at-me-with-the-staggering/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I count too heavily on birthdays, though I know I shouldn't. Inevitably I begin to assess my life by them, figure out how I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-count-too-heavily-on-birthdays-though-i-know-i-shouldn-t-inevitably/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Life is sad. Here is someone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/life-is-sad-here-is-someone/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I had never feared insomnia before--like prison, wouldn't it just give you more time to read?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-had-never-feared-insomnia-before-like-prison-wouldn-t-it-just-give/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) [Explore all 340 Lorrie Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. 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