--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness eludes us if we run after it." description: "\"Happiness eludes us if we run after it.\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/mahatma-gandhi-23_elude_happiness-eludes-us-if-we-run-after-it-1_1071905.jpg" --- # Happiness eludes us if we run after it. ![“Happiness eludes us if we run after it.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/mahatma-gandhi-23_elude_happiness-eludes-us-if-we-run-after-it-1_1071905.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/mahatma-gandhi-23_elude_happiness-eludes-us-if-we-run-after-it-1_1071905.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/mahatma-gandhi-23_elude_happiness-eludes-us-if-we-run-after-it-1_1071905.jpg) > “Happiness eludes us if we run after it.” [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Chasing happiness directly often makes it slip away, as it tends to arise when we focus on purpose and growth. **In simple terms:** Pursuing happiness directly can make it elusive. Key Takeaway Focus on meaning, not the chase. Themes happiness pursuit mindset Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - relationships - career - health - spiritual practice Key Concepts psychology philosophy well‑being Questions to Reflect On - What activities bring you fulfillment without trying to be happy? - How does purpose influence your sense of joy? A Different Perspective Happiness may still be elusive if underlying needs remain unmet. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elude/) [Elude us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elude-us/) [Eludes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eludes/) [Eludes Run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eludes-run-2675067/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Eludes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-eludes-1411683/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) ## Related quotes > [If you investigate the matter deeply enough and widely enough, you will find that happiness eludes nearly all men despite the fact that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-brunton/if-you-investigate-the-matter-deeply-enough-and-widely-enough-you/) [Paul Brunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-brunton/) > [When 'happiness' eludes us - as, eventually, it always will - we have the invitation to examine our programmed responses and to exercise our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/when-happiness-eludes-us-as-eventually-it-always-will-we-have-the/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Something must always remain that eludes us ... 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Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [All that is best for us comes of itself into our hands-but if we strive to overtake it, it perpetually eludes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/all-that-is-best-for-us-comes-of-itself-into-our-hands-but-if-we/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [If we try to hold on to our partial glimpses of the divine, we cut it down to our own size and close our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-we-try-to-hold-on-to-our-partial-glimpses-of-the-divine-we-cut-it/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## More by Mahatma Gandhi > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Religions are not for separating men from one another, they are meant to bind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religions-are-not-for-separating-men-from-one-another-they-are-meant/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. 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But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-no-disciples-being-myself-an-aspirant-after-discipleship-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-becomes-not-the-lord-and-master-of-all-creation-but-he-is-its/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) [Explore all 3,284 Mahatma Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More Elude quotes > [Even though fixed in time, a photograph evokes as much feeling as that which comes from music or dance. 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The roads of regular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-buss/while-love-is-common-true-love-is-rare-and-i-believe-that-few-people/) [David Buss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-buss/) > [To understand oneself is the classic form of consolation; to elude oneself is the romantic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-understand-oneself-is-the-classic-form-of-consolation-to-elude/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Basic Instincts It's the way mother birds build nests, and build them high enough to elude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/basic-instincts-it-s-the-way-mother-birds-build-nests-and-build-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many of you have already found out, and others will find out in the course of their lives, that truth eludes us if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-of-you-have-already-found-out-and-others-will-find-out-in-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we try to hold on to our partial glimpses of the divine, we cut it down to our own size and close our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-we-try-to-hold-on-to-our-partial-glimpses-of-the-divine-we-cut-it/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [It is rash to intrude upon the piety of others: both the depth and the grace of it elude the stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-rash-to-intrude-upon-the-piety-of-others-both-the-depth-and-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [All that is best for us comes of itself into our hands-but if we strive to overtake it, it perpetually eludes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/all-that-is-best-for-us-comes-of-itself-into-our-hands-but-if-we/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [The theoretical recognition of the split-space of enunciation may open the way to conceptualising an international culture, based not on the exoticism of multiculturalism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homi-k-bhabha/the-theoretical-recognition-of-the-split-space-of-enunciation-may/) [Homi K. 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