---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These things sneak up on him for no…"
description: "\"These things sneak up on him for no reason, these flashes of irrational happiness. It's probably a vitamin deficiency.\" — Margaret Atwood"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/margaret-atwood-40_deficiency_these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reas_518846.jpg"
---

#  These things sneak up on him for no reason, these flashes…

![“These things sneak up on him for no reason, these flashes of irrational happiness. It's probably a vitamin deficiency.” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/margaret-atwood-40_deficiency_these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reas_518846.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/margaret-atwood-40_deficiency_these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reas_518846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/margaret-atwood-40_deficiency_these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reas_518846.jpg)

> “These things sneak up on him for no reason, these flashes of irrational happiness. It's probably a vitamin deficiency.”

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Unexpected joy appears without cause, perhaps due to a vitamin lack.

**In simple terms:** Random happiness may signal a deficiency.

Key Takeaway

Check health when mood spikes occur.

Themes

wellbeing psychology health

Mood

curious analytical

Type

scientific reflective

When to use this quote

- daily health monitoring
- mental health counseling
- dietary assessment

Key Concepts

neurochemistry emotional regulation nutrition

Questions to Reflect On

- Could a vitamin deficiency cause mood changes?
- How do you differentiate genuine joy from physiological triggers?

A Different Perspective

Not all happiness is linked to nutrition; other factors exist.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Irrational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrational/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/)

## Related quotes

> [“There will never be another caterpillar just like this one. there will never be another such moment of time, another such conjunction. These things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-will-never-be-another-caterpillar-just-like-this-one-there-will/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [What fabrications they are, mothers. Scarecrows, wax dolls for us to stick pins into, crude diagrams. We deny them an existence of their own,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/what-fabrications-they-are-mothers-scarecrows-wax-dolls-for-us-to/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [It does not matter what your personal deficiency, or whether it be a hundred and one different things, God has always one sufficient answer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/it-does-not-matter-what-your-personal-deficiency-or-whether-it-be-a/)

[Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/)

> [By the deficiency or absence of one necessary constituent, all the others being present, the soil is rendered barren for all those crops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/by-the-deficiency-or-absence-of-one-necessary-constituent-all-the/)

[Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/)

> [Indeed taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no single historic incident better or more variously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/indeed-taking-all-the-evidence-together-it-is-not-too-much-to-say/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The first step to improvement, whether mental, moral, or religious, is to know ourselves - our weakness, errors, deficiencies, and sins, that, by divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/the-first-step-to-improvement-whether-mental-moral-or-religious-is-to/)

[Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/)

> [I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man may know that he belongs to, say, a group - this group or that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-m-trying-to-get-at-this-that-is-a-man-may-know-that-he-belongs-to/)

[Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/)

> [“For years I had been aware of an important deficiency in the English language: a word to describe something a person loses that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-miller/for-years-i-had-been-aware-of-an-important-deficiency-in-the-english/)

Ellen Miller

> [Can there be a more lamentable picture than that of a Chancellor of the Exchequer seated on an empty chest by a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peel/can-there-be-a-more-lamentable-picture-than-that-of-a-chancellor-of/)

[Robert Peel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peel/)

> [To behold, is not necessary to observe, and the power of comparing and combining is only to be obtained by education. It is much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/to-behold-is-not-necessary-to-observe-and-the-power-of-comparing-and/)

[Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/)

> [If somewhere is a deficiency the normal American answer would have been well then, let's spend some more money, build some more weapons and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-schmidt/if-somewhere-is-a-deficiency-the-normal-american-answer-would-have/)

[Helmut Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-schmidt/)

> [The ancient Greek oral poets all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the Muse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/the-ancient-greek-oral-poets-all-had-this-anxiety-about-the/)

[David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/)

> [“Where any one body of educated men, of whatever denomination, are condemned indiscriminately, there must be a deficiency of information, (or smiling) of something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/where-any-one-body-of-educated-men-of-whatever-denomination-are/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [He that fancies himself very enlightened, because he sees the deficiencies of others, may be very ignorant, because he has not studied his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/he-that-fancies-himself-very-enlightened-because-he-sees-the/)

[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/)

> [You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/you-can-trace-every-sickness-every-disease-and-every-ailment-to-a/)

[Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/)

## More by Margaret Atwood

> [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“The birds were singing around me, but I reflected that the very birds were strangers to me, for I did not even know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-birds-were-singing-around-me-but-i-reflected-that-the-very-birds/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Strange how we decorate pain. These ribbons, for instance, and the small hard teardrops of blood. Who are they for? Do we think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/strange-how-we-decorate-pain-these-ribbons-for-instance-and-the-small/)

[margaret atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [I wanted to forget the past, but it refused to forget me; it waited for sleep, then cornered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wanted-to-forget-the-past-but-it-refused-to-forget-me-it-waited-for/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Back at home they drew the curtains and read, with disapproval, with relish, with avidity and glee - even the ones who'd never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/back-at-home-they-drew-the-curtains-and-read-with-disapproval-with/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

[Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

## More Deficiency quotes

> [You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/you-can-trace-every-sickness-every-disease-and-every-ailment-to-a/)

[Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/)

> [He that fancies himself very enlightened, because he sees the deficiencies of others, may be very ignorant, because he has not studied his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/he-that-fancies-himself-very-enlightened-because-he-sees-the/)

[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/)

> [“Where any one body of educated men, of whatever denomination, are condemned indiscriminately, there must be a deficiency of information, (or smiling) of something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/where-any-one-body-of-educated-men-of-whatever-denomination-are/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [The ancient Greek oral poets all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the Muse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/the-ancient-greek-oral-poets-all-had-this-anxiety-about-the/)

[David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/)

> [If somewhere is a deficiency the normal American answer would have been well then, let's spend some more money, build some more weapons and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-schmidt/if-somewhere-is-a-deficiency-the-normal-american-answer-would-have/)

[Helmut Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-schmidt/)

> [To behold, is not necessary to observe, and the power of comparing and combining is only to be obtained by education. It is much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/to-behold-is-not-necessary-to-observe-and-the-power-of-comparing-and/)

[Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/)

> [Can there be a more lamentable picture than that of a Chancellor of the Exchequer seated on an empty chest by a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peel/can-there-be-a-more-lamentable-picture-than-that-of-a-chancellor-of/)

[Robert Peel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peel/)

> [“For years I had been aware of an important deficiency in the English language: a word to describe something a person loses that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-miller/for-years-i-had-been-aware-of-an-important-deficiency-in-the-english/)

Ellen Miller

> [I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man may know that he belongs to, say, a group - this group or that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-m-trying-to-get-at-this-that-is-a-man-may-know-that-he-belongs-to/)

[Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/)

> [The first step to improvement, whether mental, moral, or religious, is to know ourselves - our weakness, errors, deficiencies, and sins, that, by divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/the-first-step-to-improvement-whether-mental-moral-or-religious-is-to/)

[Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/)

> [Indeed taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no single historic incident better or more variously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/indeed-taking-all-the-evidence-together-it-is-not-too-much-to-say/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [By the deficiency or absence of one necessary constituent, all the others being present, the soil is rendered barren for all those crops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/by-the-deficiency-or-absence-of-one-necessary-constituent-all-the/)

[Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/)

> [It does not matter what your personal deficiency, or whether it be a hundred and one different things, God has always one sufficient answer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/it-does-not-matter-what-your-personal-deficiency-or-whether-it-be-a/)

[Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/)

> [Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/patriotism-is-proud-of-a-country-s-virtues-and-eager-to-correct-its/)

[Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/)

> [It seems to be the fate of man to seek all his consolations in futurity. The time present is seldom able to fill desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-seems-to-be-the-fate-of-man-to-seek-all-his-consolations-in/)

[Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/)

Browse all 236 Deficiency quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "These things sneak up on him for no reason, these flashes of irrational happiness. It's probably a vitamin deficiency.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Margaret Atwood"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reason-these-flashes-of/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Deficiency"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reason-these-flashes-of/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/margaret-atwood-40_deficiency_these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reas_518846.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/margaret-atwood-40_deficiency_these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reas_518846.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/margaret-atwood-40_deficiency_these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reas_518846.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“These things sneak up on him for no reason, these flashes of irrational happiness. It's probably a vitamin…” — Margaret Atwood",
                "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": "Margaret Atwood",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "These things sneak up on him...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reason-these-flashes-of/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/these-things-sneak-up-on-him-for-no-reason-these-flashes-of/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```