--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the…" description: "\"Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.\" — Marquis de Sade" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dca/marquis-de-sade-1964_happiness_happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the_3132967.jpg" --- # Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination. ![“Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.” quote by Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dca/marquis-de-sade-1964_happiness_happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the_3132967.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dca/marquis-de-sade-1964_happiness_happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the_3132967.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dca/marquis-de-sade-1964_happiness_happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the_3132967.jpg) > “Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.” [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He suggests happiness is a mental construct, created by imagination rather than external circumstances. **In simple terms:** Happiness comes from the mind, not reality. Key Takeaway Focus on imaginative outlook for contentment. Themes philosophy psychology happiness imagination Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - mental health - creative visualization - mindfulness Key Concepts subjective well‑being mental constructs Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination influence your mood? - Can you find joy without changing external conditions? A Different Perspective Imagination alone may not solve material hardships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing is ever ideal. You have to work all the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/nothing-is-ever-ideal-you-have-to-work-all-the-same/) [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) > [Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/happiness-is-not-an-ideal-of-reason-but-of-imagination/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“She alone is the happy woman who has learned to extract happiness, not from ideal conditions, but from the actual ones about her. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/she-alone-is-the-happy-woman-who-has-learned-to-extract-happiness-not/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“If we are inclined to forget how much there is in the world besides that which we anticipate, then works of art are perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/if-we-are-inclined-to-forget-how-much-there-is-in-the-world-besides/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Work up imagination to the state of vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/work-up-imagination-to-the-state-of-vision/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [In film, a lot of the time you're not as engaged, it is all being given to you, and you're accepting it as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/in-film-a-lot-of-the-time-you-re-not-as-engaged-it-is-all-being-given/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [rhetoric is will doing the work of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhetoric-is-will-doing-the-work-of-imagination/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Its amazing to contemplate what human mind is capable of, incredible functionality, specialty of describing something beautifully without even experiencing called the work of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pushpa-rana/its-amazing-to-contemplate-what-human-mind-is-capable-of-incredible/) [Pushpa Rana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pushpa-rana/) > [I'm asked all the time, 'Doesn't it feel great to finish the novel?' And the answer to that is, 'No.' It's sort of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-shacochis/i-m-asked-all-the-time-doesn-t-it-feel-great-to-finish-the-novel-and/) [Bob Shacochis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-shacochis/) > [The highest and best work of imagination is the marvelous transformation that it works in character. Imagine that you are one with the principal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fillmore/the-highest-and-best-work-of-imagination-is-the-marvelous/) [Charles Fillmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fillmore/) > [The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessamyn-west/the-past-is-really-almost-as-much-a-work-of-the-imagination-as-the/) [Jessamyn West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessamyn-west/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) ## More by Marquis de Sade > [What you call disorder is nothing else than one of the laws of the order you comprehend not and which you have erroneously named…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-you-call-disorder-is-nothing-else-than-one-of-the-laws-of-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [And if I were a naughty little boy, the idea is to spank me into good behavior?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/and-if-i-were-a-naughty-little-boy-the-idea-is-to-spank-me-into-good/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [There is a kind of pleasure which comes from sacrilege or the profanation of the objects offered us for worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/there-is-a-kind-of-pleasure-which-comes-from-sacrilege-or-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“To enlighten mankind and improve its morals is the only lesson which we offer in this story. In reading it, may the world discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/to-enlighten-mankind-and-improve-its-morals-is-the-only-lesson-which/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What we are doing here is only the image of what we would like to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-we-are-doing-here-is-only-the-image-of-what-we-would-like-to-do/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-lies-neither-in-vice-nor-in-virtue-but-in-the-manner-we/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act? That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/what-does-one-want-when-one-is-engaged-in-the-sexual-act-that/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [ The law which attempts a man's life \[capital punishment\] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime--for a second crime is every day… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-law-which-attempts-a-man-s-life-capital-punishment-is-impractical/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Between understanding and faith immediate connections must subsist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/between-understanding-and-faith-immediate-connections-must-subsist/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [My passions, concentrated on a single point, resemble the rays of a sun assembled by a magnifying glass: they immediately set fire to whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/my-passions-concentrated-on-a-single-point-resemble-the-rays-of-a-sun/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/the-idea-of-god-is-the-sole-wrong-for-which-i-cannot-forgive-mankind/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/imperious-choleric-irascible-extreme-in-everything-with-a-dissolute/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/lust-s-passion-will-be-served-it-demands-it-militates-it-tyrannizes/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“In order to know virtue, we must acquaint ourselves with vice. Only then can we know the true measure of a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/in-order-to-know-virtue-we-must-acquaint-ourselves-with-vice-only/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Never may an act of possession be exercised upon a free being; the exclusive possession of a woman is no less unjust than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/never-may-an-act-of-possession-be-exercised-upon-a-free-being-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) [Explore all 181 Marquis de Sade quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## 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": "Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marquis de Sade" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the-imagination/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the-imagination/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dca/marquis-de-sade-1964_happiness_happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the_3132967.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dca/marquis-de-sade-1964_happiness_happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the_3132967.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dca/marquis-de-sade-1964_happiness_happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the_3132967.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.” — Marquis de Sade", "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": "Marquis de Sade", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Happiness is ideal, it is the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the-imagination/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-is-ideal-it-is-the-work-of-the-imagination/#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 } } ] } ```