--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's been said that happiness writes…" description: "\"It's been said that happiness writes white. It doesn't show up on the page. When you're on holiday and writing a letter home to a friend, no one wants ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/martin-amis-704_accommodations_it-s-been-said-that-happiness-writes-whi_1058068.jpg" --- # It's been said that happiness writes white. It doesn't… ![“It's been said that happiness writes white. It doesn't show up on the page. When you're on holiday and writing a letter home to a friend, no one wants a letter that says the food is good and the weather is charming and the accommodations comfortable. You want to hear about lost passports and…” quote by Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/martin-amis-704_accommodations_it-s-been-said-that-happiness-writes-whi_1058068.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/martin-amis-704_accommodations_it-s-been-said-that-happiness-writes-whi_1058068.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/martin-amis-704_accommodations_it-s-been-said-that-happiness-writes-whi_1058068.jpg) > “It's been said that happiness writes white. It doesn't show up on the page. When you're on holiday and writing a letter home to a friend, no one wants a letter that says the food is good and the weather is charming and the accommodations comfortable. You want to hear about lost passports and rat-filled shacks.” [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Travel writing often hides hardships, preferring pleasant details over gritty reality. **In simple terms:** Travel letters avoid bad news. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity in storytelling. Themes authenticity travel writing Mood wry critical Type literary observational When to use this quote - tourism blogs - personal letters - media criticism Key Concepts narrative honesty cultural perception Questions to Reflect On - Why do we romanticize travel? - How can writers balance honesty and politeness? A Different Perspective Readers may prefer comfort over truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holiday/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Weather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weather/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing A Letter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-a-letter/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness writes in white ink on a white page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-de-montherlant/happiness-writes-in-white-ink-on-a-white-page/) [Henry de Montherlant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-de-montherlant/) > [I wouldn't underestimate the power of writing a letter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-wouldn-t-underestimate-the-power-of-writing-a-letter/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I have always been a letter writer, and I found when my numbers got over half a million, I couldn't think about how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/i-have-always-been-a-letter-writer-and-i-found-when-my-numbers-got/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [To me, making a tape is like writing a letter – there's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again, and I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/to-me-making-a-tape-is-like-writing-a-letter-there-s-a-lot-of-erasing/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [When I'm really involved or getting towards the end of a novel, I can write for up to ten hours a day. At those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/when-i-m-really-involved-or-getting-towards-the-end-of-a-novel-i-can/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/when-one-is-writing-a-letter-he-should-think-that-the-recipient-will/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [A man writing a letter is a man in the act of thinking, and it was an exercise Reagan obviously enjoyed. After his first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/a-man-writing-a-letter-is-a-man-in-the-act-of-thinking-and-it-was-an/) [Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/) > [I think e-mail is kind of a cheap way to communicate. It's a lazy way of writing a letter, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-manning/i-think-e-mail-is-kind-of-a-cheap-way-to-communicate-it-s-a-lazy-way/) [Peyton Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-manning/) > [The creative act is like writing a letter. A letter is a project; you don't sit down to write a letter unless you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lukas-foss/the-creative-act-is-like-writing-a-letter-a-letter-is-a-project-you/) [Lukas Foss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lukas-foss/) > [“Does it help?” he asks. “The e-mailing.” She nods. “A tiny bit. It’s strange. 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And how you sang with the band…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-was-you-that-told-me-i-could-do-this-you-put-the-music-in-my-heart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Journalism's ultimate purpose is to inform the reader, to bring him each day a letter from home and never to permit the serving of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-ochs-sulzberger/journalism-s-ultimate-purpose-is-to-inform-the-reader-to-bring-him/) [Arthur Ochs Sulzberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-ochs-sulzberger/) > [Scriptures are Letters from Home. Can you imagine getting a letter from home and not even bothering to open it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardeth-kapp/scriptures-are-letters-from-home-can-you-imagine-getting-a-letter/) [Ardeth Kapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardeth-kapp/) > [“Yippee. I’ve been promoted from fire lighter to delivery boy. I’ll write a letter home to Mother. She’ll be so pleased.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/yippee-i-ve-been-promoted-from-fire-lighter-to-delivery-boy-i-ll/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) ## More by Martin Amis > [“Yeah,' I said and started smoking another cigarette. Unless I inform you otherwise, I'm always smoking another cigarette.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/yeah-i-said-and-started-smoking-another-cigarette-unless-i-inform-you/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“barrios; each barrio has two or three gangs, and all the gangs are theoretically”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/barrios-each-barrio-has-two-or-three-gangs-and-all-the-gangs-are/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“If we all downed tools and joined hands for ten minutes and stopped believing in money, then money would no longer exist. We never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/if-we-all-downed-tools-and-joined-hands-for-ten-minutes-and-stopped/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [When I see a lot of young faces in the audience, it's just sort of sinking in how important that is. Because you're old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/when-i-see-a-lot-of-young-faces-in-the-audience-it-s-just-sort-of/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“I was informed by my viscera that now was the time to put my arm around her shoulders. I ignored them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-was-informed-by-my-viscera-that-now-was-the-time-to-put-my-arm/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [You use a different part of your heart with girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/you-use-a-different-part-of-your-heart-with-girls/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [It's becoming clearer and clearer to me that the world is there to be celebrated by writers, and in fact this is what all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/it-s-becoming-clearer-and-clearer-to-me-that-the-world-is-there-to-be/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [In her final months Princess Diana was being shat upon by the tabloids -- basically for sleeping with an Arab. When she died, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/in-her-final-months-princess-diana-was-being-shat-upon-by-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [If you feel you have a strong constituency among the young, you can really die happy, because the great unanswered question, the only valid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/if-you-feel-you-have-a-strong-constituency-among-the-young-you-can/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [My life looked good on paper - where, in fact, almost all of it was being lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/my-life-looked-good-on-paper-where-in-fact-almost-all-of-it-was-being/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I say, 'If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children's book', but otherwise the idea of being conscious of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-say-if-i-had-a-serious-brain-injury-i-might-well-write-a-children-s/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [The future could go this way, that way. The future's futures have never looked so rocky. Don't put money on it. Take my advice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/the-future-could-go-this-way-that-way-the-future-s-futures-have-never/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [Each life is a game of chess that went to hell on the seventh move(...)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/each-life-is-a-game-of-chess-that-went-to-hell-on-the-seventh-move/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [ “There exists a subterranean world where pathological fantasies disguised as ideas are churned out by crooks and half-educated fanatics \[notably the lower clergy\] for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/there-exists-a-subterranean-world-where-pathological-fantasies/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) [Explore all 393 Martin Amis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) ## More Accommodations quotes > [There is no question but that nominally religious scientists like Francis Collins and Kenneth R. 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Every day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-corning/we-are-most-of-us-embedded-in-an-exceedingly-complex-network-of/) Peter Corning > [God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-edwards/god-is-the-highest-good-of-the-reasonable-creature-the-enjoyment-of/) [Jonathan Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-edwards/) > [Legislators in Kansas, Arizona and 23 other states who are properly determined to protect religious freedom can begin by asking themselves: Does any religious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-blankenhorn/legislators-in-kansas-arizona-and-23-other-states-who-are-properly/) [David Blankenhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-blankenhorn/) > [We will see that the greatest problem confronting civilization is not merely religious extremism: rather, it is the larger set of cultural and intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-will-see-that-the-greatest-problem-confronting-civilization-is-not/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The Christian is the most contented man in the world, but he is the least contented with the world. 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