--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A picnic may well be a metaphor for life…" description: "\"A picnic may well be a metaphor for life. The essentials for happiness are the right company, moderate if sanguine expectations and a reasonable standa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f26/p-d-james-2-8190_belief_a-picnic-may-well-be-a-metaphor-for-life_843937.png" --- # A picnic may well be a metaphor for life. The essentials… ![“A picnic may well be a metaphor for life. The essentials for happiness are the right company, moderate if sanguine expectations and a reasonable standard of physical sustenance and comfort, the whole being bedeviled by the belief that there is always something better to be had if only one presses…” quote by P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f26/p-d-james-2-8190_belief_a-picnic-may-well-be-a-metaphor-for-life_843937.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f26/p-d-james-2-8190_belief_a-picnic-may-well-be-a-metaphor-for-life_843937.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f26/p-d-james-2-8190_belief_a-picnic-may-well-be-a-metaphor-for-life_843937.png) > “A picnic may well be a metaphor for life. The essentials for happiness are the right company, moderate if sanguine expectations and a reasonable standard of physical sustenance and comfort, the whole being bedeviled by the belief that there is always something better to be had if only one presses on.” [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life's happiness depends on good companions, moderate expectations, and basic comforts, not endless pursuit of something better. **In simple terms:** Happiness is simple, not endless pursuit. Key Takeaway Value present, limit yearning. Themes philosophy contentment human nature Mood thoughtful calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - family gatherings - friendship circles - simple vacations - daily routines Key Concepts Stoicism moderation social bonds Questions to Reflect On - What simple comforts bring you joy? - How can you temper expectations without losing ambition? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on improvement can cause chronic dissatisfaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Essentials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essentials/) [Essentials Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essentials-happiness-674529/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Moderates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moderates/) [Physical Sustenance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-sustenance-674530/) [Picnic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picnic/) [Picnic Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picnic-metaphor-674528/) [Picnics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picnics/) [Presses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presses/) [Reasonable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasonable/) [Sanguine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanguine/) [Something better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something-better/) [Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards/) [Sustenance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sustenance/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [Think of our physical sustenance. It is truly heaven-sent. The necessities of air, food, and water all come to us as gifts from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-m-nelson/think-of-our-physical-sustenance-it-is-truly-heaven-sent-the/) [Russell M. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-m-nelson/) > [Even here, in the U.S., I walk my daughter's dog and I look for interesting people sitting at a picnic table and I walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-gelman/even-here-in-the-u-s-i-walk-my-daughter-s-dog-and-i-look-for/) [Rita Gelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-gelman/) > [Happiness: "You Bring Your Own Weather To The Picnic."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/happiness-you-bring-your-own-weather-to-the-picnic/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [If life on Planet Earth was really supposed to be a picnic, we would all have been born clutching gingham tablecloths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-cainer/if-life-on-planet-earth-was-really-supposed-to-be-a-picnic-we-would/) [Jonathan Cainer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-cainer/) > [A baseball club is part of the chemistry of the city. A game isn't just an athletic contest. It's a picnic, a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-baseball-club-is-part-of-the-chemistry-of-the-city-a-game-isn-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing's better than a picnic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zooey-deschanel/nothing-s-better-than-a-picnic/) [Zooey Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zooey-deschanel/) > [People who picnic along the public highway leaving a clutter of greasy paper and swill (not a pretty name, but neither is it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/people-who-picnic-along-the-public-highway-leaving-a-clutter-of/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [I was 15 years old at university, studying economics and philosophy, and I saw a retrospective of Australian film. They were very raw. 'Picnic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-kara-unger/i-was-15-years-old-at-university-studying-economics-and-philosophy/) [Deborah Kara Unger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-kara-unger/) > [You bring your own weather to the picnic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-coben/you-bring-your-own-weather-to-the-picnic/) [Harlan Coben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-coben/) > [Never plan a picnic' Father said. 'Plan a dinner, yes, or a house, or a budget, or an appointment with the dentist, but never,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-enright/never-plan-a-picnic-father-said-plan-a-dinner-yes-or-a-house-or-a/) [Elizabeth Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-enright/) > [It's not fair to compare one artist to another because they all come with their own sort of elements to the picnic, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/it-s-not-fair-to-compare-one-artist-to-another-because-they-all-come/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [Anyone who thinks that the climbing of Denali is a picnic is badly mistaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-stuck/anyone-who-thinks-that-the-climbing-of-denali-is-a-picnic-is-badly/) [Hudson Stuck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-stuck/) > [I hope you accidentally drink leukemia at a picnic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-norton/i-hope-you-accidentally-drink-leukemia-at-a-picnic/) [Jim Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-norton/) > [Life is a picnic on a precipice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/life-is-a-picnic-on-a-precipice/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [If the wolf had ever come to our back door, he'd have had to bring a picnic lunch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-anderson/if-the-wolf-had-ever-come-to-our-back-door-he-d-have-had-to-bring-a/) [Bill Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-anderson/) ## More by P. D. James > [What was so terrible about grief was not grief itself, but that one got over it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/what-was-so-terrible-about-grief-was-not-grief-itself-but-that-one/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Work did bestow dignity, status, meaning. Wasn't that why people dreaded unemployment, why some men found retirement so traumatic?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/work-did-bestow-dignity-status-meaning-wasn-t-that-why-people-dreaded/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [If you are proposing to commit a sin it is as well to commit it with intelligence. 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James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [If all power corrupts, then a doctor, who literally holds life and death in his hands, must be at particular risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/if-all-power-corrupts-then-a-doctor-who-literally-holds-life-and/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [read widely, not in order to copy someone else's style, but to learn to appreciate and recognize good writing and to see how the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/read-widely-not-in-order-to-copy-someone-else-s-style-but-to-learn-to/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [In youth we take egregious risks because death has no reality for us. Youth goes caparisoned in immortality. It is only in middle age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/in-youth-we-take-egregious-risks-because-death-has-no-reality-for-us/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [It is always easy to question the judgement of others in matters of which we may be imperfectly informed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/it-is-always-easy-to-question-the-judgement-of-others-in-matters-of/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [First-class travel, provided one hasn't to pay for it oneself, is the most insidiously addictive of life's luxuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/first-class-travel-provided-one-hasn-t-to-pay-for-it-oneself-is-the/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Can we ever break free of the devices and desires of our own hearts? Might not our conscience be telling us what we most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/can-we-ever-break-free-of-the-devices-and-desires-of-our-own-hearts/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [Metaphysical speculation is about as pointless as a discussion on the meaning of one's lungs. They're for breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/metaphysical-speculation-is-about-as-pointless-as-a-discussion-on-the/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) [Explore all 83 P. D. James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? 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