--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Maybe happiness was an hourglass already…" description: "\"“Maybe happiness was an hourglass already running out, the grains tipping, sifting past each other. Maybe it was a state of mind—as Nora Bayes insisted..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b92/paula-mclain-3064_happiness_maybe-happiness-was-an-hourglass-already_524241.jpg" --- # Maybe happiness was an hourglass already running out, the… ![“Maybe happiness was an hourglass already running out, the grains tipping, sifting past each other. Maybe it was a state of mind—as Nora Bayes insisted—a country you could sculpt out of air and then dance into.” quote by Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b92/paula-mclain-3064_happiness_maybe-happiness-was-an-hourglass-already_524241.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b92/paula-mclain-3064_happiness_maybe-happiness-was-an-hourglass-already_524241.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b92/paula-mclain-3064_happiness_maybe-happiness-was-an-hourglass-already_524241.jpg) > ““Maybe happiness was an hourglass already running out, the grains tipping, sifting past each other. Maybe it was a state of mind—as Nora Bayes insisted—a country you could sculpt out of air and then dance into.”” [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness is fleeting, like sand slipping through an hourglass, and can be shaped by mindset and imagination. **In simple terms:** Happiness is fleeting but can be shaped by mindset. Key Takeaway Cultivate a positive mindset to savor moments. Themes happiness mindset impermanence Mood reflective hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - mindfulness practice Key Concepts philosophy psychology creativity Questions to Reflect On - How can you reshape your perception of fleeting joy? - What practices help you maintain a hopeful mindset? A Different Perspective Happiness may be limited by external circumstances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [Maybe happiness was an hourglass already running out, the grains tipping, sifting past each other. 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"But say you do find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-van-booy/maybe-happiness-is-just-finding-the-right-people-at-the-right-time/) [Simon Van Booy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-van-booy/) > [“Maybe happiness didn’t have to be about the big, sweeping circumstances, about having everything in your life in place. Maybe it was about stringing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/maybe-happiness-didn-t-have-to-be-about-the-big-sweeping-3/) [Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/) > [“Maybe happiness didn't have to be about big, sweeping circumstances, about having everything in your life in place. 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We all have hopes and dreams that we do almost anything to make real.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakura/if-you-could-have-one-wish-what-would-it-be-we-all-have-hopes-and/) Sakura > [“Maybe happiness is this: not feeling like you should be elsewhere, doing something else, being someone else. Maybe the current conditions in Switzerland .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/maybe-happiness-is-this-not-feeling-like-you-should-be-elsewhere/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [Maybe happiness was just a matter of the little upticks- the traffic signal that said "Walk" the second you go there- and downticks- the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/maybe-happiness-was-just-a-matter-of-the-little-upticks-the-traffic/) [Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/) > [Maybe happiness too is a metaphor invented on a day of boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/maybe-happiness-too-is-a-metaphor-invented-on-a-day-of-boredom/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## More by Paula McLain > [“There are some who said I should have fought harder or longer than I did for my marriage, but in the end fighting for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/there-are-some-who-said-i-should-have-fought-harder-or-longer-than-i/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [I hope we'll get lucky enough to grow old together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/i-hope-we-ll-get-lucky-enough-to-grow-old-together/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“That's what terrible, sordid situations did to you, made you act crazily, against your own truths, against yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/that-s-what-terrible-sordid-situations-did-to-you-made-you-act/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“He didn't know how love managed to be a garden one moment and war the next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/he-didn-t-know-how-love-managed-to-be-a-garden-one-moment-and-war-the/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [Books could be an incredible adventure. I stayed under my blanket and barely moved, and no one would have guessed how my mind raced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/books-could-be-an-incredible-adventure-i-stayed-under-my-blanket-and/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [People belong to each other only as long as they both believe. He stopped believing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/people-belong-to-each-other-only-as-long-as-they-both-believe-he/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [I miss good old-fashioned honorable people just trying to make something of life. Simply, without hurting anyone else. I know that makes me a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/i-miss-good-old-fashioned-honorable-people-just-trying-to-make/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [... and yet he could also be very charming, in a bookish, infinitely apologetic way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/and-yet-he-could-also-be-very-charming-in-a-bookish-infinitely/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“It was august. for years it was august … . there was heat like wet gauze and a high, white sky and music coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/it-was-august-for-years-it-was-august-there-was-heat-like-wet-gauze/) [Paula Mclain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“If you're ready to make the mad dash I'm game.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/if-you-re-ready-to-make-the-mad-dash-i-m-game/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“We knew what we had and what it meant, and though so much had happened since for both of us, there was nothing like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/we-knew-what-we-had-and-what-it-meant-and-though-so-much-had-happened/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“There are things I didn't see before, like how nice it is to have someone around. Not the white knight whisking you away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/there-are-things-i-didn-t-see-before-like-how-nice-it-is-to-have/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“That's obviously, isn't it?' she said. 'A hawk is always a hawk, except'- and here she raised on heavy eyebrow and gave a mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/that-s-obviously-isn-t-it-she-said-a-hawk-is-always-a-hawk-except-and/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“I hope we’ll get lucky enough to grow old together. You see them on the street, those couples who’ve been married so long you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/i-hope-we-ll-get-lucky-enough-to-grow-old-together-you-see-them-on/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“It was terrible to feel so empty, as if I were nothing. Why couldn't I be happy? And just what was happines anyway?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/it-was-terrible-to-feel-so-empty-as-if-i-were-nothing-why-couldn-t-i/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) [Explore all 139 Paula McLain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) ## 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. 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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": "“Maybe happiness was an hourglass already running out, the grains tipping, sifting past each other. 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