--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only unhappiness is a life of boredom." description: "\"The only unhappiness is a life of boredom.\" — Stendhal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/stendhal-1379_boredom_the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredo_1189930.jpg" --- # The only unhappiness is a life of boredom. ![“The only unhappiness is a life of boredom.” quote by Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/stendhal-1379_boredom_the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredo_1189930.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/stendhal-1379_boredom_the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredo_1189930.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/stendhal-1379_boredom_the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredo_1189930.jpg) > “The only unhappiness is a life of boredom.” [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A life without excitement leads to unhappiness; boredom is the true source of misery. **In simple terms:** Boredom causes unhappiness. Key Takeaway Pursue meaningful challenges. Themes purpose fulfillment boredom Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career stagnation - creative blocks - routine work Key Concepts existentialism psychology motivation Questions to Reflect On - What excites you daily? - How can you add variety to routine? A Different Perspective Not all boredom is harmful; some rest is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-boredom-1106174/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) [Unhappiness Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness-life-1231985/) ## Related quotes > [I've had a lot of unhappiness in my life — and a lot of happiness. Who doesn't? Maybe I've learned enough to be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-hayworth/i-ve-had-a-lot-of-unhappiness-in-my-life-and-a-lot-of-happiness-who/) [Rita Hayworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-hayworth/) > [Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, age, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-first-boredom-then-fear-whether-or-not-we-use-it-it-goes-and/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [What annoys a person who suicides? The life itself. Boredom. Tiredness that descends on every morning when you look at yourself at the mirror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/what-annoys-a-person-who-suicides-the-life-itself-boredom-tiredness/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [“These books were a way of escaping from the unhappiness of my life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/these-books-were-a-way-of-escaping-from-the-unhappiness-of-my-life/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I believe half of the unhappiness in life comes from people being afraid to go straight at things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-believe-half-of-the-unhappiness-in-life-comes-from-people-being/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/have-you-realized-that-most-of-your-unhappiness-in-life-is-due-to-the-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Without a job all there is to life is boredom and insecurity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/without-a-job-all-there-is-to-life-is-boredom-and-insecurity/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [Good digestions, the gray monotony of provincial life, and the boredom-ah the soul-destroying boredom-of long days of mild content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/good-digestions-the-gray-monotony-of-provincial-life-and-the-boredom/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Life is first boredom, then fear,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-is-first-boredom-then-fear/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [The worst thing in life is boredom. When people don't know what to do with themselves, they are very, very poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-herz-sommer/the-worst-thing-in-life-is-boredom-when-people-don-t-know-what-to-do/) [Alice Herz-Sommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-herz-sommer/) > [The two real problems in life are boredom and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/the-two-real-problems-in-life-are-boredom-and-death/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-anderson/the-joy-of-life-comes-from-our-encounters-with-new-experiences-and/) [Kate Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-anderson/) > [“By the way, I'm not usually attracted to danger," I said. "Up until now I've led a pretty boring life." "Boredom is good!" Dr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-schumacher/by-the-way-i-m-not-usually-attracted-to-danger-i-said-up-until-now-i/) [Julie Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-schumacher/) > [“A chief cause of worry and unhappiness in life is trading what we want most for what we want at the moment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maralee-mckee/a-chief-cause-of-worry-and-unhappiness-in-life-is-trading-what-we/) [Maralee McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maralee-mckee/) > [“It seems to me that so much unhappiness in life comes not from a lack of answers, but from a lack of knowing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-zoey-chin/it-seems-to-me-that-so-much-unhappiness-in-life-comes-not-from-a-lack/) [Rita Zoey Chin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-zoey-chin/) ## More by Stendhal > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The pleasures and the cares of the luckiest ambition, even of limitless power, are nothing next to the intimate happiness that tenderness and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-pleasures-and-the-cares-of-the-luckiest-ambition-even-of/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The more a race is governed by its passions, the less it has acquired the habit of cautious and reasoned argument, the more intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-more-a-race-is-governed-by-its-passions-the-less-it-has-acquired/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The tyranny of public opinion (and what an opinion!) is as fatuous in the small towns of France as it is in the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-tyranny-of-public-opinion-and-what-an-opinion-is-as-fatuous-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [In love, unlike most other passions, the recollection of what you have had and lost is always better than what you can hope for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/in-love-unlike-most-other-passions-the-recollection-of-what-you-have/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“The footman burst in, announcing, 'Monsieur le Duc de ---.' 'Hold your tongue, you fool,' said the Duke as he entered the room. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-footman-burst-in-announcing-monsieur-le-duc-de-hold-your-tongue/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Signs cannot be represented, in a spy's report, so damningly as words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/signs-cannot-be-represented-in-a-spy-s-report-so-damningly-as-words/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“If you think of paying court to those in power, your eternal ruin is assured.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/if-you-think-of-paying-court-to-those-in-power-your-eternal-ruin-is/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Your career will be a painful one. I divine something in you which offends the vulgar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/your-career-will-be-a-painful-one-i-divine-something-in-you-which/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [On a cold winter morning a cigar fortifies the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/on-a-cold-winter-morning-a-cigar-fortifies-the-soul/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [A forty-year-old woman is only something to men who have loved her in her youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/a-forty-year-old-woman-is-only-something-to-men-who-have-loved-her-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Perhaps men who cannot love passionately are those who feel the effect of beauty most keenly; at any rate this is the strongest impression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/perhaps-men-who-cannot-love-passionately-are-those-who-feel-the/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Who knows whether it is not true that phosphorus and mind are not the same thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/who-knows-whether-it-is-not-true-that-phosphorus-and-mind-are-not-the/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“Could anything possibly be more humorous than believing in the depth or in the depravity of the Parisian character?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/could-anything-possibly-be-more-humorous-than-believing-in-the-depth/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The idea which tyrants find most useful is the idea of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-idea-which-tyrants-find-most-useful-is-the-idea-of-god/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) [Explore all 184 Stendhal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## More Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only unhappiness is a life of boredom.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stendhal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredom/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boredom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredom/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/stendhal-1379_boredom_the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredo_1189930.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/stendhal-1379_boredom_the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredo_1189930.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/stendhal-1379_boredom_the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredo_1189930.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only unhappiness is a life of boredom.” — Stendhal", "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": "Stendhal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The only unhappiness is a life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredom/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-only-unhappiness-is-a-life-of-boredom/#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 } } ] } ```