--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: it takes nothing to be happy but…" description: "\"“it takes nothing to be happy but something to be sad and those who are always looking for something are always convincing themselves that they are hap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/vd-2157_happiness_it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-somethi_604940.jpg" --- # it takes nothing to be happy but something to be sad and… ![“it takes nothing to be happy but something to be sad and those who are always looking for something are always convincing themselves that they are happy and those who look for nothing are not to the deluded.” quote by VD](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/vd-2157_happiness_it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-somethi_604940.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/vd-2157_happiness_it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-somethi_604940.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/vd-2157_happiness_it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-somethi_604940.jpg) > ““it takes nothing to be happy but something to be sad and those who are always looking for something are always convincing themselves that they are happy and those who look for nothing are not to the deluded.”” VD ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that constantly seeking something to feel happy leads to self‑deception, while those who accept nothing avoid delusion. **In simple terms:** Seeking happiness can cause self‑deception; accepting nothing avoids it. Key Takeaway Recognize when desire clouds true contentment. Themes contentment self‑deception desire philosophy Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - mental health - spiritual practice Key Concepts mindfulness existentialism Questions to Reflect On - Do you chase happiness or accept what is? - How does desire affect your perception of joy? A Different Perspective It may ignore that some desires motivate growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happy Sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-sad/) ## Related quotes > [“it takes nothing to be happy but something to be sad and those who are always looking for something are always convincing themselves that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-something-to-be-sad-and-those-who/) VD > [“Do you imagine, Peter, that your Carpe Diem boots would look any less deluded to them than that guy's Tony Lamas do to you?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/do-you-imagine-peter-that-your-carpe-diem-boots-would-look-any-less/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Sometimes meeting someone new is all it takes for you to be happy again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-meeting-someone-new-is-all-it-takes-for-you-to-be-happy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I haven't lived much, but have certainly observed enough, with what I know I say, all it takes to be happy is not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/i-haven-t-lived-much-but-have-certainly-observed-enough-with-what-i/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Love it when music takes you back to happy places...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-it-when-music-takes-you-back-to-happy-places/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes, all it takes is being happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-all-it-takes-is-being-happy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You smoked another cigarette and we shared another coffee and it was just another morning that made me realise that this is all it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-eriksson/you-smoked-another-cigarette-and-we-shared-another-coffee-and-it-was/) [Charlotte Eriksson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-eriksson/) > [“So if we’re both so happy, why are we sad?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-raeder/so-if-we-re-both-so-happy-why-are-we-sad/) [Leah Raeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-raeder/) > [“So, this is my life. And I want you to know I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/so-this-is-my-life-and-i-want-you-to-know-i-am-both-happy-and-sad-and/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [We can be happy and sad it depends on how we see life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/missyrie/we-can-be-happy-and-sad-it-depends-on-how-we-see-life/) Missyrie > [Sometime happy, sometime sad and vice versa. Life's like that!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-anthony-along/sometime-happy-sometime-sad-and-vice-versa-life-s-like-that/) Gabriel Anthony Along > [“are you happy, or are you not sad?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabbie-hanna/are-you-happy-or-are-you-not-sad/) [Gabbie Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabbie-hanna/) > [I wish they had a word for being happy and sad at the same time because that's what I feel every time I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wish-they-had-a-word-for-being-happy-and-sad-at-the-same-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am so confused on love right now I dont know if this girl likes me or not I am not happy I'm sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-so-confused-on-love-right-now-i-dont-know-if-this-girl-likes-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Should I be happy or sad to have someone who makes me say good bye so hard ...??](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/srks/should-i-be-happy-or-sad-to-have-someone-who-makes-me-say-good-bye-so/) [Srks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/srks/) ## More by VD > [“one is like a seed that had fallen from the stars burning with the light of pure potential the map to one's destiny is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/one-is-like-a-seed-that-had-fallen-from-the-stars-burning-with-the/) VD > [“Suffering offers a path to awareness. Awareness allows us to be truly born. When one is born, one is able to then able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/suffering-offers-a-path-to-awareness-awareness-allows-us-to-be-truly/) VD > [“One of the greatest offenses inflicted on Man is castration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/one-of-the-greatest-offenses-inflicted-on-man-is-castration/) VD > [“Greater skill and value is found in creating a myth than it is to awkwardly present the truth subjectively, or raw form. It doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/greater-skill-and-value-is-found-in-creating-a-myth-than-it-is-to/) VD > [“Reality has a tendency to reveal itself when man is idle, and so it is because of this that idleness is often regarded as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/reality-has-a-tendency-to-reveal-itself-when-man-is-idle-and-so-it-is/) VD > [“True glory and the essence of life lies in the pro-creation and re-actment of heroic meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/true-glory-and-the-essence-of-life-lies-in-the-pro-creation-and-re/) VD > [“Love can be found, but true love has to be built.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/love-can-be-found-but-true-love-has-to-be-built/) VD > [“One of the greatest offenses that can be inflicted on Man from birth is castration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/one-of-the-greatest-offenses-that-can-be-inflicted-on-man-from-birth/) VD > [“There are no good films today because the gods all have succumbed to the fangs of the serpent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/there-are-no-good-films-today-because-the-gods-all-have-succumbed-to/) VD > [“Myths are reality, born out of space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/myths-are-reality-born-out-of-space/) VD > [“I have a tendency to like people right up until the point when I get to know them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/i-have-a-tendency-to-like-people-right-up-until-the-point-when-i-get/) VD > [“Some men return to their past, so that new forces may arise for the reconquest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/some-men-return-to-their-past-so-that-new-forces-may-arise-for-the/) VD > [“The culture of the future will be one that will not involve the aristocracy, peasants, merchants or ownership of land, for these will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/the-culture-of-the-future-will-be-one-that-will-not-involve-the/) VD > [“Superior men spend their time off contemplating the meaning of life. They are in a perpetual quest for truth and understanding in themselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/superior-men-spend-their-time-off-contemplating-the-meaning-of-life/) VD > [“There are hardly films of substance to be found today because the gods have all succumbed to the fangs of the serpent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/there-are-hardly-films-of-substance-to-be-found-today-because-the/) VD Explore all 180 VD quotes ## 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": "“it takes nothing to be happy but something to be sad and those who are always looking for something are always convincing themselves that they are happy and those who look for nothing are not to the deluded.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "VD" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-something-to-be-sad-and-those-who-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-something-to-be-sad-and-those-who-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/vd-2157_happiness_it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-somethi_604940.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/vd-2157_happiness_it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-somethi_604940.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/vd-2157_happiness_it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-somethi_604940.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“it takes nothing to be happy but something to be sad and those who are always looking for something are…” — VD", "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": "VD", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vd/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“it takes nothing to be happy...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-something-to-be-sad-and-those-who-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vd/it-takes-nothing-to-be-happy-but-something-to-be-sad-and-those-who-2/#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 } } ] } ```