"Fate often puts all the material for happiness and prosperity into a man's hands just to see how miserable he can make himself with them."

Happiness

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Insight & Reflection

The theme of happiness is universal, yet Don Marquis manages to capture its essence in a uniquely profound way. Taking a moment to internalize this can shift our mindset, reminding us that our perspective on happiness often shapes our reality.

About Don Marquis

Donald Robert Perry Marquis was an American humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters Archy and Mehitabel, Archy being a supposed author of humorous verse. During his lifetime he was equally famous for creating another fictitious character, "the Old Soak," who was the subject of two books, a hit Broadway play (1922–23), a silent film (1926) and a talkie (1937).

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Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Don Marquis

"Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough."

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"Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo."

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More about Happiness

"Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values."

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"I would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government other than another. It is of no moment to the happiness of an individual."

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"I always seem to have a vague feeling that he is a Satan among musicians, a fallen angel in the darkness who is perpetually seeking to fight his way back to happiness."

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