A half-filled glass stands between two empty glasses lying on their sides on a grey tabletop.

Original artwork, not a still

Maxim 49

François de la Rochefoucauld

We are never so happy or so unhappy as we suppose.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The saying questions how accurately we judge our own happiness and unhappiness. Both can seem more extreme than they are, in the speaker's view. The balanced wording casts doubt on each judgment without singling out either hope or despair.

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