An amber glass bird perched on a wooden crate beside a glove and trailing greenery on a pale turquoise background.

Original artwork, not a still

Mr. Emerson

Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?

— A Room with a View ‧ 1908

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Happiness is rare, so it would be foolish to shove it away when it turns up. The speaker uses the image of happiness sitting on a box and asks whether anyone would knock it off, urging people to let it stay.

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