This quote offers a unique perspective on happiness, suggesting it stems from a desire to relive positive experiences. It implies that joy isn't just about newness but also about the comforting familiarity of recurring pleasure.
Quote by Milan Kundera: “Happiness is the longing for repetition.”
Happiness is the longing for repetition.
Insight
Historical Context
In a novel exploring themes of permanence versus transience, this idea connects happiness to the desire for eternal return, contrasting it with the burden of lightness inherent in unique, unrepeatable experiences, a key philosophical debate of the time.
About the Author
Czech-French novelist whose work explored the intersections of politics, memory, and personal life under communism and in exile. His novel The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and The Unbearable Lightness of Being earned him international acclaim. He was stripped of his Czech citizenship in 1979 after emigrating to France.
View all quotes by Milan Kundera