What do you think about this quote?

Same thing as the idea that you can be dumb and happy or intelligent and troubled. The more you know, the more things there are to make you unhappy.

same as “ignorance is bliss”

He might be talking about himself.

I don’t think he knew many smart people.

Truly intelligent people find a way to be happy.

I’ve never felt that intelligence had much to do with happiness or the lack thereof.

Very much a reflection of Hemingway’s own troubled mind. Smart people can be happy; and dumb people can be sad. Sad but true, happily ;-)

It’s just a gross generalization; we’re all guilty lol.

Intelligence makes us aware, it doesn’t make us happy or sad. Yeah, it’s a reflection of Hemmingway’s outlook.

History and literature are some of my worst subjects, but if memory serves Hemingway was wounded during WWI. He also was present during D-Day. He suffered profound depression and committed suicide. My guess is Hemingway was intelliigent and also had seen too much sorrow and been through too much trauma, hence his feeling that knowing and understanding can inhibit happiness. I agree with @DrBill, the same as ignorance is bliss.

He also said, “An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools”...

I think he suffered because his intelligence alienated him from the masses.

It’s like this quote I saw in a business newsletter this morning:

I’ve made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I’m convinced of the opposite.” Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

I liked his books better.

Here’s where I think he’s coming from:

People have a tendency to take refuge from harsh realities by indulging in frivolity or delusive thinking (this is what Marx was getting at when he said “Religion is the opium of the people”). This is a band-playing-while-the-ship-sinks kind of happiness. Someone with a higher degree of mental discipline is less likely to be comforted by unfounded hopes or superficiality.

And it’s true that there’s no lack of examples of powerful intellects who get overwhelmed by existential despair. Reason alone can’t provide a basis for happiness. Highly intelligent people are often very reliant on reason because that is their strength, but it fails them when it comes to addressing some core paradoxes that appear to be barriers to happiness. Hemingway seems to have gotten stuck here as did, apparently, many intelligent people in his circle.

The paradoxes aren’t resolved by reason, so intelligence is no great asset in transcending them, nor is it necessarily a liability.

Well, coming from a raging alcoholic as Hemingway was, I am sure he was not a happy guy!

I consider myself to be intelligent, I am not an Einstein by any stretch, but a pretty bright gal, and, I am happy! Anyone can have times of feeling down, situational depression, but to dwell in the house of chronic misery is a red flag for deeper issues.

Creative minds may be more sensitive and intuitive, but, this is by no means a given for mental illness.

I may be reading the quote differently than he intended but my first thought was he was saying he didn’t often find himself happy in the company of intelligent people.

Ernest Hemingway didn’t know much. That quote is just pain weird. Intelligent people make happiness happen.

Well now that’s just silly isn’t it?
I like quotes that are historically accurate & have depth of meaning within, like this one.
“Wig wam bam, gonna make you my man!” attributed to Pocahontas I believe.

His opinion. Bright people are just as happy as the mentally challenged.

@gondwanalon He didn’t know much‽

[insert rant about how gross generalizations are the bane of my existence]

That’s wy most Americans are “fat dumb and happy”.

He knew only what he surrounded himself with. Too bad he didn’t use his intelligence to surround himself with lighter thinking people.

@SpatzieLover Oh yes, mindless dribble is exactly what he needed. If only he’d had the internet! :P

@rOs If Ernest Hemmingway had great knowledge, then he didn’t seem to use it as he suffered from depression, alcoholism and self inflicted health problems. Also he committed suicide at age 62. It is so sad to see such a brilliant writer act so stupidly.

Hemingway suffered PTSD. Much like his character Nick Adams.

@mrrich724 is right, he dealt with heavier issues than most. Knowledge does not equal self-control/responsibility. @gondwanalon, I believe you are operating under the assumption that he had full control over his mental facilities. As I’ve seen/read, who we are might simply be the sum of our chemical makeup/ experiences; what we do can be modulated with discipline, but ultimately a biological condition is what it is.