call no man happy till he dies

call no man happy till he dies

Due to the mutable nature of happiness, one's life cannot definitively be judged as happy until one has died. Jay was perfectly happy until his wife got sick. That's why you can call no man happy till he dies.

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Call no man happy till he dies,

 and Count no man happy till he dies.

Prov. You cannot tell if a person's life has been happy on the whole until that person's life is over; no matter how happy someone is now, something bad may happen to destroy his or her happiness. Alan: You must be very happy with your new wife. Bill: Call no man happy till he dies. Jill: That movie star must be the happiest person in the world. He's rich, people love him, and he likes his work. Jane: Count no man happy till he dies.

See also: call, die, happy, he, man, no, till