Is yours for the

Question

Hi,

What do the expressions below mean?

Does (A) mean that "happiness is yours only if you take it"?

Or, does it mean that "It is you that have to take the happiness"?

Happiness is yours for the taking.

My heart is yours for the Taking

It is ours for the taking back.

Tomorrow is ours for the keeping.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Happiness is yours for the taking = Happiness will belong to you if only you make the effort to take it for yourself = Happiness is available to you. All you have to do is take it. ~ You will be happy if you make the effort to be happy.

yours for the taking means that you can have it if you want it because it is available to you.
ours for the keeping, by analogy, means we can keep it if we want to keep it because it is available to us.

Many of these expressions are highly metaphoric.

CJ

Pructus · Answer

Thanks a lot, Calif!!

How about this one?

The world is ours for the changing.

Does it also mean that "the world is ours only if we (are willing to) change it"?

This one feels to me, like "It is our job to change the world".

CalifJim · Answer

pructusHow about this one?
The world is ours for the changing.

Many of these are subject to various interpretations. I would paraphrase this one thus:

We are the ones who "own" the world (inhabit the world); therefore, we are the ones who have the right to change it. OR, ... the ones who can change it if we want to.

for the taking is the usual wording. The use of verbs other than "taking" is sometimes more difficult to interpret -- and I sometimes wonder if even the author himself knows exactly what he means!

CJ

Pructus · Answer

Thanks Calif, your answer sounds academic.

Is yours for the

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