"Miserable is a good thing, though. If you start the day miserable, nobody else can screw up your day"
About this Quote
The intent isn’t to glorify unhappiness so much as to reclaim control in a life that often feels controlled by audiences, promoters, addictions, and headlines. As a celebrity (and in Roberts’ case, someone whose public persona was built on menace and grit), he’s speaking from a culture where vulnerability gets exploited. “Nobody else can screw up your day” is the key tell: the threat isn’t abstract sadness, it’s other people - their demands, their judgments, their power to derail you. Misery becomes a firewall.
There’s a sly critique of positivity culture here. If you’re expected to be upbeat on cue, choosing misery reads like sabotage: you refuse the performance. But the subtext is also a little tragic. Starting miserable isn’t resilience; it’s resignation dressed as a punchline, the kind of coping mechanism that works until it becomes your only one. The humor gives it swagger. The worldview underneath is survivalist: lower your expectations, control the narrative, and you can’t be disappointed on someone else’s schedule.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sarcastic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Roberts, Jake. (2026, January 17). Miserable is a good thing, though. If you start the day miserable, nobody else can screw up your day. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/miserable-is-a-good-thing-though-if-you-start-the-75731/
Chicago Style
Roberts, Jake. "Miserable is a good thing, though. If you start the day miserable, nobody else can screw up your day." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/miserable-is-a-good-thing-though-if-you-start-the-75731/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Miserable is a good thing, though. If you start the day miserable, nobody else can screw up your day." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/miserable-is-a-good-thing-though-if-you-start-the-75731/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




