The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.

The line frames a paradox: the “greatest happiness” comes from loosening one’s dependence on happiness as a requirement. Read this way, Saroyan is pointing toward a kind of inner freedom—when you stop treating happiness as a condition you must secure, you become less vulnerable to disappointment and more able to accept life’s mixed realities. The statement also critiques the modern compulsion to pursue happiness as an obligation; it suggests that contentment can arise from self-sufficiency, resilience, and acceptance rather than constant emotional gratification. The insight aligns with stoic and existential themes: meaning and steadiness can persist even when happiness is intermittent.