For happiness one needs security, but joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair.

The saying draws a sharp distinction between “happiness” as a relatively stable state that depends on external conditions—safety, continuity, and the absence of threat—and “joy” as a more sudden, inward, and resilient experience. By likening joy to a flower growing from “the cliffs of despair,” it suggests that moments of radiance can arise even in extremity, not because circumstances are secure but because the human spirit can respond creatively and unexpectedly to suffering. The image implies that joy is not the denial of despair but something that can coexist with it, offering a brief, vivid counterforce to hopelessness.