Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Circumstances
Happy circumstances in life are like certain groups of trees. Seen from the distance they look very well; but go up to them and among them, and the beauty vanishes; you don’t know where it can be; it is only trees you see. And so it is that we often envy the lot of others.
—Arthur S. Schopenhauer