The saying presents anticipation as a particularly powerful source of enjoyment. Before an expected event occurs, imagination can dwell on favourable possibilities without being limited by what eventually happens. The pleasure therefore comes partly from expectation itself: looking forward to something can extend enjoyment beyond the duration of the experience being anticipated.

The statement also points to a contrast between imagined and realised experience. Expectations can remain open and idealised, whereas an actual event is necessarily more definite and may fall short of what was imagined. Taken as an aphorism, the quotation captures the familiar experience of finding preparation, expectation or hopeful imagining as enjoyable as the event itself. However, its interpretation should be kept separate from its authorship: although widely associated with Søren Kierkegaard, the attribution is not supported by the Kierkegaard research source cited for it.

Original quotation in Danish

“Forventningens glæde er den største.”