The foolβs life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.
EpicurusRead
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Appreciate what you currently have instead of longing for what you don't.
This quote by Epicurus emphasizes the importance of gratitude and contentment. It reminds us that our current possessions and circumstances were once simply dreams or desires, and by focusing on what we lack, we risk diminishing the joy of what we already have.
Themes
GratitudeContentmentAppreciationDesireHappiness
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal satisfaction and happiness.
More from Epicurus
All quotes βAccustom yourself to believe that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply awareness, and death is the privation of all awareness; therefore a right understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life an unlimited time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terror; for those who thoroughly apprehend that there are no terrors for them in ceasing to live.
EpicurusRead
The wise man who has become accustomed to necessities knows better how to share with others than how to take from them, so great a treasure of self-sufficiency has he found.
EpicurusRead
We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.
EpicurusRead
I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. (Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo)
EpicurusRead
Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.
EpicurusRead
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Accept everything about yourself - I mean everything, You are you and that is the beginning and the end - no apologies, no regrets.
Henry A. KissingerRead
Accept the things I cannot change," I said. "And pray for the courage to change the things I can, as well as the wisdom to know the difference." The thing is... I know this is good advice. It's called the Serenity Prayer, and it really does put things in perspective (it's suppose to be for recovering alcoholics, but it helps recovering freakoutaholics, like me, as well).
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They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and infallible Physician. Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of their devices. They can neither discover the cause of the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the remedy.
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You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.
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It is Chastity, my brother. She that has that is clad in complete steel.
John MiltonRead
The readiest and surest way to get rid of censure, is to correct ourselves.
DemosthenesRead