Slow but steady wins the race.
AesopRead
We often despise what is most useful to us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often overlook or undervalue what they truly need for their well-being.
Aesop's quote suggests that humans have a tendency to take for granted the things that provide them the greatest benefit. By failing to recognize the value of certain elements in our lives, we may dismiss them, not realizing their importance until they are lacking. This observation encourages us to appreciate and acknowledge the usefulness of what we have, rather than developing disdain or indifference towards it.
Themes
AppreciationValueGratitudeUsefulnessHumans
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting to remind everyone to appreciate their collaborators.
More from Aesop
All quotes βThe haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle's own Lures. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction.
AesopRead
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
AesopRead
If you are a friend, why do you bite me so hard? If an enemy, why do you fawn on me?
AesopRead
The unhappy derive comfort from the misfortunes of others.
AesopRead
Don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
AesopRead
Similar quotes
You can never solve a problem with the same kind of thinking that created the problem in the first place.
Albert EinsteinRead
Worldly wealth is the Devil's bait; and those whose minds feed upon riches recede, in general, from real happiness, in proportion as their stores increase, as the moon, when she is fullest, is farthest from the sun.
Robert BurtonRead
Don't swap horses in crossing a stream.
Abraham LincolnRead
If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Some people get into this business and they're so afraid to lose anything. They try to protect their position like clinging to a beachhead. These actors end up making really safe choices. I never wanted to go that route. If I go down, I'm going down swinging.
Matt DamonRead
Passion mutates into procedures, into rules and roles. Instead of purpose, we focus on policies. Instead of being free to create, we impose constraints that squeeze the life out of us.
Margaret J. WheatleyRead