Quotes about Contentment
if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this.
— Marcus Aurelius
That thou mayest not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and from thy heart thankful to the gods.
— Marcus Aurelius
Let death surprise rue when it will, and where it will, I may be a happy man, nevertheless. For he is a happy man, who in his lifetime dealeth unto himself a happy lot and portion. A happy lot and portion is, good inclinations of the soul, good desires, good actions.
— Marcus Aurelius
Be content to seem what you really are.
— Marcus Aurelius
For the whole earth is a point, and how small a nook in it is this thy dwelling, and how few are there in it, and what kind of people are they who will praise thee. This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy own, and above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal.
— Marcus Aurelius
Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast: but of the things which thou hast select the best, and then reflect how eagerly they would have been sought, if thou hadst them not.
— Marcus Aurelius
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
— Marcus Aurelius
Happy as a clam, is what my mother says for happy. I am happy as a clam: hard-shelled, firmly closed.
— Margaret Atwood
How were we to know we were happy?
— Margaret Atwood
This world is not enough, but it will have to do. You can either hold on or let go.
— Margaret Atwood
For years I wanted to be older, and now I am.
— Margaret Atwood
I've learned to do without a lot of things. If you have a lot of things, said Aunt Lydia, you get too attached to this material world and you forget about spiritual values. You must cultivate poverty of spirit. Blessed are the meek.
— Margaret Atwood