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Nothing is sufficient for the person who finds sufficiency too little
Epicurus
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Contentment is elusive for those who constantly desire more.

This quote by Epicurus highlights the idea that true satisfaction in life is not just about having enough, but rather about one's perspective on sufficiency. If a person is perpetually dissatisfied, feeling that enough is never enough, they will never find peace or happiness, no matter how much they acquire.

Themes

SufficiencyContentmentDesirePerspectiveHappiness

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a discussion about personal values and happiness.

More from Epicurus

The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.
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Accustom 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.
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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.
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We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.
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I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. (Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo)
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Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.
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