#contentment

Real poverty is when hunger pangs force from my mind all thoughts but those of food. Real poverty is when the children are not dressed warmly enough for winter. Real poverty is when the housing we can afford is not adequate to the needs of our families. On the other hand, real poverty is - equally - when I have eaten so much that I am uncomfortable, and again, my thoughts center on food. Or when I have so many clothes that I have to spend a lot of mental energy making choices among them or finding ways to store them. Or when, regardless of my living conditions, I am discontent and brooding about how to have more. Real poverty is when material things are uppermost and pressing - whether because we have too few or too many of them. It is poverty, because the human mind and spirit are made for higher things, worthier pursuits. ↗

— Maxine Hancock

#poverty #prosperity #wealth #equality

A book of verses underneath the bough A flask of wine, a loaf of bread and thou Beside me singing in the wilderness And wilderness is paradise now. ↗

— Omar Khayyám

#love #paradise #poetry #love

All those who love Nature she loves in return, and will richly reward, not perhaps with the good things, as they are commonly called, but with the best things of this world-not with money and titles, horses and carriages, but with bright and happy thoughts, contentment and peace of mind. ↗

— John Lubbock

#nature #reward #love

I have never loved Fortune, even when she seemed most to love me. I never considered her treasures mine, neither her money, nor her office nor her influence. Her theft of these things, therefore. has taken away nothing of my own. Mother, my roof is the stars. My house is human goodness. My body is clothed. My stomach is full. And the thirstier part of me, my soul, drinks gladly from the pool of my books. So much for me. I am just fine. ↗

— Walter Wangerin Jr.

#love

If God gave you contentment then you would never pursue your life purpose. It is your restlessness that pushes you to take action, change your life and seek more of what you could possibly be. ↗

— Shannon L. Alder

#misery #needs #change

It will be your duty, and it will be your pleasure too to estimate her (as you chose her) by the qualities that she has, and not by the qualities she may not have. ↗

— Charles Dickens

#marriage #marriage

To accept what you are is to be content, and contentment is the greatest wealth. To work with patience is to gather power. To surrender to the Eternal flow is to be completely present. ↗

— Vimalia McClure

#inspirational #patience #inspirational

Better to be happy with the cod fish in your plate now, than to linger for the taste of a tuna that is still swimming in the sea. ↗

— Dennis E. Adonis

#contentment #decisions #greed #happiness #love

Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little In comparison to eternal realities.-- ↗

— Robert Murray McCheyne

#god #happiness #inspirational #peace #perspective

It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where we'd like to be. That's not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what you've accomplished, rather than thinking of what's left to be done (p. 159). ↗

— John Bingham

#contentment #inspiration #joy-in-journey #running #inspirational