Quotes About Contentment

the only cheap life was a dull life.

One may be strengthened & fed without the aid of Joy, & no one knows it better than I do; & I believe I know the only cure, which is to make one's center of life inside of one's self, not selfishly or excludingly, but with a kind of unassailable serenity—to decorate one's inner house so richly that one is content there, glad to welcome anyone who wants to come and stay, but happy all the same when one is inevitably alone.

the stoic's carelessness of material things, combined with the epicurean's pleasure in them.

You like so much to be alone?" "Yes; as long as my friends keep me from feeling lonely.

Newland never seems to look ahead, Mrs. Welland once ventured to complain to her daughter; and May answered serenely: No; but you see it doesn't matter, because when there's nothing particular to do he reads a book.

There's always a reason for wanting to get out of life—the wonder is that we find so many for staying in!

I believe I know the only cure, which is to make one's center of life inside of one's self, not selfishly or excludingly, but with a kind of unassailable serenity—to decorate one's inner house so richly that one is content there, glad to welcome anyone who wants to come and stay, but happy all the same when one is inevitably alone." ? Edith Wharton

decorate one's inner house so richly that one is content there, glad to welcome anyone who wants to come and stay, but happy all the same when one is inevitably alone

I know there is an order that keeps things fast in their place: it is made to us, and we are made to it. Why not ask another wife, other children, another body, another mind?

We had no longing for excessive wealth: a mere competency, though earned by daily toil, so that it was reasonably sure, and free from the drag of continued indebtedness to others, was all we coveted.

All that is most valuable can be had for nothing. They come as presents from the hand of the Creator, and neither air nor sky, nor beauty, genius, health, or strength, can be bought or sold.

It is the mynd, that maketh good or ill, That maketh wretch or happie, rich or poore: For some, that hath abundance at his will, Hath not enough, but wants in greatest store

my delight is all in ioyfulnesse . . .

There is no greater pleasure than to lie between clean sheets, listen to music, and read under a strong light.

Was I grieving because he didn't possess everything, absolutely everything, or because I owned nothing?

Once I accepted my extravagant mendicancy I stumbled upon the sober, intelligent little boy I had once been. This was the kid with the sweet smile and an interest in all sorts of things, the boy with brushed hair and cloudless eyes, the child so whole he could forget himself: the birthday boy.

It's a mild hell so comfortable that it resembles heaven.

Being an old maid is like death by drowning, a really delightful sensation after you cease to struggle.

We have a gray stone house with stone slates on the roof and wooden beams inside, and whitewashed bumpety walls and pots for flowers everywhere; the boards creak and he loves me, and there is something about having a child and being in a valley, and being loved, that is more marvelous than anything you or I ever knew about in our flittery days.

That's the happiest moment. When it's all done. When we stop. When we can stop.

People can't have everything they want. You should know that; it's a rule; people can have some of the things they want, but they can't have everything.

Yes … but was I happy? Did I sit there and did contentment bathe me in its warm light?

years, according to my wish, of health, of leisure

I was never less alone than when by myself. Edward Gibbon