(Day 9 of 2013 Year of Lettering)
Yesterday, as I was struggling with not feeling content, I looked at several quotes about photography (lots about how it's invasive and steal's people's souls and privacy and whatnot, not planning on lettering any of those), and then decided to look for quotes about envy. I had no intention of doing anything with them, lest I admit owning any envy myself, I would much rather give it away to unsuspecting strangers than be caught in possession of a smidge of jealousy and insecurity.
What interested me was that instead of feeding the fiery flame the way that telling of a perceived injustice to a confidant ensures solidarity in continuing and strengthening the reality of the negative thing, reading quotes about envy and then contentment made me feel more empowered to look at things in a more positive light. To think about what I really want and go after only the things that matter.
And so, since it would take me quite a while and several whims to letter all of these for you I will at least post the quotes that I stumbled upon yesterday in hopes that they will encourage someone else. Some of them are admittedly more feel-good and some more intellectual, and some amused me (the Ben Franklin quote especially).
Also, if you notice that a quote is credited to the wrong person
please let me know!
“Nothing brings on jealousy like laughter.”
― Françoise Sagan, That Mad Ache: A Novel / Translator, Trader: An Essay
“So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld
“Inventory:
"Four be the things I am wiser to know:
Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.
Four be the things I'd been better without:
Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.
Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.
Three be the things I shall have till I die:
Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.”
― Dorothy Parker, The Complete Poems of Dorothy Parker
“If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.”
― Debbie Macomber, Mrs. Miracle
“To find out a girl's faults, praise her to her girlfriends.”
― Benjamin Franklin
“Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald
“There is no disappointment so numbing...as someone no better than you achieving more.”
― Joseph Heller
“Greed, envy, sloth, pride and gluttony: these are not vices anymore. No, these are marketing tools. Lust is our way of life. Envy is just a nudge towards another sale. Even in our relationships we consume each other, each of us looking for what we can get out of the other. Our appetites are often satisfied at the expense of those around us. In a dog-eat-dog world we lose part of our humanity.”
― Jon Foreman
“It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.”
― Aeschylus
“You can feel anything. All is free for you to feel. But I guarantee you that if you allow yourself to feel envy and then to swim in it, that envy will destroy you and the people around you. Envy is unlike anger. Envy is not a right wing nor a left wing, it is not on either end of the balancing beam. Nobody needs it and I can assure you that once you give yourself to it, you will be eaten up. Envy can even eat up nations, casting them up against each other and pull a whole nation down into an internal collapse.”
― C. JoyBell C.
“Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own.”
― Harold G. Coffin
“I wish to live without hate, whim, jealousy, envy, and fear. I wish to be simple, honest, frank, natural . . to face any obstacle and meet every difficulty unabashed and unafraid.”
― Elbert Hubbard
“I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books were burnt; I am lean with seeing others eat - O that there would come a famine through all the world, that all might die, and I live alone; then thou should'st see how fat I would be! But must thou sit and I stand? Come down, with a vengeance!”
― Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus
"Have no fear of perfection. You'll never reach it."
Salvador Dali
“There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world. There is only the comparison of one state with another.”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
“Take all the time & energy you waste on envy, and use it to try to improve yourself. You will find you are better off and happier than you ever imagined.”
― Gary Rudz
“Envy won't make you a better poet.”
― Katerina Stoykova Klemer
“How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough”
― Oprah Winfrey
“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”
― Martha Washington
“I have learned that to be with those I like is enough”
― Walt Whitman
“We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.”
― Immanuel Kant
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”
― Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown's Little Book of Wisdom
“I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.”
― John Stuart Mill
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.”
― Socrates
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
(Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.)”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters to His Friends, Vol 2: Books 7-12
“I think the secret to a happy life is a selective memory. Remember what you are most grateful for and quickly forget what your not.”
― Richard Paul Evans, Grace
“The world is always greater than your desires; plenty is never enough.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project
“You’re all so obsessed with other worlds, you’re so convinced that this one is crap and everywhere else is great, but you’ve never bothered to figure out what’s going on here!”
― Lev Grossman, The Magician King
“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.”
― Lao Tzu
“A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.”
― Joseph Addison
“Thoughts will lead you in circles. Silence will bring you back to your centre.”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru
“People will ask you the question 'how is life treating you?' But my question is 'how are you treating life?' On that your happiness rests”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru
― Françoise Sagan, That Mad Ache: A Novel / Translator, Trader: An Essay
“So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld
“Inventory:
"Four be the things I am wiser to know:
Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.
Four be the things I'd been better without:
Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.
Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.
Three be the things I shall have till I die:
Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.”
― Dorothy Parker, The Complete Poems of Dorothy Parker
“If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.”
― Debbie Macomber, Mrs. Miracle
“To find out a girl's faults, praise her to her girlfriends.”
― Benjamin Franklin
“Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald
“There is no disappointment so numbing...as someone no better than you achieving more.”
― Joseph Heller
“Greed, envy, sloth, pride and gluttony: these are not vices anymore. No, these are marketing tools. Lust is our way of life. Envy is just a nudge towards another sale. Even in our relationships we consume each other, each of us looking for what we can get out of the other. Our appetites are often satisfied at the expense of those around us. In a dog-eat-dog world we lose part of our humanity.”
― Jon Foreman
“It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.”
― Aeschylus
“You can feel anything. All is free for you to feel. But I guarantee you that if you allow yourself to feel envy and then to swim in it, that envy will destroy you and the people around you. Envy is unlike anger. Envy is not a right wing nor a left wing, it is not on either end of the balancing beam. Nobody needs it and I can assure you that once you give yourself to it, you will be eaten up. Envy can even eat up nations, casting them up against each other and pull a whole nation down into an internal collapse.”
― C. JoyBell C.
“Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own.”
― Harold G. Coffin
“I wish to live without hate, whim, jealousy, envy, and fear. I wish to be simple, honest, frank, natural . . to face any obstacle and meet every difficulty unabashed and unafraid.”
― Elbert Hubbard
“I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books were burnt; I am lean with seeing others eat - O that there would come a famine through all the world, that all might die, and I live alone; then thou should'st see how fat I would be! But must thou sit and I stand? Come down, with a vengeance!”
― Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus
"Have no fear of perfection. You'll never reach it."
Salvador Dali
“There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world. There is only the comparison of one state with another.”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
“Take all the time & energy you waste on envy, and use it to try to improve yourself. You will find you are better off and happier than you ever imagined.”
― Gary Rudz
“Envy won't make you a better poet.”
― Katerina Stoykova Klemer
“How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough”
― Oprah Winfrey
“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”
― Martha Washington
“I have learned that to be with those I like is enough”
― Walt Whitman
“We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.”
― Immanuel Kant
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”
― Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown's Little Book of Wisdom
“I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.”
― John Stuart Mill
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.”
― Socrates
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
(Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.)”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters to His Friends, Vol 2: Books 7-12
“I think the secret to a happy life is a selective memory. Remember what you are most grateful for and quickly forget what your not.”
― Richard Paul Evans, Grace
“The world is always greater than your desires; plenty is never enough.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project
“You’re all so obsessed with other worlds, you’re so convinced that this one is crap and everywhere else is great, but you’ve never bothered to figure out what’s going on here!”
― Lev Grossman, The Magician King
“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.”
― Lao Tzu
“A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.”
― Joseph Addison
“Thoughts will lead you in circles. Silence will bring you back to your centre.”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru
“People will ask you the question 'how is life treating you?' But my question is 'how are you treating life?' On that your happiness rests”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru
“The secret of contentment is never to allow yourself to want anything which reason tells you you haven't a chance of getting.”
― P.D. James
“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
Hi Kelly! I stumbled upon your blog via Oh So Beautiful Paper. I just want to say that your project is inspiring! Daily writing exercises/practice indeed makes us better -- plus the quotes you use speak so much truth. Happy to have found your blog! :)
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