Democritus Quotes

A small appetite makes poverty equivalent to wealth.

I grew up with very little - so material things have never been that important for me.

He is not poor that hath not much, but he that craves much.

I'm happy without money.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

Real freedom is having nothing. I was freer when I didn't have a cent.

That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.

A short cut to riches is to subtract from our desires.

I remember once in junior high school, on a Friday, my mom came home from work and said to my brother and I, 'You know, between us, we have only 27 cents, but we have food in the refrigerator, we have our little garden out back, and we're happy, so we are rich.'

There are two ways of being happy: We must either diminish our wants or augment our means - either may do - the result is the same and it is for each man to decide for himself and to do that which happens to be easier.

At home, growing up, we weren't really poor. We had everything we needed, we just didn't have what we wanted.

I really don't require a whole lot in life.

Advances don't fundamentally interest me. It sounds terribly naive, but money doesn't really mean anything to me. If a lot of money came my way, I'm certainly not going to say no. But it hasn't come my way as yet, and I'm not heartbroken.

The greatest wealth is to live content with little, for there is never want where the mind is satisfied.

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.

I started out with nothing. I still have most of it.

He chose to be rich by making his wants few, and supplying them himself.

I don't need a whole lot.

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.

I grew up with nothing, and I know that I don't need anything to be happy. We were wearing second-hand clothing and eating leftovers, and I was so happy. Five-star hotels and private pick-ups hasn't changed that.

If you wish to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires.

I'm much more famous than I am rich, but I'm able to scale back my lifestyle. I know a lot of people who were where I was who can't imagine living any simpler, but I haven't got a lot of expensive wants.

If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.

I have no riches but my thoughts. Yet these are wealth enough for me.

Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor.