Ann Patchett Quotes

I think, for the majority of my twenties, I was always so concerned with what I didn't have, or what I still wanted.

If I had known what it would be like to have it all - I might have been willing to settle for less.

One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late.

I'm certainly not sorry that there were some things I missed. You may think you're missing something at that time but later when you look at it, you didn't miss anything.

We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.

I know that I always wanted things. I was always proud of my people, proud of my home, but I always wanted more. I think most people do.

I have always wanted to play for Aston Villa, so I am not going to sit there and think, 'I could have been there,' or whatever. The grass isn't always greener.

Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that faith, I suppose, they might never start. Somewhere on the way they lift their eyes to the summit and know they aren't going to reach it; and happiness then is looking down and enjoying the view they've got, not envying the one they haven't.

It doesn't matter what you're chasing, when you get there you're gonna be like, "Oh, is this all? It kind of sucks."

He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.

Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them.

More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.

My whole life, I've wanted things before I was ready. I was always pushing for the next job, the next success. I was so focused on achieving and the path that I was missing some great point about life.

Our culture highlights the desire to always have more, even when we should be grateful for what we have.

My motto is: Contented with little, yet wishing for more.

Like other men, I have sought honours and preferment, and often have obtained them beyond my wishes or hopes. Yet never have I found in them that content which I had figured beforehand in my mind. A strong reason, if we well consider it, why we should disencumber ourselves of vain desires.

It is right to be contented with what we have, never with what we are.

True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.

Just celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had.

I have not been that wise. Health I have taken for granted. Love I have demanded, perhaps too much and too often. As for money, I have only realized its true worth when I didn't have it.

Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.

Success is about enjoying what you have and where you are, while pursuing achievable goals.

It is better to be a has-been than a never-was.

I have been offered a lot for my work, but never everything.

There is stuff I would have liked to have done. But there are no sour grapes.