John Bytheway Quotes

Covetous ambition, thinking all too little which presently it hath, supposeth itself to stand in need of that which it hath not.

People are never satisfied. If they have a little, they want more. If they have a lot, they want still more. Once they have more, they wish they could be happy with little, but are incapable of making the slightest effort in that direction.

Society is based on discontent: people wanting more and more and more, being continually dissatisfied with their homes, their bodies, their decor, their clothes, everything.

I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing

There is no greater offence than harbouring desires. There is no greater disaster than discontent. There is no greater misfortune than wanting more.

Happy thou art not; for what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get; and what thou hast, forgettest.

We are perverse creatures and never satisfied.

I suppose I was always very greedy. I was never happy with what we had, and I was always looking for new opportunities.

We live in a material world. I'm not saying that beautiful things don't enhance our lives. But, in our culture, we're never happy.

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

Nature, more of a stepmother than a mother in several ways, has sown a seed of evil in the hearts of mortals, especially in the more thoughtful men, which makes them dissatisfied with their own lot and envious of another's.

It seems like a lot of people seek their peace in things. And most of us are not even satisfied with the things we have... we always want more.

Everyone wants, wants, wants... and when they have, they feel desperate.

The malcontent is neither well, full nor fasting; and though he abounds with complaints, yet nothing dislikes him but the present; for what he condemns while it was, once passed, he magnifies and strives to recall it out of the jaw of time. What he hath he seeth not, his eyes are so taken up with what he wants; and what he sees he careth not for, because be cares so much for that which is not.

Now that we have everything we need, we discover that there is almost nothing that we have that we want

Our desires always increase with our possessions. The knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed impairs our enjoyment of the good before us.

Who is the covetous man? One for whom plenty is not enough.

And which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that he has not given them. All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.

The highly ambitious person, in spite of all his successes, always remains dissatisfied, in the same way as a greedy baby is never satisfied.

The covetous man is ever in want.

Covetousness is the greatest misfortune. One who does not know what is enough will never have enough.

There is no greater fault than sensual indulgence. There is no greater misfortune than malcontent. There is no greater calamity than greed.

When we have got it, we want something else.

the truly covetous have never enough!

You're asking if I'm happy? I've got 87 million in the bank, I've got a Rolls Royce, I've got 3 stalkers, I'm about to go on the board at Manchester City, I'm part of the greatest band in the world. Am I happy with that? No, I'm not! I want more!