Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux Quotes

It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.

Other people have more than they need, I alone seem wanting.

Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society.

True affluence is not needing anything.

I am totally unattached to material items.

O ye gods, grant unto me to have little and to want nothing.

Material things don't matter.

I'm no Buddhist monk, and I can't say I'm in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I've written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn't want or need, not all I did.

The more you learn to live without, the more you'll have to live with.

Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything.

Very early on in life, I decided the hell with it: material things weren't for me. Christmas would come, and other kids would have all these presents, and it wouldn't bother me a bit.

True affluence is to not need anything.

Needing nothing really is the ultimate goal. And to have nothing to do with things.

He who has enough for his wants should desire nothing more.

The real trick in life is to want nothing, and to succeed in getting it. - Karla

The less you need, the more you attract.

You may have occasion to possess or use material things, but the secret of life lies in never missing them.

Enjoy everything. Need nothing.

What I feel best about is that while I enjoy what I have and don't want to lose it, I also don't need it.

I enjoyed my life when I had nothing... and kinda like the idea of just being happy with me.

Pray to God that your attachment to such transitory things as wealth, name, and creature comforts may become less and less every day.

When I look around, I begin to understand what Socrates meant when he said, 'How much there is in the world I do not want.'

Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging.

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

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