Relative Satisfaction Quotes

You could do a lot worse.

Human beings consider themselves satisfied only compared to some other condition. A man who has owned nothing but a bicycle all of his life feels suddenly wealthy the moment he buys an automobile...But this happy sensation wears off. After a while the car becomes just another thing that he owns. Moreover, when his neighbor next door buys two cars, in an instant our man feels wretchedly poor and deprived.

No man is happy but by comparison.

Many of our feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction have their roots in how we compare ourselves to others. When we compare ourselves to those who have more, we feel bad. When we compare ourselves to those who have less, we feel grateful. Even though the truth is we have exactly the same life either way, our feelings about our life can vary tremendously based on who we compare ourselves with. Compare yourself with those examples that are meaningful but that make you feel comfortable with who you are and what you have.

The crop always seems better in our neighbor's field, and our neighbor's cow gives more milk.

That’s a lesson we can all learn: the more we have, the more we want. And the only cure is to break the cycle of relativity.

I never liked my last name or my first name, but it's not as bad as Frigidaire, so it's fine.