--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How few are our real wants! and how easy…" description: "\"How few are our real wants! and how easy is it to satisfy them! Our imaginary ones are boundless and insatiable.\" — Augustus William Hare" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/augustus-william-hare-7245_boundless_how-few-are-our-real-wants-and-how-easy_1937584.jpg" --- # How few are our real wants! and how easy is it to satisfy… ![“How few are our real wants! and how easy is it to satisfy them! Our imaginary ones are boundless and insatiable.” quote by Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/augustus-william-hare-7245_boundless_how-few-are-our-real-wants-and-how-easy_1937584.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/augustus-william-hare-7245_boundless_how-few-are-our-real-wants-and-how-easy_1937584.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/augustus-william-hare-7245_boundless_how-few-are-our-real-wants-and-how-easy_1937584.jpg) > “How few are our real wants! and how easy is it to satisfy them! Our imaginary ones are boundless and insatiable.” [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human desires are few and easily satisfied, while imagined wants are endless and never fulfilled. **In simple terms:** Real needs are simple; imagined wants are endless. Key Takeaway Focus on essential needs, limit endless cravings. Themes desire contentment materialism Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - consumerism - goal setting - budgeting - personal growth Key Concepts philosophy psychology minimalism Questions to Reflect On - What simple pleasures bring you joy? - How can you curb endless cravings? A Different Perspective Imagined wants can distract from real fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boundless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundless/) ## Related quotes > [How few our real wants, and how vast our imaginary ones!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/how-few-our-real-wants-and-how-vast-our-imaginary-ones/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [If I had my life to live over, I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-herold/if-i-had-my-life-to-live-over-i-would-perhaps-have-more-actual/) [Don Herold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-herold/) > [“these are not real wants because they are not actual things. They are the by-products, the flavors and atmospheres of real things—shadows which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/these-are-not-real-wants-because-they-are-not-actual-things-they-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are ruined, not by what we really want, but by what we think we do; therefore never go abroad in search of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-are-ruined-not-by-what-we-really-want-but-by-what-we-think-we-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Friends, both the imaginary ones you build for yourself out of phrases taken from a living writer, or real ones from college, and relatives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/friends-both-the-imaginary-ones-you-build-for-yourself-out-of-phrases/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [True stories deal with hunger, imaginary ones with love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-queneau/true-stories-deal-with-hunger-imaginary-ones-with-love/) [Raymond Queneau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-queneau/) > [The real wants of nature are the measure of enjoyments, as the foot is the measure of the shoe. We can call only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-clement-i/the-real-wants-of-nature-are-the-measure-of-enjoyments-as-the-foot-is/) [Pope Clement I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-clement-i/) > [Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are supplied must admit those of fancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/some-desire-is-necessary-to-keep-life-in-motion-and-he-whose-real-2/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Men suck, even imaginary ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/men-suck-even-imaginary-ones/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are suppliedmust admit those of fancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/some-desire-is-necessary-to-keep-life-in-motion-and-he-whose-real/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [There are in life real evils enough, and it is folly to afflict ourselves with imaginary ones; it is time enough when the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin/there-are-in-life-real-evils-enough-and-it-is-folly-to-afflict/) [Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin/) > [But weightier still are the contentment which comes from work well done, the sense of the value of science for its own sake, insatiable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-joseph-henderson/but-weightier-still-are-the-contentment-which-comes-from-work-well/) [Lawrence Joseph Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-joseph-henderson/) > [Chinese workers are not forced into factories because of our insatiable desire for iPods. They choose to leave their homes in order to earn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-t-chang/chinese-workers-are-not-forced-into-factories-because-of-our/) [Leslie T. Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-t-chang/) > [Nature has planted in our minds an insatiable longing to see the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/nature-has-planted-in-our-minds-an-insatiable-longing-to-see-the-truth/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The desire for possession is insatiable, to such a point that it can survive even love itself. To love, therefore, is to sterilize the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-desire-for-possession-is-insatiable-to-such-a-point-that-it-can/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) ## More by Augustus William Hare > [Do, and have done. 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Could we understand half what mothers say and do to their infants,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/it-is-well-for-us-that-we-are-born-babies-in-intellect-could-we/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [Some persons take reproof good-humoredly enough, unless you are so unlucky as to hit a sore place. 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The body ought to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/the-body-too-has-its-rights-and-it-will-have-them-they-cannot-be/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [Nature is mighty. Art is mighty. Artifice is weak. For nature is the work of a mightier power than man. Art is the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/nature-is-mighty-art-is-mighty-artifice-is-weak-for-nature-is-the/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [They who disbelieve in virtue because man has never been found perfect, might as reasonably deny the sun because it is not always noon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/they-who-disbelieve-in-virtue-because-man-has-never-been-found/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [We look to our last sickness for repentance, unmindful that it is during a recovery men repent, not during a sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/we-look-to-our-last-sickness-for-repentance-unmindful-that-it-is/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [The mind is like a trunk: if well-packed, it holds almost every thing; if ill-packed, next to nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/the-mind-is-like-a-trunk-if-well-packed-it-holds-almost-every-thing/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) [Explore all 93 Augustus William Hare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) ## More Boundless quotes > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [In my forties, my optimism was boundless. I had really good health and tremendous success which allowed me to do anything I wanted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-cornwell/in-my-forties-my-optimism-was-boundless-i-had-really-good-health-and/) [Patricia Cornwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-cornwell/) > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe... All is registered in the 'boundless heart' of the bodhisattva. Through our deepest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-macy/the-heart-that-breaks-open-can-contain-the-whole-universe-all-is/) [Joanna Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-macy/) > [Every time someone tried to explain to me there are limits to what one man can do, I pointed to the boundless sky and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaiprakash-gaur/every-time-someone-tried-to-explain-to-me-there-are-limits-to-what/) Jaiprakash Gaur > [I was much more into romance as a teenager and it's been a kind of new discovery for me to learn about sci-fi adventure.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-wilde/i-was-much-more-into-romance-as-a-teenager-and-it-s-been-a-kind-of/) [Olivia Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-wilde/) > [In the early days the Cubism' method of grasping an object was to go round and round it. The Futurists declared that one had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-severini/in-the-early-days-the-cubism-method-of-grasping-an-object-was-to-go/) [Gino Severini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-severini/) > [Keep your rivers flowing as they will, and you will continue to know the most important of all freedoms-the boundless scope of the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-r-brower/keep-your-rivers-flowing-as-they-will-and-you-will-continue-to-know/) [David R. 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