--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: deferring gratification is a good…" description: "\"deferring gratification is a good definition of being civilized.\" — Bernice Fitz-Gibbon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_civilized_deferring-gratification-is-a-good-defini_2634269.png" --- # deferring gratification is a good definition of being… ![“deferring gratification is a good definition of being civilized.” quote by Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_civilized_deferring-gratification-is-a-good-defini_2634269.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_civilized_deferring-gratification-is-a-good-defini_2634269.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_civilized_deferring-gratification-is-a-good-defini_2634269.png) > “deferring gratification is a good definition of being civilized.” [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Patience and delaying gratification reflect civilization and self‑control. **In simple terms:** Waiting shows civility. Key Takeaway Cultivate patience. Themes self‑control civilization patience Mood motivational thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - financial planning - education - relationship building Key Concepts delayed gratification social refinement Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice delayed gratification? - What benefits arise from waiting? A Different Perspective Modern culture often rewards instant reward. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gratification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratification/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) ## Related quotes > [Many mammals and birds have systems for strong self-control, and it is not difficult to see why such systems were advantageous and were selected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-churchland/many-mammals-and-birds-have-systems-for-strong-self-control-and-it-is/) [Patricia Churchland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-churchland/) > [Instant gratification is not as good as that gratification which comes dripping slow, over the sere seasons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-barthelme/instant-gratification-is-not-as-good-as-that-gratification-which/) [Donald Barthelme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-barthelme/) > [We enjoy some gratification when our good friends die; for though their death leaves us in sorrow, we have the consolatory assurance that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/we-enjoy-some-gratification-when-our-good-friends-die-for-though/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [There is indeed a certain sense of gratification when we do a good deed that gives us inward satisfaction, and a generous pride that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-is-indeed-a-certain-sense-of-gratification-when-we-do-a-good/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [A general definition of civilization: a civilized society is exhibiting the fine qualities of truth, beauty, adventure, art, peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/a-general-definition-of-civilization-a-civilized-society-is/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [I definitely think we're living in a world or generation where we need constant gratification and adoration with Instagram and likes, and we base…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-ballinger/i-definitely-think-we-re-living-in-a-world-or-generation-where-we/) [Colleen Ballinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-ballinger/) > [“When we allow ourselves to show some patience and take time to listen to the others, we may learn a lot about ourselves. Patience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/when-we-allow-ourselves-to-show-some-patience-and-take-time-to-listen/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [The realization that my problem was one that concerned all men, a problem of living and thinking, suddenly swept over me and I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-realization-that-my-problem-was-one-that-concerned-all-men-a/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Our ideas of happiness, gratification, contentment, satisfaction, all demand that those feelings come from within us. If you flip that on its head and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/our-ideas-of-happiness-gratification-contentment-satisfaction-all/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [“In our quest for entertainment and instant gratification, we have become detached from the real world and its problems, contributing to the erosion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-our-quest-for-entertainment-and-instant-gratification-we-have/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Self-love . . . is the sole antagonist of virtue, leading us constantly by our propensities to self-gratification in violation of our moral duties to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/self-love-is-the-sole-antagonist-of-virtue-leading-us-constantly-by/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [This is the great truth life has to teach us ... that gratification of our individual desires and expression of our personal preferences without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-odlum/this-is-the-great-truth-life-has-to-teach-us-that-gratification-of/) [Hortense Odlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-odlum/) > [For me, just the sheer fact that I get to act and do this for a living is enough personal gratification and individual fulfillment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-gladstone/for-me-just-the-sheer-fact-that-i-get-to-act-and-do-this-for-a-living/) [Lily Gladstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-gladstone/) > [Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/happiness-is-a-state-of-inner-fulfillment-not-the-gratification-of/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [One moment of gratification is not worth a lifetime of being unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-moment-of-gratification-is-not-worth-a-lifetime-of-being-unhappy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Bernice Fitz-Gibbon > [Of course advertising creates wants. Of course it makes people discontented, dissatisfied. Satisfaction with things as they are would defeat the American Dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/of-course-advertising-creates-wants-of-course-it-makes-people/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [It's smart to be thrifty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/it-s-smart-to-be-thrifty/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there-2/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [To be a success in advertising you must want to fill other people with a passion for possession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/to-be-a-success-in-advertising-you-must-want-to-fill-other-people/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Advertising prods people into wanting more and better things. Of course advertising makes people dissatisfied with what they have - makes them raise their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/advertising-prods-people-into-wanting-more-and-better-things-of/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [A good ad should be like a good sermon: It must not only comfort the afflicted, it also must afflict the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/a-good-ad-should-be-like-a-good-sermon-it-must-not-only-comfort-the/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Teenagers travel in droves, packs, swarms. ... To the librarian, they're a gaggle of geese. To the cook, they're a scourge of locusts. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/teenagers-travel-in-droves-packs-swarms-to-the-librarian-they-re-a/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Creativity varies inversely with the number of cooks involved in the broth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-varies-inversely-with-the-number-of-cooks-involved-in-the/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) [Explore all 10 Bernice Fitz-Gibbon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) ## More Civilized quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Civilized nations are ones that simply can't endure wrongs or injustice except at home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-anderson/civilized-nations-are-ones-that-simply-can-t-endure-wrongs-or/) Joseph Anderson > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [War is not civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/war-is-not-civilized/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/the-military-mind-is-indeed-a-menace-old-fashioned-futurity-that-sees/) [Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/) > [As long as there are prisons, police, armies, navies; we are not civilized. When the Earth joins together and uses the Earth intelligently, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/as-long-as-there-are-prisons-police-armies-navies-we-are-not/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [We're all intrigued, in our civilized world that we live in, and curious about how we would get on, on an undiscovered island that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/we-re-all-intrigued-in-our-civilized-world-that-we-live-in-and/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are servants, men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-passions-and-appetites-are-stronger-than-the-intellect-men-are/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/savage-peoples-are-ruled-by-passion-civilized-peoples-by-the-mind/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) Browse all 1,043 Civilized quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "deferring gratification is a good definition of being civilized.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bernice Fitz-Gibbon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/deferring-gratification-is-a-good-definition-of-being-civilized/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilized" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/deferring-gratification-is-a-good-definition-of-being-civilized/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_civilized_deferring-gratification-is-a-good-defini_2634269.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_civilized_deferring-gratification-is-a-good-defini_2634269.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_civilized_deferring-gratification-is-a-good-defini_2634269.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“deferring gratification is a good definition of being civilized.” — Bernice Fitz-Gibbon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bernice Fitz-Gibbon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "deferring gratification is a good definition...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/deferring-gratification-is-a-good-definition-of-being-civilized/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/deferring-gratification-is-a-good-definition-of-being-civilized/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```