--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Contentment is wanting what you have…" description: "\"Contentment is wanting what you have. Ambition is wanting what another has. Progress comes from wanting what nobody has.\" — Bob Lewis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/bob-lewis-65010_ambition_contentment-is-wanting-what-you-have-amb_957279.jpg" --- # Contentment is wanting what you have. Ambition is wanting… ![“Contentment is wanting what you have. Ambition is wanting what another has. Progress comes from wanting what nobody has.” quote by Bob Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/bob-lewis-65010_ambition_contentment-is-wanting-what-you-have-amb_957279.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/bob-lewis-65010_ambition_contentment-is-wanting-what-you-have-amb_957279.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/bob-lewis-65010_ambition_contentment-is-wanting-what-you-have-amb_957279.jpg) > “Contentment is wanting what you have. Ambition is wanting what another has. Progress comes from wanting what nobody has.” [Bob Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contentment, ambition, and progress are driven by different desires: appreciating what you have, envying others, and seeking the unknown. **In simple terms:** Desire shapes our goals. Key Takeaway Balance appreciation and ambition. Themes contentment ambition progress Mood hopeful inspirational Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - personal growth - creative projects Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What do you truly value? - How to pursue new ideas responsibly? A Different Perspective Unchecked ambition may cause dissatisfaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Ambition Wanting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition-wanting-543856/) [Contentment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contentment/) [Contentment Wanting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contentment-wanting-1747136/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Wanting Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanting-ambition-1747137/) ## Related quotes > [“For the book was also about ambition. About wanting to be the biggest, the best, the most famous at any cost. It was about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-carroll/for-the-book-was-also-about-ambition-about-wanting-to-be-the-biggest/) [Emma Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-carroll/) > [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/) > [One often learns more from ten days of agony than ten years of contentment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merle-shain/one-often-learns-more-from-ten-days-of-agony-than-ten-years-of/) [Merle Shain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merle-shain/) > [I know well, Monsieur, how much you have to endure in your present duty, and I ask Our Lord to strengthen you in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-de-paul/i-know-well-monsieur-how-much-you-have-to-endure-in-your-present-duty/) [Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-de-paul/) > [“I was so nearly happy. There remained only a tiny something, something unexplained and inexplicable that buzzed in my ear when the lights were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennie-rooney/i-was-so-nearly-happy-there-remained-only-a-tiny-something-something/) [Jennie Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennie-rooney/) > [Every human always wants more. We're never satisfied. True happiness doesn't come until we're fully satisfied with what we have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-human-always-wants-more-we-re-never-satisfied-true-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pleasure simply brings more craving, but the problem is that we try to get contentment through pleasure. True contentment can only come through service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/pleasure-simply-brings-more-craving-but-the-problem-is-that-we-try-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Most of us are not content with our lot because we want a lot more](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianette-carbito/most-of-us-are-not-content-with-our-lot-because-we-want-a-lot-more/) [Marianette Carbito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianette-carbito/) > [My crown is in my heart, not on my head; not decked with diamonds and Indian stones, nor to be seen: my crown is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/my-crown-is-in-my-heart-not-on-my-head-not-decked-with-diamonds-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Money is made at Christmas out of holly and mistletoe, but who save the vendors would greatly care if no green branch were procurable?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/money-is-made-at-christmas-out-of-holly-and-mistletoe-but-who-save/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [“When we perform at our highest level of potential, we are content. Because we have given I best in what we enjoy doing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-j-barrier/when-we-perform-at-our-highest-level-of-potential-we-are-content/) [Ellen J. Barrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-j-barrier/) > [There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other with habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-edgeworth/there-are-two-sorts-of-content-one-is-connected-with-exertion-the/) [Maria Edgeworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-edgeworth/) > [If you can find as much happiness at the bottom of the ladder of success as you can at the top, then you understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-krause/if-you-can-find-as-much-happiness-at-the-bottom-of-the-ladder-of/) [Tom Krause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-krause/) > [I may not have everything I want in life but I have all I will ever need to make my life complete, my family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-may-not-have-everything-i-want-in-life-but-i-have-all-i-will-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) ## More by Bob Lewis > [To win the Kentucky Derby is the goal of every trainer, every hot-walker, every backside person. They may be just rubbing on a horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-lewis/to-win-the-kentucky-derby-is-the-goal-of-every-trainer-every-hot/) [Bob Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-lewis/) > [Arrogance is a veneer -- a thin covering of excuses hiding deep performance deficiencies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-lewis/arrogance-is-a-veneer-a-thin-covering-of-excuses-hiding-deep/) [Bob Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-lewis/) > [Pessimists, we're told, look at a glass containing 50% air and 50% water and see it as half empty. Optimists, in contrast, see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-lewis/pessimists-we-re-told-look-at-a-glass-containing-50-air-and-50-water/) [Bob Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-lewis/) > [The technology life cycle has three stages: Hype, disillusionment, and application.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-lewis/the-technology-life-cycle-has-three-stages-hype-disillusionment-and/) [Bob Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-lewis/) [Explore all 5 Bob Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-lewis/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Contentment is wanting what you have. 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