--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: True contentment depends not upon what we…" description: "\"True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.\" — Charles Caleb Colton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/charles-caleb-colton-270_alexander_true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-w_811084.png" --- # True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was… ![“True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.” quote by Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/charles-caleb-colton-270_alexander_true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-w_811084.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/charles-caleb-colton-270_alexander_true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-w_811084.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/charles-caleb-colton-270_alexander_true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-w_811084.png) > “True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.” [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contentment comes from inner sufficiency, not material wealth; even a modest life can satisfy a wise soul, while great power may feel inadequate. **In simple terms:** Inner peace beats material excess. Key Takeaway Seek sufficiency, not excess. Themes contentment wealth philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - financial planning - leadership - spiritual practice Key Concepts Stoicism comparative wealth humility Questions to Reflect On - What truly satisfies you beyond possessions? - How do you measure enough? A Different Perspective Even with minimal needs, one may still feel lacking if desires are misaligned. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contentment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contentment/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Our incomes should be like our shoes, if too small, they will gall and pinch us, but if too large, they will cause us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/our-incomes-should-be-like-our-shoes-if-too-small-they-will-gall-and/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/true-contentment-is-a-thing-as-active-as-agriculture-it-is-the-power/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [We find that the more a cultivated reason devotes itself to the aim of enjoying life and happiness, the further does man get away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/we-find-that-the-more-a-cultivated-reason-devotes-itself-to-the-aim/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [True contentment comes from our Lord alone.We must ask Him to flood us with His presence and strengthen us with His love,so that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-contentment-comes-from-our-lord-alone-we-must-ask-him-to-flood/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other; and he that knows how to accommodate himself to their periodical returns, and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darkness-succeed-each-other-and-he-2/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [True contentment is not having everything, but in being satisfied with everything you have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/true-contentment-is-not-having-everything-but-in-being-satisfied-with/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Fully experiencing the connection that exists between us all is the secret to true contentment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-boylan/fully-experiencing-the-connection-that-exists-between-us-all-is-the/) [Simon Boylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-boylan/) > [“She'd never known true contentment before now. She had waited her whole life for someone to set her free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendall-grey/she-d-never-known-true-contentment-before-now-she-had-waited-her/) [Kendall Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendall-grey/) > [True contentment comes with empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-finn/true-contentment-comes-with-empathy/) [Tim Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-finn/) > [Give love ~ receive love~ be love~ embrace love and you will find true contentment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-brown/give-love-receive-love-be-love-embrace-love-and-you-will-find-true/) Sam Brown > [If you can find true contentment, it will last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-you-can-find-true-contentment-it-will-last-forever/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“I want true love in this life, and true contentment and peace. But maybe the only way I can find those things is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kim/i-want-true-love-in-this-life-and-true-contentment-and-peace-but/) [Elizabeth Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kim/) > [Life is life, Girls are girls and boys are boys, they change here and there.. BUT ALEXANDER remains the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asking-alexander/life-is-life-girls-are-girls-and-boys-are-boys-they-change-here-and/) Asking Alexander > [Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato, and Cicero, just to name a few, all lived in pagan societies. Some of the greatest political and military leaders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-myers/homer-hesiod-pythagoras-plato-and-cicero-just-to-name-a-few-all-lived/) [Brendan Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-myers/) > [I actually sat down and started three Alexanders at the same time. Two of them went in the trash and got stomped on because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/i-actually-sat-down-and-started-three-alexanders-at-the-same-time-two/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) ## More by Charles Caleb Colton > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/none-are-so-fond-of-secrets-as-those-who-do-not-mean-to-keep-them/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by reputation, approved by reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/mental-pleasures-never-cloy-unlike-those-of-the-body-they-are/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We ought not to be over-anxious to encourage innovation in cases of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ought-not-to-be-over-anxious-to-encourage-innovation-in-cases-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-owe-almost-all-our-knowledge-not-to-those-who-have-agreed-but-to/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Metaphysicians have been learning their lessons for the last four thousand years, and it is high time that they should now begin to teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/metaphysicians-have-been-learning-their-lessons-for-the-last-four/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Faith and works are necessary to our spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body are to our natural life as men; for faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/faith-and-works-are-necessary-to-our-spiritual-life-as-christians-as/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Explore all 778 Charles Caleb Colton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More Alexander quotes > [I actually sat down and started three Alexanders at the same time. Two of them went in the trash and got stomped on because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/i-actually-sat-down-and-started-three-alexanders-at-the-same-time-two/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato, and Cicero, just to name a few, all lived in pagan societies. Some of the greatest political and military leaders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-myers/homer-hesiod-pythagoras-plato-and-cicero-just-to-name-a-few-all-lived/) [Brendan Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-myers/) > [Life is life, Girls are girls and boys are boys, they change here and there.. BUT ALEXANDER remains the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asking-alexander/life-is-life-girls-are-girls-and-boys-are-boys-they-change-here-and/) Asking Alexander > [“I am acting, then," continued Alexander, "only on the defensive. The gods, who always favor the right, have given me the victory. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-abbott/i-am-acting-then-continued-alexander-only-on-the-defensive-the-gods/) [Jacob Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-abbott/) > [Lucius Cassius ille quem populus Romanus verissimum et sapientissimum iudicem putabat identidem in causis quaerere solebat 'cui bono' fuisset. The famous Lucius Cassius, whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/lucius-cassius-ille-quem-populus-romanus-verissimum-et-sapientissimum/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“That valiant Macedonian supreme commander and emperor Alexander, in his thirties and the future Indian captain-general and emperor Chandragupta just on the threshold of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savarkar/that-valiant-macedonian-supreme-commander-and-emperor-alexander-in/) Savarkar > [“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/alexander-the-coppersmith-did-me-great-harm-the-lord-will-repay-him/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When Alexander saw the depth of his empire he wept for there were no more worlds to concquer. Benefits of a classical education.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-gruber/when-alexander-saw-the-depth-of-his-empire-he-wept-for-there-were-no/) Hans Gruber > [“Annabeth nodded. "That's right.Alexander conquered Egypt.After he died, his general Ptolemy took over. He wanted the Egyptians to accept him as their pharaoh, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/annabeth-nodded-that-s-right-alexander-conquered-egypt-after-he-died/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“As Alexander would confess years later, sex and sleep more than anything else reminded him that he was mortal. One”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-freeman/as-alexander-would-confess-years-later-sex-and-sleep-more-than/) [Philip Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-freeman/) > [I'm a London girl, so I grew up on Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood... Dior, Chanel, the usual suspects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/i-m-a-london-girl-so-i-grew-up-on-alexander-mcqueen-and-vivienne/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [When I did 'Racing Demon' by David Hare, I worked with Paul Giamatti, who had stacks of books in his dressing room. I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-o-hare/when-i-did-racing-demon-by-david-hare-i-worked-with-paul-giamatti-who/) [Denis O'Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-o-hare/) > [Alexander III of Macedon is known as Alexander the Great because he killed more people of more different kinds than any other man of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/alexander-iii-of-macedon-is-known-as-alexander-the-great-because-he/) [Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/) > [“Alexander's mere name and the fame of his feats raised rulers and realms across virtually the whole world. And those who kept control of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-chugg/alexander-s-mere-name-and-the-fame-of-his-feats-raised-rulers-and/) [Andrew Chugg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-chugg/) > [Where did he go!” he bellowed, gloved hands clenching. “I had him in a snare that would take Alexander the Great a lifetime to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/where-did-he-go-he-bellowed-gloved-hands-clenching-i-had-him-in-a/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) Browse all 230 Alexander quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Caleb Colton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-we-have-a-tub-was-large-enough/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alexander" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-we-have-a-tub-was-large-enough/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/charles-caleb-colton-270_alexander_true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-w_811084.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/charles-caleb-colton-270_alexander_true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-w_811084.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3eb/charles-caleb-colton-270_alexander_true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-w_811084.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too…” — Charles Caleb Colton", "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": "Charles Caleb Colton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "True contentment depends not upon what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-we-have-a-tub-was-large-enough/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/true-contentment-depends-not-upon-what-we-have-a-tub-was-large-enough/#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 } } ] } ```