--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The discontent that lies in the human…" description: "\"The discontent that lies in the human condition is not satisfied simply by material things.\" — Derek Walcott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/derek-walcott-2220_discontent_the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-co_3017311.jpg" --- # The discontent that lies in the human condition is not… ![“The discontent that lies in the human condition is not satisfied simply by material things.” quote by Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/derek-walcott-2220_discontent_the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-co_3017311.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/derek-walcott-2220_discontent_the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-co_3017311.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/derek-walcott-2220_discontent_the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-co_3017311.jpg) > “The discontent that lies in the human condition is not satisfied simply by material things.” [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Material wealth cannot satisfy the human condition's deeper longing. **In simple terms:** Material things don't fulfill inner discontent. Key Takeaway Seek deeper fulfillment. Themes philosophy human nature materialism Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - spiritual practice - artistic creation - community service Key Concepts existentialism psychology of desire Questions to Reflect On - What non‑material sources bring you joy? - How can societies reduce materialist pressures? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on materialism can cause emptiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discontent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontent/) [Discontent Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontent-lies-4221090/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Material things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/material-things/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things/) ## Related quotes > [The poet complains or points out the discontent that lies at the heart of man, the individual man, and how can that be redeemed?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-poet-complains-or-points-out-the-discontent-that-lies-at-the/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“Pick a leader who will keep jobs in your country by offering companies incentives to hire only within their borders, not one who allows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/pick-a-leader-who-will-keep-jobs-in-your-country-by-offering/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“It's the basic truth of the human condition: everybody lies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/house/it-s-the-basic-truth-of-the-human-condition-everybody-lies/) [house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/house/) > [I'm a sensitive guy; I respond to things that make my eyes well up a little bit, or make me root for people. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/i-m-a-sensitive-guy-i-respond-to-things-that-make-my-eyes-well-up-a/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [That's why we trust the Bible - it speaks to both realities: the unchanging human condition and the constantly changing cultural conditions. It speaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-yaconelli/that-s-why-we-trust-the-bible-it-speaks-to-both-realities-the/) [Mike Yaconelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-yaconelli/) > [I see film as a real opportunity to examine the human condition. No matter where the technology goes in the future, the basics don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-schultz/i-see-film-as-a-real-opportunity-to-examine-the-human-condition-no/) [Michael Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-schultz/) > [The largest room in the world is room for improvement. You know, some mornings my thighs are fat. Some days my hair looks great.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-lane/the-largest-room-in-the-world-is-room-for-improvement-you-know-some/) [Diane Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-lane/) > [“I was not alone in the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-wingate/i-was-not-alone-in-the-human-condition/) [Lisa Wingate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-wingate/) > [Human beings are interested in the human condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/human-beings-are-interested-in-the-human-condition/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [I love Victorian novels, the way they capture the nuances of the human condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sal-khan/i-love-victorian-novels-the-way-they-capture-the-nuances-of-the-human/) [Sal Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sal-khan/) > [I think we've told a lot of lies about human behavior through film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/i-think-we-ve-told-a-lot-of-lies-about-human-behavior-through-film/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [“That which they have need of . . . let it be given them day by day without fail. Ezra 6:9 If we really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/that-which-they-have-need-of-let-it-be-given-them-day-by-day-without/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [“Cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. Mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/cause-and-effect-is-as-absolute-and-undeviating-in-the-hidden-realm/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [“Don't envy what people have, emulate what they did to have it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/don-t-envy-what-people-have-emulate-what-they-did-to-have-it/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [Our obsession with material things and lack of self-worth is evident in our need for an abundance of momentary luxuries and must-have amenities that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-i/our-obsession-with-material-things-and-lack-of-self-worth-is-evident/) [T.I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-i/) ## More by Derek Walcott > [Memory that yearns to join the centre, a limb remembering the body from which it has been severed, like those bamboo thighs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/memory-that-yearns-to-join-the-centre-a-limb-remembering-the-body/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/peel-your-own-image-from-the-mirror-sit-feast-on-your-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I don't feel I've arrived home until I get on the beach. All my life, the theater of the sea has been a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-don-t-feel-i-ve-arrived-home-until-i-get-on-the-beach-all-my-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“As human beings we’ve certainly suffered the loss of awe, the loss of sacredness, and the loss of the fact that we’re not here—…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/as-human-beings-we-ve-certainly-suffered-the-loss-of-awe-the-loss-of/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I shall unlearn feeling, unlearn my gift. That is greater and harder than what passes there for life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-shall-unlearn-feeling-unlearn-my-gift-that-is-greater-and-harder/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The greatest writers have been, at heart, parochial, provincial in their rootedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-greatest-writers-have-been-at-heart-parochial-provincial-in-their/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-time-will-come-when-with-elation-you-will-greet-yourself-arriving/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted when it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/break-a-vase-and-the-love-that-reassembles-the-fragments-is-stronger/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [My mother, who is nearly ninety now, still talks continually about my father. All my life, I've been aware of her grief about his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-mother-who-is-nearly-ninety-now-still-talks-continually-about-my/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [My family background really only consists of my mother. She was a widow. My father died quite young; he must have been thirty-one. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-family-background-really-only-consists-of-my-mother-she-was-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I am the man my father loved and was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-am-the-man-my-father-loved-and-was/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Like any art, what is the most imprisoning thing is also the most delivering thing. If an actor knows he only has 12 syllables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/like-any-art-what-is-the-most-imprisoning-thing-is-also-the-most/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The thing that is believed is a reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-thing-that-is-believed-is-a-reality/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The history of the world - by which, of course, we mean Europe - is a record of intertribal lacerations, of ethnic cleansings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-history-of-the-world-by-which-of-course-we-mean-europe-is-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The English language is nobody's special property. It is the property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-english-language-is-nobody-s-special-property-it-is-the-property/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) [Explore all 177 Derek Walcott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## More Discontent quotes > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/for-a-successful-revolution-it-is-not-enough-that-there-is-discontent/) [B. R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) > [“She was tired of the flaming thoughts of discontent that kept her awake at night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-gaffney/she-was-tired-of-the-flaming-thoughts-of-discontent-that-kept-her/) [Virginia Gaffney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-gaffney/) > [The oppressed without hope are mysteriously quiet. When the conception of change is beyond the limits of the possible, there are no words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/the-oppressed-without-hope-are-mysteriously-quiet-when-the-conception/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [“Comparison with myself brings improvement, comparison with others brings discontent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-jamie-chung/comparison-with-myself-brings-improvement-comparison-with-others/) [Betty Jamie Chung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-jamie-chung/) > [I am profoundly in the D's - discouraged, depressed, disheartened, disgusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/i-am-profoundly-in-the-d-s-discouraged-depressed-disheartened/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself...It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/any-writer-worth-his-salt-writes-to-please-himself-it-s-a-self/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [While the principles of our Constitution give just latitude to inquiry, every citizen faithful to it will deem embodied expressions of discontent and open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/while-the-principles-of-our-constitution-give-just-latitude-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“And since he was seeing more and more people who were unhappy for no apparent reason, he was becoming more and more tired, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-lelord/and-since-he-was-seeing-more-and-more-people-who-were-unhappy-for-no/) [François Lelord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-lelord/) > [You can spend your whole life complaining about how much you hate life or you can spend it finding new ways to love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/you-can-spend-your-whole-life-complaining-about-how-much-you-hate/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [I grieve and dare not show my discontent, I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, I do, yet dare not say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-grieve-and-dare-not-show-my-discontent-i-love-and-yet-am-forced-to/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [Upon the profound discontent of the young in every country do I set my faith. I beg you, the young, to be discontented. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/upon-the-profound-discontent-of-the-young-in-every-country-do-i-set/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Love is maintain'd by wealth: when all is spent, Adversity then breeds the discontent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/love-is-maintain-d-by-wealth-when-all-is-spent-adversity-then-breeds/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Everything becomes so problematic because of basic faults: from a discontent with myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-freud/everything-becomes-so-problematic-because-of-basic-faults-from-a/) [Anna Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-freud/) > [“One whisper, Judith, added to a thousand others will become a roar of discontent even”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-garwood/one-whisper-judith-added-to-a-thousand-others-will-become-a-roar-of/) [Julie Garwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-garwood/) [Browse all 450 Discontent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The discontent that lies in the human condition is not satisfied simply by material things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Derek Walcott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-condition-is-not-satisfied/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Discontent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-condition-is-not-satisfied/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/derek-walcott-2220_discontent_the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-co_3017311.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/derek-walcott-2220_discontent_the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-co_3017311.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/derek-walcott-2220_discontent_the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-co_3017311.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The discontent that lies in the human condition is not satisfied simply by material things.” — Derek Walcott", "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": "Derek Walcott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The discontent that lies in the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-condition-is-not-satisfied/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-discontent-that-lies-in-the-human-condition-is-not-satisfied/#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 } } ] } ```