---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the crow had been satisfied to eat his…"
description: "\"If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence, he would have had more meat and less quarreling and envy.\" — Horace"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/horace-172_crow_if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-hi_1463278.jpg"
---

#  If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence…

![“If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence, he would have had more meat and less quarreling and envy.” quote by Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/horace-172_crow_if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-hi_1463278.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/horace-172_crow_if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-hi_1463278.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/horace-172_crow_if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-hi_1463278.jpg)

> “If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence, he would have had more meat and less quarreling and envy.”

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A crow that eats quietly avoids conflict and envy, gaining more meat and peace.

**In simple terms:** Quiet eating prevents conflict and envy, yielding more food.

Key Takeaway

Practice restraint to reduce conflict.

Themes

self‑control contentment envy resource management

Mood

calm wise

Type

aphoristic ethical

When to use this quote

- dinner party
- workplace competition
- resource allocation

Key Concepts

animal behavior philosophy moderation

Questions to Reflect On

- What benefits arise from modest consumption?
- How does restraint influence social harmony?

A Different Perspective

Silence may limit sharing of resources.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Satisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfaction/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/)

## Related quotes

> [My jaw dropped open. Holy crows...There's a couple of eagles mixed in there, Luke commented.And a few hawks, Aiden added.I rolled my eyes. Okay.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-jaw-dropped-open-holy-crows-there-s-a-couple-of-eagles-mixed-in/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel and tear to pieces that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/come-seeling-night-scarf-up-the-tender-eye-of-pitiful-day-and-with/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [The crow does not hide its prey, but calls for others to share it; So wealth will be with those of a like disposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thiruvalluvar/the-crow-does-not-hide-its-prey-but-calls-for-others-to-share-it-so/)

[Thiruvalluvar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thiruvalluvar/)

> [Had the crow only fed without cawing she would have had more to eat, and much less of strife and envy to contend with.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/had-the-crow-only-fed-without-cawing-she-would-have-had-more-to-eat/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [You cannot be responsible for Jim Crow. You can not be responsible for racism. This is much more a problem for the person exercising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-peck/you-cannot-be-responsible-for-jim-crow-you-can-not-be-responsible-for/)

[Raoul Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-peck/)

> [I went from an unemployed actor's life to doing stand-up comedy, and that was fortuitous. It's not the usual way the crow flies, going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-tate/i-went-from-an-unemployed-actor-s-life-to-doing-stand-up-comedy-and/)

[Catherine Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-tate/)

> [I've always been a really really big Sheryl Crow fan. I just respect what she does in a way that she just remains true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-voegele/i-ve-always-been-a-really-really-big-sheryl-crow-fan-i-just-respect/)

[Kate Voegele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-voegele/)

> [It's a matter of how the bullpen looks as to whether Bell goes in there or Crow goes in there. Bell won't be ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-graham/it-s-a-matter-of-how-the-bullpen-looks-as-to-whether-bell-goes-in/)

Wayne Graham

> [“music puts me in touch with life's energy and death still hanging like an old crow on the vines of my mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanna-abi-akl/music-puts-me-in-touch-with-life-s-energy-and-death-still-hanging/)

[Hanna Abi Akl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanna-abi-akl/)

> [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/)

[Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/)

> [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/)

[John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/)

> [Here the crow starves, here the patient stag Breeds for the rifle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-stearns-eliot/here-the-crow-starves-here-the-patient-stag-breeds-for-the-rifle/)

[Thomas Stearns Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-stearns-eliot/)

> [“I pull his hand up to my chest. "It's okay. Some of my best friends are in the mob. It must be really tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorge-leedy/i-pull-his-hand-up-to-my-chest-it-s-okay-some-of-my-best-friends-are/)

[Giorge Leedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorge-leedy/)

> [“That fucking crow-bodied thing had won. How gleeful it was now. All because he'd wanted to live, forget genius and destiny, and simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/that-fucking-crow-bodied-thing-had-won-how-gleeful-it-was-now-all/)

[Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/)

## More by Horace

> [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [A word, once sent abroad, flies irrevocably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/a-word-once-sent-abroad-flies-irrevocably/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [“Natales grate numeras? (Do you count your birthdays with gratitude?)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/natales-grate-numeras-do-you-count-your-birthdays-with-gratitude/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [ In a moment comes either death or joyful victory. \[Lat., Horae Momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/in-a-moment-comes-either-death-or-joyful-victory-lat-horae-momento/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - It is a sweet and becoming thing to die for ones country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/dulce-et-decorum-est-pro-patria-mori-it-is-a-sweet-and-becoming-thing/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [ Neither men, nor gods, nor booksellers' shelves permit ordinary poets to exist. \[Lat., Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/neither-men-nor-gods-nor-booksellers-shelves-permit-ordinary-poets-to/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/don-t-yield-to-that-alluring-witch-laziness-or-else-be-prepared-to/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/avoid-inquisitive-persons-for-they-are-sure-to-be-gossips-their-ears/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/you-may-drive-out-nature-with-a-pitchfork-yet-she-still-will-hurry/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [There is a proper measure in all things, certain limits beyond which and short of which right is not to be found. Who so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/there-is-a-proper-measure-in-all-things-certain-limits-beyond-which/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [Never despair while under the guidance and auspices of Teucer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/never-despair-while-under-the-guidance-and-auspices-of-teucer/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

[Explore all 1,000 Horace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

## More Crow quotes

> [“That fucking crow-bodied thing had won. How gleeful it was now. All because he'd wanted to live, forget genius and destiny, and simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/that-fucking-crow-bodied-thing-had-won-how-gleeful-it-was-now-all/)

[Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/)

> [“I pull his hand up to my chest. "It's okay. Some of my best friends are in the mob. It must be really tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorge-leedy/i-pull-his-hand-up-to-my-chest-it-s-okay-some-of-my-best-friends-are/)

[Giorge Leedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorge-leedy/)

> [Here the crow starves, here the patient stag Breeds for the rifle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-stearns-eliot/here-the-crow-starves-here-the-patient-stag-breeds-for-the-rifle/)

[Thomas Stearns Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-stearns-eliot/)

> [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/)

[John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/)

> [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/)

[Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/)

> [“music puts me in touch with life's energy and death still hanging like an old crow on the vines of my mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanna-abi-akl/music-puts-me-in-touch-with-life-s-energy-and-death-still-hanging/)

[Hanna Abi Akl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanna-abi-akl/)

> [It's a matter of how the bullpen looks as to whether Bell goes in there or Crow goes in there. Bell won't be ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-graham/it-s-a-matter-of-how-the-bullpen-looks-as-to-whether-bell-goes-in/)

Wayne Graham

> [I've always been a really really big Sheryl Crow fan. I just respect what she does in a way that she just remains true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-voegele/i-ve-always-been-a-really-really-big-sheryl-crow-fan-i-just-respect/)

[Kate Voegele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-voegele/)

> [I went from an unemployed actor's life to doing stand-up comedy, and that was fortuitous. It's not the usual way the crow flies, going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-tate/i-went-from-an-unemployed-actor-s-life-to-doing-stand-up-comedy-and/)

[Catherine Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-tate/)

> [You cannot be responsible for Jim Crow. You can not be responsible for racism. This is much more a problem for the person exercising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-peck/you-cannot-be-responsible-for-jim-crow-you-can-not-be-responsible-for/)

[Raoul Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-peck/)

> [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/)

[Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/)

> [You know, all is development. The principle is perpetually going on. First, there was nothing, then there was something; then-I forget the next-I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/you-know-all-is-development-the-principle-is-perpetually-going-on/)

[Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/)

> [I submit my tongue as an instrument of righteousness when I make it bless them that curse me and pray for them who persecute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/i-submit-my-tongue-as-an-instrument-of-righteousness-when-i-make-it/)

[Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/)

> [She stood looking carefully at the labeled portraits Ursala had put up: Little Crow, Chief of the Santees, Geronimo, last of the Apaches, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-ibbotson/she-stood-looking-carefully-at-the-labeled-portraits-ursala-had-put/)

[Eva Ibbotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-ibbotson/)

Browse all 426 Crow quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence, he would have had more meat and less quarreling and envy.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Horace"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-his-prey-in-silence-he-would/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Crow"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-his-prey-in-silence-he-would/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/horace-172_crow_if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-hi_1463278.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/horace-172_crow_if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-hi_1463278.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/horace-172_crow_if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-hi_1463278.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence, he would have had more meat and less quarreling…” — Horace",
                "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": "Horace",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "If the crow had been satisfied...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-his-prey-in-silence-he-would/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/if-the-crow-had-been-satisfied-to-eat-his-prey-in-silence-he-would/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
