--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To be pleased with one's limits is a…" description: "\"To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.\" — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_dignity_to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wre_1653859.jpg" --- # To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state. ![“To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.” quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_dignity_to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wre_1653859.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_dignity_to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wre_1653859.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_dignity_to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wre_1653859.jpg) > “To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.” [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Finding satisfaction within one's limits can be a miserable state, implying growth beyond constraints. **In simple terms:** Being content with limits is painful. Key Takeaway Strive to expand personal boundaries. Themes limits contentment growth existential Mood thoughtful motivational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career progression - creative pursuits - skill learning Key Concepts self‑actualization philosophy of limits personal development Questions to Reflect On - What limits are you willing to challenge? - How can you balance ambition with wellbeing? A Different Perspective Accepting limits may be necessary for safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) ## Related quotes > [O wretched state! O bosom black as death! O limed soul that, struggling to be free, art more engaged! Help, angels! Make assay! Bow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-wretched-state-o-bosom-black-as-death-o-limed-soul-that-struggling/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [O wretched state! o bosom black as death!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-wretched-state-o-bosom-black-as-death/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Man's wretched state, That floures so fresh at morne, and fades at evening late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/man-s-wretched-state-that-floures-so-fresh-at-morne-and-fades-at/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [When I see the blind and wretched state of men, when I survey the whole universe in its deadness, and man left to himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/when-i-see-the-blind-and-wretched-state-of-men-when-i-survey-the/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“It makes me wretched, Wilhelm, to think that there should be men incapable of appreciating the few things which possess a real value in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-makes-me-wretched-wilhelm-to-think-that-there-should-be-men/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Branding is nothing but knowing who you are and what you do that makes you stand out from everyone else, then communicating that through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-winget/branding-is-nothing-but-knowing-who-you-are-and-what-you-do-that/) [Larry Winget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-winget/) > [The concept, the label, is perpetually hiding from us all the nature of the real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-cary/the-concept-the-label-is-perpetually-hiding-from-us-all-the-nature-of/) [Joyce Cary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-cary/) > [Knowing who you are is confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mila-kunis/knowing-who-you-are-is-confidence/) [Mila Kunis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mila-kunis/) > [I don't know who I am but you know, life is for learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/i-don-t-know-who-i-am-but-you-know-life-is-for-learning/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-brice/let-the-world-know-you-as-you-are-not-as-you-think-you-should-be/) [Fanny Brice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-brice/) > [Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/cherish-your-own-emotions-and-never-undervalue-them/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Knowledge is knowing as little as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/knowledge-is-knowing-as-little-as-possible/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Independnce comes from you knowing who you are and you being happy with yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/independnce-comes-from-you-knowing-who-you-are-and-you-being-happy/) [Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/) > [Beware, gentle knight - the greatest monster of them all is reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/beware-gentle-knight-the-greatest-monster-of-them-all-is-reason/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [God holds each of us by a string. When we sin, we cut the string. But God ties it up again, making a knot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/god-holds-each-of-us-by-a-string-when-we-sin-we-cut-the-string-but/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) ## More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-easier-to-perceive-error-than-to-find-truth-for-the-former-lies/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-no-patriotic-art-and-no-patriotic-science/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-connoisseur-of-art-must-be-able-to-appreciate-what-is-simply/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Let us not dream that reason can ever be popular. Passions, emotions, may be made popular; but reason remains ever the property of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/let-us-not-dream-that-reason-can-ever-be-popular-passions-emotions/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Our foibles are really what make us lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/our-foibles-are-really-what-make-us-lovable/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/instruction-does-much-but-encouragement-everything/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Giving is the business of the rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/giving-is-the-business-of-the-rich/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/just-begin-and-the-mind-grows-heated-continue-and-the-task-will-be/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I look upon all four Gospels as thoroughly genuine, for there shines forth from them the reflected splendor of a sublimity proceeding from Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-look-upon-all-four-gospels-as-thoroughly-genuine-for-there-shines/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. We are not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/whatever-we-may-say-against-collections-which-present-authors-in-a/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [Explore all 2,052 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More Dignity quotes > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-take-the-responsibility-of-playing-another-ethnicity-very-very/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/) Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera > [I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-speak-not-for-myself-but-so-those-without-a-voice-can-be-heard/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The dignity of man is in free choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/the-dignity-of-man-is-in-free-choice/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [One of the things I love about Africa is the amount of dignity and respect and humility you see all the time. You don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-scott/one-of-the-things-i-love-about-africa-is-the-amount-of-dignity-and/) [Jill Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-scott/) > [It is well for a man when he has learned to endure what he cannot change, and to give up with dignity what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/it-is-well-for-a-man-when-he-has-learned-to-endure-what-he-cannot/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor/a-man-as-a-man-could-arrive-at-all-the-dignity-that-a-man-was-capable/) [John Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor/) > [There is something to be said for anyone who sits alone with dignity and silently begs for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-something-to-be-said-for-anyone-who-sits-alone-with-dignity/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/i-just-remember-that-disturbing-feeling-of-walking-into-that-prison/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [The dignity of a woman's life is infinite, her status immeasurable, her capacity unbounded, her role divine...In the fast changing world of today her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/the-dignity-of-a-woman-s-life-is-infinite-her-status-immeasurable-her/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) [Browse all 3,116 Dignity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wretched-state/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dignity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wretched-state/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_dignity_to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wre_1653859.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_dignity_to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wre_1653859.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2af/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_dignity_to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wre_1653859.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "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": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To be pleased with one's limits...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wretched-state/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/to-be-pleased-with-one-s-limits-is-a-wretched-state/#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 } } ] } ```