--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The wise man contents himself with what…" description: "\"The wise man contents himself with what he has, until such time as he invents something better.\" — Jose Saramago" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/jos-saramago-208_contentment_the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what_2477499.png" --- # The wise man contents himself with what he has, until such… ![“The wise man contents himself with what he has, until such time as he invents something better.” quote by Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/jos-saramago-208_contentment_the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what_2477499.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/jos-saramago-208_contentment_the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what_2477499.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/jos-saramago-208_contentment_the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what_2477499.png) > “The wise man contents himself with what he has, until such time as he invents something better.” [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) ## 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 appreciating what you have, yet ambition drives invention. **In simple terms:** Be content, but keep creating. Key Takeaway Balance gratitude with curiosity. Themes contentment ambition creativity Mood thoughtful inspired balanced Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - Living modestly while researching - artist seeking new ideas - entrepreneur balancing profit and purpose Key Concepts Philosophy human nature innovation Questions to Reflect On - Do you ever feel stuck by satisfaction? - How can you nurture both gratitude and ambition? A Different Perspective Contentment may hinder progress if not checked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contentment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contentment/) [Invents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invents-437505/) [Invents Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invents-better-826786/) [Man Contents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-contents-826788/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Something better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something-better/) [Time Invents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-invents-826787/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) [Wise man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-man/) ## Related quotes > [American invents everything, but the trouble is we get tired of it the minute the new is wore off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/american-invents-everything-but-the-trouble-is-we-get-tired-of-it-the/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Wine invents nothing; it only tattles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/wine-invents-nothing-it-only-tattles/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Genius is what a man invents when he is looking for a way out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/genius-is-what-a-man-invents-when-he-is-looking-for-a-way-out/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [You can't just run out and start the car until some cat invents a car.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lenny-bruce/you-can-t-just-run-out-and-start-the-car-until-some-cat-invents-a-car/) [Lenny Bruce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lenny-bruce/) > [Man invents techniques for own convenience, but they are becomes the largest slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/man-invents-techniques-for-own-convenience-but-they-are-becomes-the/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Nobody really invents anything that hasn't been done before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-cornelius/nobody-really-invents-anything-that-hasn-t-been-done-before/) [Don Cornelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-cornelius/) > [Nobody ever invents anything You're inspired and sometimes you can improve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastien-foucan/nobody-ever-invents-anything-you-re-inspired-and-sometimes-you-can/) [Sebastien Foucan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastien-foucan/) > [The best propaganda omits rather than invents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-best-propaganda-omits-rather-than-invents/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Fiction does not invent out of a vacuum, but it invents; and what it invents is, first, the fabric and cadence of language, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/fiction-does-not-invent-out-of-a-vacuum-but-it-invents-and-what-it/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [When one is nothing, one invents. It fills a void.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/when-one-is-nothing-one-invents-it-fills-a-void/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/nature-knows-no-indecencies-man-invents-them/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Genius is not a gift, but the way a person invents in desperate circumstances.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/genius-is-not-a-gift-but-the-way-a-person-invents-in-desperate/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [You know, one of the classics when somebody invents something, you go why the hell didn't I think of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-head/you-know-one-of-the-classics-when-somebody-invents-something-you-go/) [Anthony Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-head/) > [But man invents nothing God did not create first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/but-man-invents-nothing-god-did-not-create-first/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Everything which one invents is true, be sure of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/everything-which-one-invents-is-true-be-sure-of-it/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## More by Jose Saramago > [“We are born, and at that moment, it is as if we had signed a pact for the rest of our life, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/we-are-born-and-at-that-moment-it-is-as-if-we-had-signed-a-pact-for/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [It takes little or nothing to undo reputations, the merest trifle makes and remakes them, it is simply a question of finding the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/it-takes-little-or-nothing-to-undo-reputations-the-merest-trifle/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [One can show no greater respect than to weep for a stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/one-can-show-no-greater-respect-than-to-weep-for-a-stranger/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I am not a prophet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/i-am-not-a-prophet/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [With the passage of time, as well as the social evolution and genetic exchange, we ended up putting our conscience in the color of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/with-the-passage-of-time-as-well-as-the-social-evolution-and-genetic/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“Al día siguiente no murió nadie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/al-d-a-siguiente-no-muri-nadie/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“E se as histórias para crianças passassem a ser de leitura obrigatória para os adultos? Seriam eles capazes de aprender realmente o que há…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/e-se-as-hist-rias-para-crian-as-passassem-a-ser-de-leitura-obrigat/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [In a king, modesty would be a sign of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/in-a-king-modesty-would-be-a-sign-of-weakness/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“the inmates of the second ward in the right wing have decided, at long last, to bury their dead, at least we shall be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-inmates-of-the-second-ward-in-the-right-wing-have-decided-at-long/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“Stretching one arm behind him, the man passed his hand over the horse's coat, his own skin transformed, or skin which had transformed into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/stretching-one-arm-behind-him-the-man-passed-his-hand-over-the-horse/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I think we are blind. Blind people who can see, but do not see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/i-think-we-are-blind-blind-people-who-can-see-but-do-not-see/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [...you have to leave the island in order to see the island, that we can't see ourselves unless we become free of ourselves, Unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/you-have-to-leave-the-island-in-order-to-see-the-island-that-we-can-t/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [anyone who gets up early by inclination or has been forced to rise early out of necessity finds it intolerable that others should go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/anyone-who-gets-up-early-by-inclination-or-has-been-forced-to-rise/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Society has to change, but the political powers we have at the moment are not enough to effect this change. The whole democratic system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/society-has-to-change-but-the-political-powers-we-have-at-the-moment/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“... aborrece os odores nocturnos, aquelas expansões do corpo a que nem poetas escapam".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/aborrece-os-odores-nocturnos-aquelas-expans-es-do-corpo-a-que-nem/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) [Explore all 487 Jose Saramago quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) ## More Contentment quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [Stop complaining and start accepting, everything happens for a reason, you may not notice the importance of the things that you have now, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemantsmarty/stop-complaining-and-start-accepting-everything-happens-for-a-reason/) [Hemantsmarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemantsmarty/) > [True intimacy is the experience of real acceptance and authentic vulnerability without feeling the need to apologize or fear rejection. The freedom to just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-blake-michiels/true-intimacy-is-the-experience-of-real-acceptance-and-authentic/) [Jordan Blake Michiels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-blake-michiels/) [Browse all 1,355 Contentment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contentment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The wise man contents himself with what he has, until such time as he invents something better.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jose Saramago" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what-he-has-until-such-time-as-he/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contentment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what-he-has-until-such-time-as-he/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/jos-saramago-208_contentment_the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what_2477499.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/jos-saramago-208_contentment_the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what_2477499.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/jos-saramago-208_contentment_the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what_2477499.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The wise man contents himself with what he has, until such time as he invents something better.” — Jose Saramago", "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": "Jose Saramago", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The wise man contents himself with...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what-he-has-until-such-time-as-he/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-wise-man-contents-himself-with-what-he-has-until-such-time-as-he/#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 } } ] } ```