--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They knew how to be content with the…" description: "\"“They knew how to be content with the ordinary and the simple. There was something to be said for that, and if Anthony could only learn that sort of co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/mary-campisi-12703_happiness_they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ord_1506843.jpg" --- # They knew how to be content with the ordinary and the… ![“They knew how to be content with the ordinary and the simple. There was something to be said for that, and if Anthony could only learn that sort of contentment, maybe he wouldn’t need those deep-breathing” quote by Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/mary-campisi-12703_happiness_they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ord_1506843.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/mary-campisi-12703_happiness_they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ord_1506843.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/mary-campisi-12703_happiness_they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ord_1506843.jpg) > ““They knew how to be content with the ordinary and the simple. There was something to be said for that, and if Anthony could only learn that sort of contentment, maybe he wouldn’t need those deep-breathing”” [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Finding peace in simplicity can relieve the need for constant intense effort. **In simple terms:** Simple contentment eases pressure. Key Takeaway Seek balance through appreciating ordinary moments. Themes contentment simplicity balance Mood calm thoughtful Type reflective motivational When to use this quote - daily routines - stress management - creative work - relationships Key Concepts mindfulness acceptance well‑being Questions to Reflect On - What simple pleasures bring you calm? - How can you blend contentment with growth? A Different Perspective Overemphasizing simplicity may ignore the value of ambition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contentment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contentment/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [That sense of happiness just out beyond my reach - I'm not sure I'd grasped that exactly, but I'd got something close to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-faulks/that-sense-of-happiness-just-out-beyond-my-reach-i-m-not-sure-i-d/) [Sebastian Faulks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-faulks/) > [“My knitting is simple", he said again. Ï can make anything you want with it, but it will always be simple.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-lane/my-knitting-is-simple-he-said-again-can-make-anything-you-want-with/) [Amy Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-lane/) > [“Life is simple," I said. "Ale, women, sword, and reputation. Nothing else matters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-cornwell/life-is-simple-i-said-ale-women-sword-and-reputation-nothing-else/) [Bernard Cornwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-cornwell/) > [“I worked out what would make me happy, and I worked out what I wanted to do, and I trained myself to do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jojo-moyes/i-worked-out-what-would-make-me-happy-and-i-worked-out-what-i-wanted/) [Jojo Moyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jojo-moyes/) > [“What would I have wanted to say if I had had the opportunity to see him one more time? I would like to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/what-would-i-have-wanted-to-say-if-i-had-had-the-opportunity-to-see/) [Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/) > [“Ironing's nice and simple,' he said. 'I get all tangled up in words when I'm putting together those interminable papers…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/ironing-s-nice-and-simple-he-said-i-get-all-tangled-up-in-words-when/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [He's very nice. He's something I replied. She considered this zipping her purse shut. Then she said Well everyone is. Everyone is Something. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/he-s-very-nice-he-s-something-i-replied-she-considered-this-zipping/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Mary Campisi > [“The man possessed a communal strength of body and soul, coupled with endless compassion and a desire to help the less fortunate of mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/the-man-possessed-a-communal-strength-of-body-and-soul-coupled-with/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“But it wasn’t the high foreheads, the flat noses, the half protrusion of thick lips that pulled Christine in, held her there, as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/but-it-wasn-t-the-high-foreheads-the-flat-noses-the-half-protrusion/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“here. I invented”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/here-i-invented/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“But God doesn’t make bad things happen or necessarily stop them from happening. What He does do is give us strength to understand and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/but-god-doesn-t-make-bad-things-happen-or-necessarily-stop-them-from/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“Anybody that’s ever loved has been hurt, some worse than others. Hearts ripped, trust gone, even hope tossed in the trash.” Those eyes grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/anybody-that-s-ever-loved-has-been-hurt-some-worse-than-others-hearts/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“A mother knows her children’s weaknesses, even if she sometimes refuses to acknowledge them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/a-mother-knows-her-children-s-weaknesses-even-if-she-sometimes/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“It was true that one could be more alone with someone than by oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/it-was-true-that-one-could-be-more-alone-with-someone-than-by-oneself/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“You can’t catch a creature like that anymore than you can catch a person. You can only create an environment they might want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/you-can-t-catch-a-creature-like-that-anymore-than-you-can-catch-a/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“her form of prayer and her mother’s were not the same. Virginia Romano recited Hail Mary’s and Our Fathers, clicking rosary beads like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/her-form-of-prayer-and-her-mother-s-were-not-the-same-virginia-romano/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“S he had a nice ass”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/s-he-had-a-nice-ass/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“But a mother sees her child’s shortcomings, even if she doesn’t admit to them very often.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/but-a-mother-sees-her-child-s-shortcomings-even-if-she-doesn-t-admit/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“and France, that fancy education you’re so proud of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/and-france-that-fancy-education-you-re-so-proud-of/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“We can try to catch moments with people we care about.” She thought of Cash and Tess, JJ, Riki. And Will. “Because in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/we-can-try-to-catch-moments-with-people-we-care-about-she-thought-of/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“The Lord only gives us what we can handle and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/the-lord-only-gives-us-what-we-can-handle-and/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) > [“That was the problem with the whole goddamn world; nobody had balls enough to call a spade a spade. Dead was dead; it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/that-was-the-problem-with-the-whole-goddamn-world-nobody-had-balls/) [Mary Campisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) [Explore all 53 Mary Campisi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/) ## 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 > [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 > [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": "“They knew how to be content with the ordinary and the simple. There was something to be said for that, and if Anthony could only learn that sort of contentment, maybe he wouldn’t need those deep-breathing”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Campisi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ordinary-and-the-simple-there/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contentment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ordinary-and-the-simple-there/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/mary-campisi-12703_happiness_they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ord_1506843.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/mary-campisi-12703_happiness_they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ord_1506843.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/mary-campisi-12703_happiness_they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ord_1506843.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They knew how to be content with the ordinary and the simple. There was something to be said for that, and…” — Mary Campisi", "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": "Mary Campisi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-campisi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They knew how to be content...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ordinary-and-the-simple-there/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-campisi/they-knew-how-to-be-content-with-the-ordinary-and-the-simple-there/#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 } } ] } ```