--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One does not yearn for that which is…" description: "\"One does not yearn for that which is easily acquired.\" — Ovid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/ovid-276_acquired_one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-eas_1251407.png" --- # One does not yearn for that which is easily acquired. ![“One does not yearn for that which is easily acquired.” quote by Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/ovid-276_acquired_one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-eas_1251407.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/ovid-276_acquired_one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-eas_1251407.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/ovid-276_acquired_one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-eas_1251407.png) > “One does not yearn for that which is easily acquired.” [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire is stronger for things that are hard to obtain than for those easily gotten. **In simple terms:** Hard‑to‑get things feel more desirable. Key Takeaway Value effort, not ease. Themes desire value effort psychology motivation Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career advancement - relationships - collecting rare items - pursuing education Key Concepts scarcity principle psychological reactance intrinsic motivation Questions to Reflect On - What do you chase because it seems unattainable? - Do you undervalue easy successes? A Different Perspective Easy gains may feel less satisfying and can reduce long‑term motivation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Yearning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearning/) ## Related quotes > [Easily acquired. Inexpensive. Perfectly functional. Portable. Identifiable. Disposable. Eternal enough. These are my criteria for the perfect storage system. And I’ve found the answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/easily-acquired-inexpensive-perfectly-functional-portable/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [Mythopoeia has taken off in the Indian diaspora because there has been a change in readership from a mature audience to a younger one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/mythopoeia-has-taken-off-in-the-indian-diaspora-because-there-has/) [Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/) > [The more highminded a man is the more easily is his anger appeased.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-more-highminded-a-man-is-the-more-easily-is-his-anger-appeased/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Mr. Tyler acquired Texas by voluntary compact, and Mr. Polk California and New Mexico by successful war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/mr-tyler-acquired-texas-by-voluntary-compact-and-mr-polk-california/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [Nothing jazzes me up like football. I've acquired more passion of the years, not less. Not to love it wouldn't make sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-madden/nothing-jazzes-me-up-like-football-i-ve-acquired-more-passion-of-the/) [John Madden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-madden/) > [In my early teens, I acquired a kind of representative status: went on behalf of the family to wakes and funerals and so on.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/in-my-early-teens-i-acquired-a-kind-of-representative-status-went-on/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I grew up in South Africa without a television; there was no television, and the year after I left, television arrived in South Africa,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-krige/i-grew-up-in-south-africa-without-a-television-there-was-no/) Alice Krige > [When I was thirteen years old, I didn't exactly discover epic fantasy on my own. I acquired it as a social defence mechanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tansy-rayner-roberts/when-i-was-thirteen-years-old-i-didn-t-exactly-discover-epic-fantasy/) [Tansy Rayner Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tansy-rayner-roberts/) > [“I have acquired you, and now I will determine your value to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/i-have-acquired-you-and-now-i-will-determine-your-value-to-me/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [The experience of opposing mass movements was acquired by the KGB during perestroika. It was then that the politicians decided to develop and nourish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-bukovsky/the-experience-of-opposing-mass-movements-was-acquired-by-the-kgb/) [Vladimir Bukovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-bukovsky/) > [“it seemed to her that she had acquired not virtues but a form of dementia”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/it-seemed-to-her-that-she-had-acquired-not-virtues-but-a-form-of/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Confidence is acquired through failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-p-smith/confidence-is-acquired-through-failure/) [Corey P Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-p-smith/) > [Maybe you could put it out there that I don't have a built-in dislike of ballads. That was kind of the reputation I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-perry/maybe-you-could-put-it-out-there-that-i-don-t-have-a-built-in-dislike/) [Joe Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-perry/) > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) ## More by Ovid > [Every woman thinks herself attractive; even the plainest is satisfied with the charms she deems that she possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/every-woman-thinks-herself-attractive-even-the-plainest-is-satisfied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Time is generally the best doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-is-generally-the-best-doctor/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-convenient-that-there-be-gods-and-as-it-is-convenient-let-us/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-sea-s-vast-depths-lie-open-to-the-fish-wherever-the-breezes-blow/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Rare is the virtue that's not ruled by Fortune, That stands unshaken even when Fortune flees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/rare-is-the-virtue-that-s-not-ruled-by-fortune-that-stands-unshaken/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/thus-all-things-altered-nothing-dies-and-here-and-there-the-unbodied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/how-little-is-the-promise-of-the-child-fulfilled-in-the-man/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Judgement of beauty can err, what with the wine and the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/judgement-of-beauty-can-err-what-with-the-wine-and-the-dark/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Leave war to others; 'tis Protesilaus' part of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/leave-war-to-others-tis-protesilaus-part-of-love/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Remove but the temptations of leisure, and the bow of Cupid will lose its effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/remove-but-the-temptations-of-leisure-and-the-bow-of-cupid-will-lose/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) [Explore all 771 Ovid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## More Acquired quotes > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Maybe you could put it out there that I don't have a built-in dislike of ballads. That was kind of the reputation I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-perry/maybe-you-could-put-it-out-there-that-i-don-t-have-a-built-in-dislike/) [Joe Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-perry/) > [Confidence is acquired through failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-p-smith/confidence-is-acquired-through-failure/) [Corey P Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-p-smith/) > [“it seemed to her that she had acquired not virtues but a form of dementia”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/it-seemed-to-her-that-she-had-acquired-not-virtues-but-a-form-of/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The experience of opposing mass movements was acquired by the KGB during perestroika. It was then that the politicians decided to develop and nourish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-bukovsky/the-experience-of-opposing-mass-movements-was-acquired-by-the-kgb/) [Vladimir Bukovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-bukovsky/) > [“I have acquired you, and now I will determine your value to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/i-have-acquired-you-and-now-i-will-determine-your-value-to-me/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [When I was thirteen years old, I didn't exactly discover epic fantasy on my own. I acquired it as a social defence mechanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tansy-rayner-roberts/when-i-was-thirteen-years-old-i-didn-t-exactly-discover-epic-fantasy/) [Tansy Rayner Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tansy-rayner-roberts/) > [I grew up in South Africa without a television; there was no television, and the year after I left, television arrived in South Africa,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-krige/i-grew-up-in-south-africa-without-a-television-there-was-no/) Alice Krige > [In my early teens, I acquired a kind of representative status: went on behalf of the family to wakes and funerals and so on.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/in-my-early-teens-i-acquired-a-kind-of-representative-status-went-on/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Nothing jazzes me up like football. I've acquired more passion of the years, not less. Not to love it wouldn't make sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-madden/nothing-jazzes-me-up-like-football-i-ve-acquired-more-passion-of-the/) [John Madden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-madden/) > [Mr. Tyler acquired Texas by voluntary compact, and Mr. Polk California and New Mexico by successful war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/mr-tyler-acquired-texas-by-voluntary-compact-and-mr-polk-california/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [At least in part, people are attracted to subjects where they can identify at a basic level with the people who do it. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-geller/at-least-in-part-people-are-attracted-to-subjects-where-they-can/) [Margaret Geller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-geller/) > [Twombly, frankly, was an acquired taste. I was not in love with Twombly the first time I saw one of his paintings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/twombly-frankly-was-an-acquired-taste-i-was-not-in-love-with-twombly/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [We are pleased to have acquired remake rights of 'Comali' for all languages in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boney-kapoor/we-are-pleased-to-have-acquired-remake-rights-of-comali-for-all/) [Boney Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boney-kapoor/) Browse all 68 Acquired quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One does not yearn for that which is easily acquired.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ovid" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-easily-acquired/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acquired" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-easily-acquired/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/ovid-276_acquired_one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-eas_1251407.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/ovid-276_acquired_one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-eas_1251407.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/ovid-276_acquired_one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-eas_1251407.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One does not yearn for that which is easily acquired.” — Ovid", "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": "Ovid", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One does not yearn for that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-easily-acquired/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/one-does-not-yearn-for-that-which-is-easily-acquired/#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 } } ] } ```