--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People only give value to a thing if they…" description: "\"People only give value to a thing if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not they'll get it.\" — Paulo Coelho" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/paulo-coelho-10_giving_people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-the_777330.jpg" --- # People only give value to a thing if they have, at some… ![“People only give value to a thing if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not they'll get it.” quote by Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/paulo-coelho-10_giving_people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-the_777330.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/paulo-coelho-10_giving_people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-the_777330.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/paulo-coelho-10_giving_people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-the_777330.jpg) > “People only give value to a thing if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not they'll get it.” [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Value is recognized only after experiencing doubt about obtaining it. **In simple terms:** We appreciate things after fearing loss. Key Takeaway Recognize and cherish what you have. Themes appreciation uncertainty value mindset Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal finance - relationships - career decisions - health goals Key Concepts psychology human behavior motivation Questions to Reflect On - Do you value what you have? - How does uncertainty shape appreciation? A Different Perspective If you never feared loss, you might take things for granted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing has value in itself. The consumer confers value on it by seeking to acquire it. Hence, the value of a thing is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faustino-ballve/nothing-has-value-in-itself-the-consumer-confers-value-on-it-by/) [Faustino Ballve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faustino-ballve/) > [You will never know the true value of a thing, until it becomes a memory spongebob squarepants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieyem/you-will-never-know-the-true-value-of-a-thing-until-it-becomes-a/) Dieyem > [I can't make people value me . All I can do is to show them who I am , what I feel and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-t-make-people-value-me-all-i-can-do-is-to-show-them-who-i-am/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most people only value what they work for, people don't respect things when they are handed to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-people-only-value-what-they-work-for-people-don-t-respect-things/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have always wanted to make sure that we start the conversation by saying that all people are of value and their lives should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blase-j-cupich/we-have-always-wanted-to-make-sure-that-we-start-the-conversation-by/) [Blase J. Cupich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blase-j-cupich/) > [The meaning or value of a thing consists of what it affords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-j-gibson/the-meaning-or-value-of-a-thing-consists-of-what-it-affords/) [James J. Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-j-gibson/) > [The value of a thing is what that thing will bring. -Legal Maxim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-niven/the-value-of-a-thing-is-what-that-thing-will-bring-legal-maxim/) [Larry Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-niven/) > [Modern man has no real "value" for the ocean. All he has is the most crass form of egoist, pragmatic value for it. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-schaeffer/modern-man-has-no-real-value-for-the-ocean-all-he-has-is-the-most/) [Francis Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-schaeffer/) > [Little did I realize that my desire to add value to others would be the thing that added value to me!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/little-did-i-realize-that-my-desire-to-add-value-to-others-would-be/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [“The value of a thing lies in it lack”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/udeke-charles/the-value-of-a-thing-lies-in-it-lack/) Udeke Charles > [Hmmm! n time zz the most worthfull element in life if know its value!! each thing that v do 2 other leaves its mark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sardar-hyder-abbas/hmmm-n-time-zz-the-most-worthfull-element-in-life-if-know-its-value/) [Sardar Hyder Abbas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sardar-hyder-abbas/) > [The value of a thing is the amount of laboring or work that its possession will save the possessor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/the-value-of-a-thing-is-the-amount-of-laboring-or-work-that-its/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [The value of a thing sometimes lies not in what one attains with it, but in what one pays for it - what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-value-of-a-thing-sometimes-lies-not-in-what-one-attains-with-it/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [You value the thing you are fighting for, but then you learn to value the time it takes to do it and the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/you-value-the-thing-you-are-fighting-for-but-then-you-learn-to-value/) [Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/) > [“Experience has taught me that people only give values to things if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/experience-has-taught-me-that-people-only-give-values-to-things-if/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by Paulo Coelho > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Love will never separate a man from his personal legend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/love-will-never-separate-a-man-from-his-personal-legend/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/to-love-is-to-be-in-communion-with-the-other-and-to-discover-in-that/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [It is not enough to dream of the Impossible Love - it is necessary to conquer it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-not-enough-to-dream-of-the-impossible-love-it-is-necessary-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Eat when it is time to eat. And walk when it is time to walk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/eat-when-it-is-time-to-eat-and-walk-when-it-is-time-to-walk/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Joy is like sex – it begins and ends. I want pleasure. I want to be contended, but happiness? I no longer fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/joy-is-like-sex-it-begins-and-ends-i-want-pleasure-i-want-to-be/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Trudi se da zivis, sjecanja su za starije ljude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/trudi-se-da-zivis-sjecanja-su-za-starije-ljude/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/when-someone-leaves-it-s-because-someone-else-is-about-to-arrive/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-past-and-the-future-become-unimportant-there-is-only-that-moment/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [She didn't need to understand the meaning of life; it was enough to find someone who did, and then fall asleep in his arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/she-didn-t-need-to-understand-the-meaning-of-life-it-was-enough-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The simpler the pose, the better; the more sober, the more beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-simpler-the-pose-the-better-the-more-sober-the-more-beautiful/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) [Explore all 3,665 Paulo Coelho quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More Giving quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [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/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Most paper money initially existed as a substitute for gold. That's what gave it value. But right now what gives a currency value is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/most-paper-money-initially-existed-as-a-substitute-for-gold-that-s/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I don't think my relationship with the idea of womanhood is that attached to giving birth... like, I'm fully aware that I'll never give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-harrison/i-don-t-think-my-relationship-with-the-idea-of-womanhood-is-that/) [Patti Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-harrison/) [Browse all 39,303 Giving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People only give value to a thing if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not they'll get it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paulo Coelho" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-they-have-at-some-point-been/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Giving" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-they-have-at-some-point-been/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/paulo-coelho-10_giving_people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-the_777330.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/paulo-coelho-10_giving_people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-the_777330.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/paulo-coelho-10_giving_people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-the_777330.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People only give value to a thing if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not they'll…” — Paulo Coelho", "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": "Paulo Coelho", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People only give value to a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-they-have-at-some-point-been/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-only-give-value-to-a-thing-if-they-have-at-some-point-been/#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 } } ] } ```