--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Too much good fortune can make you smug…" description: "\"Too much good fortune can make you smug and unaware. Happiness should be like an oasis, the greener for the desert that surrounds it.\" — Rachel Field" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/rachel-field-24688_desert_too-much-good-fortune-can-make-you-smug_1018619.jpg" --- # Too much good fortune can make you smug and unaware… ![“Too much good fortune can make you smug and unaware. Happiness should be like an oasis, the greener for the desert that surrounds it.” quote by Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/rachel-field-24688_desert_too-much-good-fortune-can-make-you-smug_1018619.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/rachel-field-24688_desert_too-much-good-fortune-can-make-you-smug_1018619.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/rachel-field-24688_desert_too-much-good-fortune-can-make-you-smug_1018619.jpg) > “Too much good fortune can make you smug and unaware. Happiness should be like an oasis, the greener for the desert that surrounds it.” [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessive good luck breeds complacency; happiness should be rare and treasured, like an oasis amid a harsh desert. **In simple terms:** Too much luck makes you careless; happiness is precious when scarce. Key Takeaway Stay humble and value happiness as a rare gift. Themes humility gratitude balance contentment Mood thoughtful balanced Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career achievements - personal milestones - financial windfalls - celebrations Key Concepts psychology of happiness scarcity mindset virtue ethics Questions to Reflect On - Do you take luck for granted? - How can you cultivate gratitude during abundant times? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on luck can ignore effort and responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Good fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-fortune/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Oasis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oasis/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [“Well, man, you know what they say." No, I don't. I don't know what they say. I don't even know who they are. Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-burnham/well-man-you-know-what-they-say-no-i-don-t-i-don-t-know-what-they-say/) [Bo Burnham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-burnham/) > [I've always wanted to live really high up, and this is the only flat in the building with a balcony, so I feel quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miquita-oliver/i-ve-always-wanted-to-live-really-high-up-and-this-is-the-only-flat/) [Miquita Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miquita-oliver/) > [“Mitch studied me with a questioning, smug smile. Men did it so easily, that immediate parceling of value. And how they seemed to want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-cline/mitch-studied-me-with-a-questioning-smug-smile-men-did-it-so-easily/) [Emma Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-cline/) > [For me, faith is more about aspiration than complacency - the smug satisfaction that other people find distasteful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hollander/for-me-faith-is-more-about-aspiration-than-complacency-the-smug/) [Tom Hollander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hollander/) > [I became frustrated early on as a playwright by a kind of smug smallness in modern drama. 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It can happen to anyone, but it happens most often to people who think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/occasionally-i-am-smitten-with-an-acute-case-of-smug-it-can-happen-to/) [Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/) > [“The look of a smug teacher is priceless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/the-look-of-a-smug-teacher-is-priceless/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [Thinking I'm a moron gives people something to feel smug about," Charles Wallace said. "Why should I disillusion them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/thinking-i-m-a-moron-gives-people-something-to-feel-smug-about/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/you-re-pretty-smug-lord-ares-for-a-guy-who-runs-from-cupid-statues/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Being bigheaded can be as irritating and as dangerous as being small-minded.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/being-bigheaded-can-be-as-irritating-and-as-dangerous-as-being-small/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) ## More by Rachel Field > [The sight of a cage is only frightening to the bird that has once been caught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/the-sight-of-a-cage-is-only-frightening-to-the-bird-that-has-once/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [No hardy perennial has the enduring quality of hope. Cut it to the roots, stamp it underfoot, let frost and fire work their will,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/no-hardy-perennial-has-the-enduring-quality-of-hope-cut-it-to-the/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [One of the pleasantest things about book writing is that sometimes it brings one in touch with old friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/one-of-the-pleasantest-things-about-book-writing-is-that-sometimes-it/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [I've seen public opinion shift like the wind and put out the very fire it lighted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/i-ve-seen-public-opinion-shift-like-the-wind-and-put-out-the-very/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [no matter how hard and faithfully we may try we can never compensate another for some lack in his or her life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/no-matter-how-hard-and-faithfully-we-may-try-we-can-never-compensate/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [There was no reality to pain when it left one, though while it held one fast all other realities faded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/there-was-no-reality-to-pain-when-it-left-one-though-while-it-held/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [And scandal has a way of catching up with those who disregard its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/and-scandal-has-a-way-of-catching-up-with-those-who-disregard-its/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [There's plenty of fire in the coldest flint!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/there-s-plenty-of-fire-in-the-coldest-flint/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [A little town is like a lantern. Nothing's hid from sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/a-little-town-is-like-a-lantern-nothing-s-hid-from-sight/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [IsnÂ’t it strange some people make You feel so tired inside, Your thoughts begin to shrivel up Like leaves all brown and dried!But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/isn-t-it-strange-some-people-make-you-feel-so-tired-inside-your/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [The difference between ambition and discontent is quite a fine line and sometimes it is hard to tell which is which and which you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/the-difference-between-ambition-and-discontent-is-quite-a-fine-line/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [Something told the wild geese It was time to go. Though the fields lay golden Something whispered, "snow." Leaves were green and stirring, Berries,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/something-told-the-wild-geese-it-was-time-to-go-though-the-fields-lay/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [When I was young they used to say people only threw stones at the tree that was loaded with fruit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/when-i-was-young-they-used-to-say-people-only-threw-stones-at-the/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [There was no reality to pain when it left one, thought while it held one fast all other realities failed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/there-was-no-reality-to-pain-when-it-left-one-thought-while-it-held/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) > [“Affections cannot be stolen, madam. They are given freely or not at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-field/affections-cannot-be-stolen-madam-they-are-given-freely-or-not-at-all/) [Rachel Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) [Explore all 24 Rachel Field quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-field/) ## More Desert quotes > [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/) > [“And now you will ask me about the musicians that played for the jackalope wives. Well, if you can find a place where they’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-vernon/and-now-you-will-ask-me-about-the-musicians-that-played-for-the/) [Ursula Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-vernon/) > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [I do spend a lot of weekends on the road. I have to pace myself. It can be pretty busy, but I'm not out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-sinise/i-do-spend-a-lot-of-weekends-on-the-road-i-have-to-pace-myself-it-can/) [Gary Sinise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-sinise/) > [I did not support Operation Desert Fox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/i-did-not-support-operation-desert-fox/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [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/) > [There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david/there-is-nothing-in-the-desert-and-no-man-needs-nothing/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david/) > [Who’s to say that it takes something like a drug to mess with your perception of reality? How did Hitler deceive a nation? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/who-s-to-say-that-it-takes-something-like-a-drug-to-mess-with-your/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [“If you build a road in the desert and then leave it to its fate, the desert sands will swallow that road! 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