--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So scanty is our present allowance of…" description: "\"So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if hope were not allowed to relieve the presen..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg" --- # So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in… ![“So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if hope were not allowed to relieve the present hour by pleasures borrowed from the future.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg) > “So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if hope were not allowed to relieve the present hour by pleasures borrowed from the future.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness is scarce now, so hope must borrow future pleasures to sustain present life. **In simple terms:** Hope borrows future joy to support present happiness. Key Takeaway Cultivate hope for future joy. Themes hope happiness future Mood hopeful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - financial planning - health recovery - creative projects - education Key Concepts psychology optimism Questions to Reflect On - How does hope sustain you now? - What future pleasures do you anticipate? A Different Perspective Relying on future hope can cause disappointment if expectations fail. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [What's lost is nothing to what's found, and all the death that ever was, set next to life, would scarcely fill a cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/what-s-lost-is-nothing-to-what-s-found-and-all-the-death-that-ever/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-obama/it-is-our-fundamental-belief-in-the-power-of-hope-that-has-allowed-us/) [Michelle Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-obama/) > [Research into endometriosis is as scanty as funding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-george/research-into-endometriosis-is-as-scanty-as-funding/) [Rose George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-george/) > [The dreariest spot in all the land to Death they set apart; with scanty grace from Nature's hand, and none from that of Art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/the-dreariest-spot-in-all-the-land-to-death-they-set-apart-with/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [“How pathetically scanty my self-knowledge is compared with, say, my knowledge of my room.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/how-pathetically-scanty-my-self-knowledge-is-compared-with-say-my/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Pension: An allowance made to anyone without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pension-an-allowance-made-to-anyone-without-an-equivalent-in-england/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Besides, there is more that binds us to Bolshevism than separates us from it. There is, above all, genuine, revolutionary feeling, which is alive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/besides-there-is-more-that-binds-us-to-bolshevism-than-separates-us/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [In regard to the amount of difference between the races, we must make some allowance for our nice powers of discrimination gained by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/in-regard-to-the-amount-of-difference-between-the-races-we-must-make/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Few human creatures would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beast's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/few-human-creatures-would-consent-to-be-changed-into-any-of-the-lower/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [I'm a big advocate of a work-for-pay setup rather than an allowance that isn't attached to chores - it's a great way to impart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/i-m-a-big-advocate-of-a-work-for-pay-setup-rather-than-an-allowance/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [If you want to be rich, don’t allow yourself the luxury of excuses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/if-you-want-to-be-rich-don-t-allow-yourself-the-luxury-of-excuses/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [Anyhow, we obviously understand that, being a United States' ally and having a special relationship with it, the UK in its relations with Russian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/anyhow-we-obviously-understand-that-being-a-united-states-ally-and/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [A realistic expectation also demands our acceptance that one's allotted time on earth must be limited to an allowance consistent with the continuity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/a-realistic-expectation-also-demands-our-acceptance-that-one-s/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [There's plenty of great stuff out there. I think it's just what we do is we all spend our allowance on the thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-englund/there-s-plenty-of-great-stuff-out-there-i-think-it-s-just-what-we-do/) [Robert Englund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-englund/) > [I like buying clothes, especially as I get a tax-deductible allowance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-cope/i-like-buying-clothes-especially-as-i-get-a-tax-deductible-allowance/) [Wendy Cope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-cope/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Allowance quotes > [I like buying clothes, especially as I get a tax-deductible allowance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-cope/i-like-buying-clothes-especially-as-i-get-a-tax-deductible-allowance/) [Wendy Cope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-cope/) > [There's plenty of great stuff out there. I think it's just what we do is we all spend our allowance on the thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-englund/there-s-plenty-of-great-stuff-out-there-i-think-it-s-just-what-we-do/) [Robert Englund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-englund/) > [A realistic expectation also demands our acceptance that one's allotted time on earth must be limited to an allowance consistent with the continuity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/a-realistic-expectation-also-demands-our-acceptance-that-one-s/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [Anyhow, we obviously understand that, being a United States' ally and having a special relationship with it, the UK in its relations with Russian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/anyhow-we-obviously-understand-that-being-a-united-states-ally-and/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [If you want to be rich, don’t allow yourself the luxury of excuses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/if-you-want-to-be-rich-don-t-allow-yourself-the-luxury-of-excuses/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [I'm a big advocate of a work-for-pay setup rather than an allowance that isn't attached to chores - it's a great way to impart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/i-m-a-big-advocate-of-a-work-for-pay-setup-rather-than-an-allowance/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [Few human creatures would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beast's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/few-human-creatures-would-consent-to-be-changed-into-any-of-the-lower/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [In regard to the amount of difference between the races, we must make some allowance for our nice powers of discrimination gained by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/in-regard-to-the-amount-of-difference-between-the-races-we-must-make/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Besides, there is more that binds us to Bolshevism than separates us from it. There is, above all, genuine, revolutionary feeling, which is alive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/besides-there-is-more-that-binds-us-to-bolshevism-than-separates-us/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Ain't trickin I just treat her like she need allowance .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/ain-t-trickin-i-just-treat-her-like-she-need-allowance/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) > [You have to learn how to take an allowance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakim/you-have-to-learn-how-to-take-an-allowance/) [Rakim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakim/) > [“modest allowance. Giving your children a small weekly or monthly allowance that they can spend as they wish will help them learn the value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devin-d-thorpe/modest-allowance-giving-your-children-a-small-weekly-or-monthly/) [Devin D. Thorpe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devin-d-thorpe/) > [Negative emotion is your indicator of resistance, while positive emotion is your indicator of allowance. And they are on the same meter: allowance; resistance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/negative-emotion-is-your-indicator-of-resistance-while-positive/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Old Madame du Deffand and her friends talked for fifty years without stopping. And of it all, what remains? Perhaps three witty sayings. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/old-madame-du-deffand-and-her-friends-talked-for-fifty-years-without/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/keep-your-head-when-all-about-you-are-losing-theirs-and-blaming-it-on/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) Browse all 167 Allowance quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if hope were not allowed to relieve the present hour by pleasures borrowed from the future.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-happiness-that-in-many/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Allowance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-happiness-that-in-many/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if…” — Samuel Johnson", "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": "Samuel Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "So scanty is our present allowance...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-happiness-that-in-many/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-happiness-that-in-many/#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 } } ] } ```