---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unchecked craving strangles the careless…"
description: "\"“Unchecked craving strangles the careless man.”\" — Thích Nhất Hạnh"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_craving_unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless_3204106.jpg"
---

#  Unchecked craving strangles the careless man.

![“Unchecked craving strangles the careless man.” quote by Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_craving_unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless_3204106.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_craving_unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless_3204106.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_craving_unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless_3204106.jpg)

> ““Unchecked craving strangles the careless man.””

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The saying warns that uncontrolled desires can dominate and ultimately ruin a careless person’s life.

**In simple terms:** Unchecked desire harms the careless.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate mindfulness, moderate cravings.

Themes

desire mindfulness self‑control

Mood

calm instructive

Type

spiritual practical

When to use this quote

- consumerism
- personal relationships
- workplace stress
- health habits

Key Concepts

Buddhist teachings psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What cravings drive your careless actions?
- How can mindfulness curb excess?

A Different Perspective

Desire can be a symptom of deeper insecurity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Careless Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/careless-man-5866497/) [Craving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craving/) [Craving Strangles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craving-strangles-5960627/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Strangles Careless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangles-careless-5960628/) [Unchecked Craving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unchecked-craving-5960629/)

## Related quotes

> [The undertaking of a careless man succeeds not, though he use the right expedients: a clever hunter, though well placed in ambush, kills not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-bharavi/the-undertaking-of-a-careless-man-succeeds-not-though-he-use-the/)

[J. K. Bharavi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-bharavi/)

> [There is no satisfying the senses, not even with a shower of money. "The senses are of slight pleasure and really suffering." When a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/there-is-no-satisfying-the-senses-not-even-with-a-shower-of-money-the/)

[Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/)

> [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [The worst passion we mortals cherish is the desire to possess. Even when we know that our final destination is a hole not more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-worst-passion-we-mortals-cherish-is-the-desire-to-possess-even/)

[D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/)

> [You don't want to love - your eternal and abnormal craving is to be loved. You aren't positive, you're negative. You absorb, absorb, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-don-t-want-to-love-your-eternal-and-abnormal-craving-is-to-be/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [How are we to account for the strange human craving for the pleasure of feeling afraid which is so much involved in our love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/how-are-we-to-account-for-the-strange-human-craving-for-the-pleasure/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [When we think carefully, we see that the brief elation we experience when appeasing sensual impulses may not be very different from what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/when-we-think-carefully-we-see-that-the-brief-elation-we-experience/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [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/)

> [People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/people-who-do-not-understand-themselves-have-a-craving-for/)

[Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/)

> [“The more the soul loves the word, the more craving it has after it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurnall/the-more-the-soul-loves-the-word-the-more-craving-it-has-after-it/)

[William Gurnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurnall/)

> [I had left home (like all Jewish girls) in order to eat pork and take birth control pills. When I first shared an intimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roseanne-barr/i-had-left-home-like-all-jewish-girls-in-order-to-eat-pork-and-take/)

[Roseanne Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roseanne-barr/)

> [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [When I look at you all I see is heartbreak waiting to happen. And I can't tell if it's because of love. Or loneliness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ream/when-i-look-at-you-all-i-see-is-heartbreak-waiting-to-happen-and-i/)

[Ream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ream/)

> [I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-dream-of-a-love-that-is-more-than-two-people-craving-to-possess-one/)

[Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/)

> [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&amp;P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/)

[Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/)

## More by Thích Nhất Hạnh

> [“For example, the sound of the telephone can make us irritated and anxious. That is the sound of the telephone which comes as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/for-example-the-sound-of-the-telephone-can-make-us-irritated-and/)

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“Bhikkhus, the teaching is merely a vehicle to describe the truth. Don’t mistake it for the truth itself. A finger pointing at the moon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/bhikkhus-the-teaching-is-merely-a-vehicle-to-describe-the-truth-don-t/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“If we practice walking meditation, we walk just for walking, not to arrive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/if-we-practice-walking-meditation-we-walk-just-for-walking-not-to/)

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“Control the senses, practice equanimity. Live by disciplinary rules. Associate with good friends who are not lazy and live purely. Be courteous and well-mannered,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/control-the-senses-practice-equanimity-live-by-disciplinary-rules/)

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“If you are lost in a forest at night, you can follow the North Star to find your way out. You follow the North…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/if-you-are-lost-in-a-forest-at-night-you-can-follow-the-north-star-to/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“If you are a poet, you will clearly see a cloud floating on this sheet of paper. Thich Nhat Hanh”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/if-you-are-a-poet-you-will-clearly-see-a-cloud-floating-on-this-sheet/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“Happiness can be attained by letting go, including letting go of your ideas about happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/happiness-can-be-attained-by-letting-go-including-letting-go-of-your/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“We have many kinds of energies in us, including the energies of anger, violence, and craving. But compassion is also a very strong energy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/we-have-many-kinds-of-energies-in-us-including-the-energies-of-anger/)

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“Knowing how to handle suffering, you know at the same time how to produce happiness. And if you’re truly happy, we all profit from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/knowing-how-to-handle-suffering-you-know-at-the-same-time-how-to/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“You have to realize that happiness is not something you find at the end of the road. You have to understand that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/you-have-to-realize-that-happiness-is-not-something-you-find-at-the/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“Suppose you are in the desert, and you only have one glass of muddy water. You have to transform the muddy water into clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/suppose-you-are-in-the-desert-and-you-only-have-one-glass-of-muddy/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“When you speak, allow the insight of our collective humanity to speak through you. When you walk, don't walk for yourself alone; walk for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/when-you-speak-allow-the-insight-of-our-collective-humanity-to-speak/)

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“Your body belongs to the earth. In modern life, people tend to think their bodies belong to them, that they can do anything they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/your-body-belongs-to-the-earth-in-modern-life-people-tend-to-think/)

[Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“A single wise word bringing peace to the listener is worth more than a thousand speeches of empty words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/a-single-wise-word-bringing-peace-to-the-listener-is-worth-more-than/)

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

> [“There is no fire like lust, no vise like hatred, no trap like delusion, and no galloping river like craving.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/there-is-no-fire-like-lust-no-vise-like-hatred-no-trap-like-delusion/)

[Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

[Explore all 373 Thích Nhất Hạnh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/)

## More Craving quotes

> [“The more the soul loves the word, the more craving it has after it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurnall/the-more-the-soul-loves-the-word-the-more-craving-it-has-after-it/)

[William Gurnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurnall/)

> [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&amp;P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/)

[Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/)

> [I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-dream-of-a-love-that-is-more-than-two-people-craving-to-possess-one/)

[Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/)

> [When I look at you all I see is heartbreak waiting to happen. And I can't tell if it's because of love. Or loneliness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ream/when-i-look-at-you-all-i-see-is-heartbreak-waiting-to-happen-and-i/)

[Ream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ream/)

> [People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/people-who-do-not-understand-themselves-have-a-craving-for/)

[Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/)

> [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/)

> [I had left home (like all Jewish girls) in order to eat pork and take birth control pills. When I first shared an intimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roseanne-barr/i-had-left-home-like-all-jewish-girls-in-order-to-eat-pork-and-take/)

[Roseanne Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roseanne-barr/)

> [When we think carefully, we see that the brief elation we experience when appeasing sensual impulses may not be very different from what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/when-we-think-carefully-we-see-that-the-brief-elation-we-experience/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [How are we to account for the strange human craving for the pleasure of feeling afraid which is so much involved in our love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/how-are-we-to-account-for-the-strange-human-craving-for-the-pleasure/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [You don't want to love - your eternal and abnormal craving is to be loved. You aren't positive, you're negative. You absorb, absorb, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-don-t-want-to-love-your-eternal-and-abnormal-craving-is-to-be/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The worst passion we mortals cherish is the desire to possess. Even when we know that our final destination is a hole not more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-worst-passion-we-mortals-cherish-is-the-desire-to-possess-even/)

[D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/)

> [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/)

[Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/)

> [Fianlly a wave of reailty swept over my eyes and I was able to see, I wasn't in love with an angle but addicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian/fianlly-a-wave-of-reailty-swept-over-my-eyes-and-i-was-able-to-see-i/)

[Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian/)

> [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

[Browse all 626 Craving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craving/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Unchecked craving strangles the careless man.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Thích Nhất Hạnh"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless-man/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Craving"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless-man/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_craving_unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless_3204106.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_craving_unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless_3204106.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_craving_unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless_3204106.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Unchecked craving strangles the careless man.” — Thích Nhất Hạnh",
                "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": "Thích Nhất Hạnh",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Unchecked craving strangles the careless man.”",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless-man/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/unchecked-craving-strangles-the-careless-man/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
