"Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content; The quiet mind is richer than a crown; Sweet are the nights in careless slumber spent; The poor estate scorns fortune's angry frown: Such sweet content, such minds, such sleep, such bliss, Beggars enjoy, when princes oft do miss."

"What happiness the rural maid attends, In cheerful labour while each day she spends! She gratefully receives what Heav'n has sent, And, rich in poverty, enjoys content."

"Enjoy the present hour, be thankful for the past, And neither fear nor wish th' approaches of the last."

"We'll therefore relish with content, Whate'er kind Providence has sent, Nor aim beyond our pow'r; For, if our stock be very small, 'Tis prudent to enjoy it all, Nor lose the present hour."

"In a cottage I live, and the cot of content, Where a few little rooms for ambition too low, Are furnish'd as plain as a patriarch's tent, With all for convenience, but nothing for show: Like Robinson Crusoe's, both peaceful and pleasant, By industry stor'd, like the hive of a bee; And the peer who looks down with contempt on a peasant. Can ne'er be look'd up to with envy by me."

"With more of thanks and less of thought, I strive to make my matters meet; To seek what ancient sages sought, Physic and food in sour and sweet, To take what passes in good part, And keep the hiccups from the heart."

"I'll be merry and free, I'll be sad for nae-body; If nae-body cares for me, I'll care for nae-body."

"Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair."

"Some things are of that nature as to make One's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache."

"There was a jolly miller once, Lived on the River Dee; He worked and sang, from morn to night; No lark so blithe as he. And this the burden of his song, Forever used to be,— "I care for nobody, not I, If no one cares for me.""

"In Paris a queer little man you may see, A little man all in gray; Rosy and round as an apple is he, Content with the present whate'er it may be, While from care and from cash he is equally free, And merry both night and day! "Ma foi! I laugh at the world." says he, "I laugh at the world, and the world laughs at me!" What a gay little man in gray."

"Happy am I; from care I'm free! Why aren't they all contented like me?"

"Ah, sweet Content, where doth thine harbour hold?"

"Who is rich? Those who are happy with their portion."

"An elegant Sufficiency, Content, Retirement, rural Quiet, Friendship, Books, Ease and alternate Labor, useful Life, Progressive Virtue, and approving Heaven!"

"The noblest mind the best contentment has."

"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil -- this is the gift of God."

"'Tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve."

"If it were now to die, 'Twere now to be most happy; for I fear My soul hath her content so absolute That not another comfort like to this Succeeds in unknown fate."

"Shut up In measureless content."

"Our content Is our best having."

"'Tis better to be lowly born, And range with humble livers in content, Than to be perk'd up in a glistering grief, And wear a golden sorrow."

"Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile, And cry, "Content" to that which grieves my heart; And wet my cheeks with artificial tears, And frame my face to all occasions."

"My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not deck'd with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen: my crown is called content; A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy."

"The shepherd's homely curds, His cold thin drink out of his leathern bottle, His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade, All which secure and sweetly he enjoys, Is far beyond a prince's delicates, His viands sparkling in a golden cup, His body couched in a curious bed, When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him."

"For mine own part, I could be well content To entertain the lag-end of my life With quiet hours."

"He that commends me to mine own content Commends me to the thing I cannot get."

"I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man's happiness; glad of other men's good, content with my harm."

"Whate'er the passion, knowledge, fame, or pelf, Not one will change his neighbor with himself."

"Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."

"Let your manners be without covetousness, contented with such things as you have."

"What is the greatest you could experience? It is the hour of the great despising. The hour in which even your happiness disgusts you and likewise your reason and your virtue."

"Who seeks more than he needs, hinders himself from enjoying what he has. Seek what you need and give up what you need not. For in giving up what you don’t need, you’ll learn what you really do need."

"So well to know Her own, that what she wills to do or say Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best."

"Contentment furnishes constant joy. Much covetousness, constant grief. To the contented even poverty is joy. To the discontented, even wealth is a vexation."

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face; A sad heart makes a despondent mood. All the days of a poor person are wretched, but contentment is a feast without end."

"In a consumer society, contentment is a radical proposition."

"Happy the man, of mortals happiest he, Whose quiet mind from vain desires is free; Whom neither hopes deceive, nor fears torment, But lives at peace, within himself content; In thought, or act, accountable to none But to himself, and to the gods alone."

"Their wants but few, their wishes all confin'd."

"Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails, And honour sinks where commerce long prevails."

"Lo and behold! God made this starry wold, The maggot and the mold; lo and behold! He taught the grass contentment blade by blade, The sanctity of sameness in a shade."

"Give what thou wilt, without thee we are poor; And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away."