We can never have enough of that which we do not want.

If we are suffering illness, poverty, or misfortune, we think we shall be satisfied on the day it ceases. But there, too, we know it is false; as soon as one has got used to not suffering one wants something else.

From the satisfaction of desire there may arise, accompanying joy and as it were sheltering behind it, something not unlike despair.

So whatever else has happened, I am figgerin this: I can always look back an say, at least I ain't led no hum-drum life.

The sovereign source of melancholy is repletion. Need and struggle are what excite and inspire us; our hour of triumph is what brings the void.

When we reside in an attic we enjoy a supper of fried fish and stout. When we occupy the first floor it takes an elaborate dinner at the Continental to give us the same amount of satisfaction.

He is well paid that is well satisfied.

The journey, not the arrival, matters; the voyage, not the landing.

In the world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.

Life is a hospital where every patient is dominated by a wish to change his bed. One would prefer to suffer near the fire, and another feels sure he would get well if he were near the window.