For if all the men in the world looked upon you as more happy than themselves, then you would be contented. Oh, do not let your happiness depend upon the fancies of other men.

But godliness with contentment is great gain' (v.6)—there is the glory and excellence of it; as if to suggest that godliness were not gain except contentment be with it.

Heliodorus, tells me that there are many parts of the Scriptures which you seek and cannot find. But even if you have them all, affection is sure to assert its rights and to seek for itself more than it already has.

Contentment with what we have — whether it is possessions, or station in life, or mental or physical abilities — is worth far, far more than all the things we don't have.

But life isn't hard to manage when you've nothing to lose.

Out of all the things you could not have there were some things that you could have and one of those was to know when you were happy and to enjoy all of it while it was there and it was good.

So now do not worry, take what you have, and do your work and you will have a long life and a very merry one.

What do you want? Everything. I want everything and I will take whatever I get.

The old man drank his coffee slowly. It was all he would have all day and he knew that he should take it. For a long time now eating had bored him and he never carried a lunch.

In those days you did not really need anything, not even the rabbit's foot, but it was good to feel it in your pocket.

When you focus on the things you need," he went on to explain, "you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have — and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose … But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life.

The roots of envy always run deeper and wider than the relationship in which it surfaces.