Contentment
To be contented is to be happy, and the contented man is the happiest of men because he wants for nothing. He may be rich or he may be poor in the eyes of other people, but he is in any case rich in his own estimation as he had everything he needs or desires—and who can want more? Contentment is a great virtue and a very rare one, for it is man’s nature to desire what he has not got and to think little of what he has got. There is a story of a king who was ill and whose doctors said that nothing could cure him but wearing the shirt of a contented man. After a long search, a contented man was at last found—but he had not got a shirt. Perhaps that is why he was contented, for he had nothing to lose, and being poor, had no fear of poverty. He was not troubled with business worries and had no anxiety lest he should sustain losses. The less he had to take care of, the less care he had, and being free from care he was happy, and being happy was content. So, the contentment does not arise from wealth, rank, or power, but from the simple mind that is easily pleased with what it has got, and the simple tastes that are easily gratified, together with the habit of considering that whatever is, is best.
