APAD: Enough is as good as a feast

来源: 2025-07-31 08:03:13 [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 本文已被阅读:

Meaning:

   The proverb "Enough is as good as a feast" essentially means that having an

   adequate amount of something is just as satisfying as having an excessive or

   abundant amount. It encourages contentment and discourages greed or

   overindulgence.

 

Background:

   The origin of this proverb is often attributed to the English playwright and

   poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote it in his work "The Canterbury Tales" in the

   14th century. It appears in the Nun's Priest's Tale, where Chaucer writes,

   "Thanne is suffisaunce as good as a feast."

 

   The phrase likely evolved over time from Chaucer's usage into the more common

   version we have today.

 

   This saying has stood the test of time because it offers a timeless piece of

   wisdom about appreciating what we have and finding contentment in sufficiency

   rather than always striving for excess.

 

- englishdaily626.com [edited]

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I was again impressed with what Buddha discovered according to the book

"Sapiens" by Uval Noah Harari.

 

    Gautama's insight was that no matter what the mind experiences, it usually

    reacts with craving, and craving always involves dissatisfaction.

 

"Enough is as good as a feast" came in about two millenia and on its own arrived

at the same upshot. A few more centuries, in our time, one is supposed to be

dissatisfied with the status quo, and exhorted to achieve, to explore, and to

exploit. "Greed is good," we are told.