Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada spoke about the contradictions of human nature:
“Some people dream of having a swimming pool at home, while those who have one hardly ever use it. Those who have lost a loved one feel a profound sense of loss, while others often complain about their living relatives. Those without a partner long for one, while those who have one often don't appreciate it. The hungry would give anything for a meal, while the satiated complain about the taste of their food. Those without a car dream of owning one, while those who have a car are always looking for a better one.”
The key to happiness is gratitude: truly seeing and appreciating what we already have, and understanding that somewhere, someone would give anything for what we take for granted.
Just a note, I asked Grok.
This beautiful quote is often shared under Hiroyuki Sanada’s name but it seems to be anonymous.
The message itself is what truly matters — gratitude changes everything.
Or
As a rule, man's a fool.
When it's hot, he wants it cool.
When it's cool, he wants it hot.
Always wanting what is not.
Arab intellectual Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad wrote a poem on this subject, translated as:
A young one seeks greatness (or old age/prestige),
and an old man wishes he were young again.
One who is free of work longs for a job,
while the one burdened with work is weary and bored of it.
The rich owner of wealth is in toil,
and the one who lacks it is in toil too.
The father of children is full of worries,
while the one who seeks (or desires) children has split apart (or is broken / exhausted).
Whoever has lost beauty complains of it,
yet even the one overwhelmed by (excessive) beauty may complain.
Man suffers when defeated and humbled,
and finds no rest even when victorious.
He passionately desires glory and honor,
and if he wins it, he soon grows tired of it.
There are endless complaints with no judge
except the two quarreling parties themselves when present.
So, did they struggle against fate (the decrees of destiny),
or did they merely bewilder and confuse fate itself?
This poem beautifully illustrates the human condition: endless dissatisfaction, where no state—youth or old age, poverty or wealth, childlessness or having children, defeat or victory—ever brings true lasting contentment.
People always yearn for what they do not have, and even when they attain it, they soon tire of it or find new troubles.
The famous closing question remains rhetorical and profound: are humans fighting against destiny, or are they the ones making destiny itself perplexed?
The paradox of human nature is that we often only recognize the weight of a blessing once it becomes a memory, proving that awareness is a far more valuable asset than the material objects we spend our lives chasing.
