Cervantes: Abundance to be Valued
on Sunday, September 29, 2019Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Money Quote saying too much of a good thing is less valued. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra said:
“Abundance, even of good things, prevents them from being valued” — Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Share the Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Money quote image above on your site:
Short Link to this Quote:
This quote suggests that when good things are readily and abundantly available, they tend not to be properly valued or appreciated. Cervantes seems to be observing that scarcity plays a role in how we perceive value. When something is scarce or limited, we recognize its worth more fully. But when it is everywhere in overabundance, it becomes commonplace and taken for granted.
The “best” interpretation would say that according to Cervantes, for goods or opportunities to be truly valued, they cannot be ubiquitous – there must be some scarcity or limit. Abundance of even positive things can diminish our sense of their value if we never have to do without them or make an effort to access them.