# The more you have, the more you want



## jana.bo99

It is logical to me. The more people have, the more they want.

Slovenian:
Več imač več želiš

Croatian:
Više imaš više želiš

German:
Je mehr du hast, desto mehr you willst

All three are for one person.

How do you say in your language?

Thank you,
B.


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## ahmedcowon

Arabic:
كلما زاد ما لديك, كلما زاد ما تطلب
_kullama zaada ma ladayka, kullama zaada ma tatlub_


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## ilocas2

Czech:

Čím víc máš, tím víc chceš.


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## Grefsen

*Norwegian:*

Jo mer du har, jo mer du ønsker.


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## myšlenka

Grefsen said:


> *Norwegian:*
> 
> Jo mer du har, jo mer du ønsker du.


The idiomatic way to say this in Norwegian is: _Mye vil ha mer_.


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## Grefsen

myšlenka said:


> The idiomatic way to say this in Norwegian is: _Mye vil ha mer_.


*Tusen takk* (1,000 thanks) myšlenka! 

Since I'm not quite fluent in Norwegian yet , I checked first with someone who was born and raised in Norway and he thought what I originally wrote was ok.  However, someone else who insterestingly enough is from Sweden, thought it should be written as you have suggested "Jo mer du har, jo mer ønsker du."


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## mataripis

In Tagalog: Pag maraming makukuha, paghahangad ay sumisidhi pa!


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## ThomasK

Dutch: 
_Hoe meer  mensen hebben, hoe meer ze willen _
[Netherlands_]..., des te meer willen ze. _


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## Grefsen

I just learned that a less formal way to write "The more you have, the more you want" in Norwegian than "_*Jo mer du har, jo mer ønsker du*_" is "_*Jo mere du har, jo mere har du lyst på.*_"


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## Outsider

Portuguese:
Quanto mais se tem, mais se quer.


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## biala

A similar idea appears in the bible, in the book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)5, 9: In Hebrew אוהב כסף לא ישבע כסף "Ohev Kesef Lo Yisba Kesef" - the one who loves money will never be satisfied of money" [and will always want more].


A child (who wants more candies, more toys etc.), and sometimes also an adult who becomes greedy after getting something, could hear the phrase  נותנים לך אצבע ואתה רוצה את כל היד "notnim lecha etzba, ata rotza et kol hayad" means "you're given a finger, and you want the whole hand", which is similar, not identical though.


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## OneStroke

Chinese:
得一想二 得一想二 dé yī xiǎng èr You got one, now you're thinking about two

得隴望蜀 得陇望蜀 dé Lǒng wàng Shǔ - You got Long, now you're looking at Shu


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## Словеса

Russian: аппетит приходит во время еды (appetite comes while one eats/during the meals). Somewhat too journalistic, but makes sense.


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## apmoy70

Словеса said:


> Russian: аппетит приходит во время еды (appetite comes while one eats/during the meals). Somewhat too journalistic, but makes sense.


We use something almost identical in Greek, amazingly:
*«Τρώγοντας έρχεται η όρεξη»* ['troɣondas 'erçete i 'oreksi] --> _while eating the appetite comes_


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## Словеса

biala said:


> A child (who wants more candies, more toys etc.), and sometimes also an adult who becomes greedy after getting something, could hear the phrase  נותנים לך אצבע ואתה רוצה את כל היד "notnim lecha etzba, ata rotza et kol hayad" means "you're given a finger, and you want the whole hand", which is similar, not identical though.


We have something similar in Russian: палец покажи, руку откусит (show him a finger, he will bite off the hand/arm). It is referred to people who ask others to give things to them. It does not mean someone who wants more after he has got little; it means someone who quickly gets impudent and takes everything if he is promised to be given something, though otherwise, if he is not promised anything, is very shy.


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## ilocas2

Czech:

S jídlem roste chuť. - Appetite grows with meal.



> (show him a finger, he will bite off the hand/arm).



This saying exists in Czech too. There are more versions.


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## Anja.Ann

In Italian:

- literally: _quanto più si ha, tanto più si desidera avere _(the more you have, the more you want).

- figuratively: _l'appetito vien mangiando _(appetite comes with eating).


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## Määränpää

Словеса said:


> Russian: аппетит приходит во время еды (appetite  comes while one eats/during the meals).





apmoy70 said:


> We use something almost identical in Greek, amazingly:
> *«Τρώγοντας έρχεται η όρεξη»* ['troɣondas 'erçete i 'oreksi] --> _while eating the appetite comes_





ilocas2 said:


> Czech:
> 
> S jídlem roste chuť. - Appetite grows with meal.





Anja.Ann said:


> In Italian:
> 
> _l'appetito vien mangiando _(appetite comes with eating).


Finnish: _Nälkä kasvaa syödessä_ (Hunger grows with eating)


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## AutumnOwl

myšlenka said:


> _Mye vil ha mer_.


Swedish has the same: _Mycket vill ha mer_. There is also an older variant: _Girigheten har ingen botten_ (Greed has no bottom).


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Syang may tinatangkilik na ay lalu pang naghahangad ng marami pa.


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## arielipi

Also in hebrew, עם האוכל בא התיאבון im haochel ba hateavon. With the food comes the appetite


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## ger4

German: _Je mehr man hat, desto mehr will man.
- je mehr - _'the more'_
- man - _'one' (impersonal pronoun)_
- hat - _'has' (3rd person singular)_
- desto mehr - _'(all) the more' (as above)_
- will - _'wants' (3rd pers. sg.) _
- man - _'one' (impers. pron.)


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## fluffycluster

Hi, I think, this is apparently true. I agree with "the more you have, the more you want "especially in terms of financial stability. I also have a view that the more stable you are , the more you wish for material gains but the the negative thing about this, we sometimes forget that some tend to overspend.


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## 810senior

Japanese has this fixed phrase :AすればするほどBする(A sureba suruhodo B suru : lit. if you do A as more, you do B [more])


The more you have the more you want
*持てば持つほど(ますます)欲しがる
*moteba motsu hodo masumasu hoshigaru


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## Dymn

*Catalan*: _Com més tens, més vols _or _Com més es té, més es vol._*Spanish*: _Cuanto más tienes, más quieres_ or _Cuanto más se tiene, más se quiere.

_In the first constructions of both languages I use a second-singular subject ('you'), whereas in the others I use a reflexive pronoun (indeterminate subject), as Outsider and Anja.Ann have done for Portuguese and Italian respectively.


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## 涼宮

810senior said:


> Japanese has this fixed phrase :AすればするほどBする(A sureba suruhodo B suru : lit. if you do A as more, you do B [more])
> 
> 
> The more you have the more you want
> *持てば持つほど(ますます)欲しがる
> *moteba motsu hodo masumasu hoshigaru



It's interesting to notice that ～がる _garu_ is used to show signs of feeling something, a behavior. So the sentence doesn't simply mean 'want' but 'act like you want it'.  日本語、やっぱおもしれー！


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## 810senior

涼宮 said:


> It's interesting to notice that ～がる _garu_ is used to show signs of feeling something, a behavior. So the sentence doesn't simply mean 'want' but 'act like you want it'.  日本語、やっぱおもしれー！



Yes, we have various particle as same as English language has a large amount of verbs.
The difference is kind of interesting and curious.


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