Better is poverty in the hand of the god,
Than wealth in the storehouse;
Better is bread with a happy heart
Than wealth with vexation.

This saying is attributed to Amenemope (also spelled Amenemope/Amen-em-Opet), the putative author of the Egyptian wisdom text commonly called the “Instruction of Amenemope,” composed in the late New Kingdom or early Third Intermediate Period (often dated roughly to the late 2nd millennium–early 1st millennium BCE). The work belongs to the genre of didactic “instructions,” advising a younger man on ethical conduct, social restraint, and piety. Its themes—contentment, modest living, and reliance on divine order—are frequently compared with biblical wisdom literature (especially Proverbs), though the precise lines and translations vary across editions of the text.

The passage contrasts material abundance with inner well-being and divine favor. “Poverty in the hand of the god” frames scarcity as bearable—even preferable—when one’s life is aligned with the divine will, while “wealth in the storehouse” suggests hoarded riches that do not guarantee peace. The second contrast sharpens the point: simple food enjoyed “with a happy heart” outweighs prosperity accompanied by anxiety, conflict, or moral compromise (“vexation”). As a wisdom maxim, it promotes measured desire, distrust of acquisitiveness, and the idea that contentment and ethical stability are higher goods than accumulation.