Why do we say "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"?

Meaning:

Other people's lives always look better than our own/we're never satisfied with what we have

Background:

The concept of the proverb can be traced as far back as the poetry of Publius Ovidius Naso, better known as Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD), who wrote Fertilior seges est alenis semper in agris (the harvest is always more fruitful in another man's fields).

However, a quick glance at the nature of humanity, would suggest that the coveting of one's neighbor's belongings goes back a very long way before that; and therefore it seems very likely that the sage advice to be content with what one's got probably goes a long way further back too!

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