12 Greed and Desire: Observations on the impact of materialism and desire on human actions.
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12.1 Materialism and Happiness
📖 Examines the relationship between material possessions and personal fulfillment.
“Wealth is the slave of a wise man, the master of a fool.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (161)
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
— Plato, The Republic (380)
“The desire for more is never satisfied.”
— Buddha, Dhammapada (500)
“The only thing that is constant is change.”
— Heraclitus, Fragments (500)
“The greatest wealth is to live with simplicity.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (600)
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
— Seneca the Younger, Moral Letters to Lucilius (62)
“Wealth is like sea water; the more you drink, the thirstier you get.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena (1851)
“It is easier to live without desires than to satisfy them.”
— Epictetus, Enchiridion (108)
“The best way to find happiness is to stop looking for it.”
— Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (1997)
“Happiness is not about getting what you want. It is about wanting what you have.”
— Unknown, Unknown (Unknown)
“The more you have, the more you lose.”
— Unknown, Unknown (Unknown)
“The greatest wealth is contentment.”
— Unknown, Unknown (Unknown)
“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
— Mahatma Gandhi, Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi (1927)
“The greatest wealth is health.”
— Virgil, The Aeneid (29)
“The more you own, the more you have to lose.”
— Unknown, Unknown (Unknown)
“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
“The greatest wealth is a peaceful mind.”
— Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada (500)
“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address at Oglethorpe University (1932)
12.2 Consumerism and Identity
📖 Explores the role of consumerism in shaping personal identity and self-worth.
“The greater our possessions become, the more we are possessed by them.”
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, or On Education (1762)
“Advertising is the greatest single factor shaping the social values of our society.”
— Charles Wilson, Speech to the American Marketing Association (1954)
“The only way to get people to buy your product is to make them believe they need it.”
— David Ogilvy, Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963)
“The more you have, the more you want.”
— Unknown, Proverb (Unknown)
“Consumerism is the belief that happiness and satisfaction are to be found in acquiring material possessions.”
— Juliet Schor, Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture (2004)
“The more our culture is focused on consumerism, the more we come to believe that our own self-worth is tied to what we own.”
— Derrick Jensen, The Culture of Make Believe (2002)
“Advertising tells us who we are. It tells us what we need. It tells us what we should desire.”
— Naomi Klein, No Logo (2000)
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (1955)
“The meaning of life is not to have more, but to be more.”
— Anonymous, Unknown (Unknown)
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
— Plato, The Republic (c. 380 BC)
“Beware of the lust for comfort. It’s the velvet glove covering the iron fist of Dependency.”
— Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged (1957)
“He who buys what he does not need steals from himself.”
— Swedish Proverb, Swedish Proverb (Unknown)
“We’re a culture obsessed with the next new thing. We buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t even like.”
— Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover (2003)
“The more you try to earn, the less you’ll have.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (c. 600 BC)
“Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy things that make you happy.”
— Zig Ziglar, See You at the Top (1975)
“Consumerism is a disease.”
— Pope Francis, Speech to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (2015)
“It is impossible to purchase happiness.”
— James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
“The only thing that is constant is change.”
— Heraclitus, Fragments (c. 500 BC)
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
— Plato, The Republic (c. 380 BC)
12.3 Greed and Power
📖 Investigates the connection between greed and the pursuit of power.
“The more you crave for power, the more your hunger grows.”
— Lailah Gifty Akita, Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind (2011)
“Greed for power is a hydra with an insatiable appetite.”
— Edward Abbey, The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975)
“Ultimately, power is only given to those who are prepared to lower themselves to pick it up.”
— Hannah Arendt, Men in Dark Times (1955)
“When men seek more than they need, they become greedy.”
— Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Big: Unleashing Your Mind for Success (2016)
“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.”
— Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving (1956)
“The ultimate test of a man’s character is his willingness to sacrifice his own good for the good of others.”
— Theodore Roosevelt, Speech at the Sorbonne (1910)
“The lust for power is not diminished by its repeated acquisition.”
— Marcus Tullius Cicero, Philippics (44 BC)
“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.”
— William Gaddis, JR (1975)
“Desiring power is not wrong, but seeking power through deception is.”
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1994)
“The bigger a man’s head and the smaller his heart, the greater his cruelty.”
— Pearl S. Buck, Imperial Woman (1936)
“The more power you have, the more people will hate you.”
— Margaret Thatcher, Speech to the Conservative Party Conference (1986)
“Power is not given to you. You have to take it.”
— Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1969)
“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.”
— Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving (1956)
“All men desire power.”
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (430 BC)
“The lust for power is the most dangerous passion in human nature.”
— Lord Acton, The History of Freedom in Antiquity (1877)
“The price of greatness is responsibility.”
— Winston Churchill, Speech to the House of Commons (1943)
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
— Lord Acton, Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton (1887)
“A man with power is a man with enemies.”
— Robert Kennedy, Speech to the University of Kansas (1968)
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1994)
12.4 Desire and Suffering
📖 Examines the role of desire in causing human suffering and dissatisfaction.
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
— Plato, The Republic (380)
“The world is enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”
— Mahatma Gandhi, Young India (1925)
“We are not our desires; we are the space in which our desires arise and fall away.”
— Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (1997)
“Desire is never satisfied until it reaches its end, and once there, it ceases to be desire.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation (1819)
“The only way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate desire.”
— Buddha, The Pali Canon (600)
“Desire is a bottomless pit that can never be filled.”
— Confucius, The Analects (500)
“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.”
— Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus (300)
“The root of all suffering is attachment.”
— Buddha, The Pali Canon (600)
“The more you want, the less you have.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (600)
“Suffering is caused by craving, clinging, and aversion.”
— Buddha, The Pali Canon (600)
“The only true happiness comes from letting go of your desires.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (600)
“The more we value things outside of ourselves, the less we value ourselves.”
— Brené Brown, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (2012)
“Desire is like salt water. The more you drink, the thirstier you become.”
— Buddha, The Pali Canon (600)
“The only way to be free is to let go of your desires.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (600)
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (161)
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
— Plato, The Republic (380)
“The more you want, the less you have.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (600)
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (161)
12.5 The Nature of Desire
📖 Explores the fundamental nature of desire and its impact on human behavior.
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
— Plato, The Republic (380 BC)
“Desires drive us to action, but they don’t always lead us to happiness.”
— Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness (1998)
“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)
“Beware, for desires are like stars - they are beautiful to look at, but if you try to hold them, they will burn you.”
— Unknown, Ancient Proverb (Unknown)
“The less you desire, the more peace you will find.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (6th Century BCE)
“Our desires betray the poverty of our nature.”
— Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (1856)
“The desire of man is for the unknown.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life (1860)
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
— Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
“Desire is the root of all suffering.”
— Buddha, The Four Noble Truths (5th Century BCE)
“The less we desire, the more we shall be satisfied.”
— Mahatma Gandhi, The Message of the Bhagavad Gita (1938)
“The desire for more is the root of all evil.”
— Plato, The Republic (380 BC)
“The only true happiness is to live in the present moment.”
— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (6th Century BCE)
“The only thing that stands between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”
— Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1994)
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
— Abraham Lincoln, Speech at the Cooper Union (1860)
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
— Steve Jobs, Stanford University Commencement Address (2005)
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
— Walt Disney, Speech at the American National Exhibition in Moscow (1959)
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
— Plato, The Republic (380 BCE)
“The only way to find true happiness is to stop seeking it and start living.”
— Unknown, Ancient Proverb (Unknown)
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1994)