"Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors."

-Jonas Salk

Friday, October 16, 2009

The Other Way to Get Rich

(Probably not an original thought, links to similar ideas would be appreciated...)

It occurs to me that the easy way to get wealthy is to increase the number of things you can happily do without.

Update 11/11/09: Maybe I was trying to remember this:

"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." -Socrates http://mnmlist.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.now.org/store/images/items/bs-tmy.jpg

Anonymous said...

http://www.guynameddave.com/100-thing-challenge.html

I am vaguely attempting this... Not easy AT ALL... But directionally, it is rather liberating...

If you read his experience, he had to make all kinds of compromises... "Books" aren't "a thing"... "Library" is a thing... "Socks" and "underwear" become a "category" (thank god...)... More like a rule of thumb, but like I said, liberating... Maybe easier without a partner??

James Annan said...

Reminds me of

“Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get”

which seems to be bizarrely attributed to Ingrid Bergman, Dale Canegie and Warren Buffet (and probably others).

Paul Baer said...

My own version is "The secret to happiness is reduced expectations."

A multipurpose argument which of course includes but is not limited to material things.