Men do not desire to be rich, but to be richer than other men. John Stuart Mill 1806 – 1873 Treadmills are wonderful — for exercise. Otherwise, being on a treadmill means spending a lot of time and energy but not making any real progress. Unfortunately, we’ve become a nation that spends an awful lot of time on the consumer treadmill. Let me explain what I mean. In the past few decades, the standard of living has increased significantly. Yet our feeling of well being has actually decreased. So many people are earning more money and buying more things, but …
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Tag Archives: possessions
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Pericles c. 495 – 429 B.C. I’m going to pose a few questions. Take a minute or two to look them over and see how many you can answer. (For those readers who don’t live in the United States, you can substitute a similar event from your country for the ones I’ve named.) What team won the Super Bowl in 2007? Who was the MVP (most valuable player)? What team won the World Series in 2006? Who was the …
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Real life is being things on the inside, not getting things on the outside. Ralph Parlette 1870 – 1930 This little incident took place a few years back, at a gathering for some of our extended family. We’d finished lunch and the children had settled into play mode. The weather was nice, so most of the children were playing outside, but there was one toddler sitting in the middle of a pile of toys. He had picked out one toy and was deeply engaged in it. Then another child about the same age wandered into the room. The newcomer fixed …
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