Quotes About Consumerism

Perhaps we don't respect things because we have so many of them.

Remember that more than 60 percent of what we buy wasn't on our list. And

Does Wall-Mart sell wall stuff?

is not a voracious capitalism but the spiritual insight that we cannot buy the identity and security we seek.

I don't want money. What the hell's money good for? You can't drive it and you can't eat it and it won't even fix a flat.

We have chosen a problematic name for ourselves: we are no longer souls as we once were, not even citizens; we're all consumers now, grasping all the stuff every which way.

No one goes around suggesting that everyone should become their own autonomous cheesemakers and cheering the death of the cheese industry. Why? Because that would result in a lot of shitty cheese.

Materialism, to some extent, requires that the consumer is not fully present or happy. In the moments of a spending frenzy you feel more alive so you spend, spend, spend in the pursuit of happiness. For a short period the acquisition of clothes, shoes, a house, a car, a new kitchen, anchors your life into some place of meaning.

That's American know-how for you. It keeps coming at you, and every minute there's new junk to push out the old junk.

These models will recognize the inter-connectedness of all things, turning away from the mindless materialism and consumerism that has destroyed the ecological capital on which we rely.

Both dudes wore khakis whose baggy leggings spilled over two pairs of Nike Cortez sneakers so fucking new that if they had taken one shoe off and placed it to their ear like a conch shell, they'd hear the roar of an ocean of sweatshop labour.

choosing from among fifteen flavors of ice cream is harder than choosing from three. Indeed, there is a whole literature on the "paradox of choice" that focuses on the stress associated with difficult decisions.

Our affluence does not make us selfish; it simply enables us to afford more sophisticated expressions of selfishness.

People move from church to church as if the churches in their community are nothing more than ecclesiastical department stores. They're shopping for just the right preacher, women's ministry, youth ministry, or worship style. These Christians' relationship to the church mirrors my relationship to Macy's.

Vol minachting keek hij naar al die waterhoofden waarin de slogans en gemeenplaatsen van een ten dode opgeschreven Systeem als kikkerdril samenklonterden en ronddreven. Naar die voortbrengers niet van de denkende, fijngevoelige, gecultiveerde, vrijheidslievende en schoonheidminnende mens, maar de van alle soorten banaalste en vulgairste: de Koopkrachtige Mens, de modale zaterdagmiddagklant van de Supermarkt. Wie niet kocht, bestond niet.

The constant pursuit of material possessions/money status or sexual relationships, and so on, can be problematic.

This materialistic and competitive striving and needing 'to have and own' has been linked to deteriorating mental health, especially in young people.16

Now, it's true that some of the protesters are oddly dressed or have silly-sounding slogans, which is inevitable given the open character of the events. But so what? I, at least, am a lot more offended by the sight of exquisitely tailored plutocrats, who owe their continued wealth to government guarantees, whining that President Obama has said mean things about them than I am by the sight of ragtag young people denouncing consumerism.

Buy, buy, says the sign in the shop window; Why, why, says the junk in the yard.

I've noticed that TV commercials are often in C.

Instead of opportunities for serious accomplishment in our culture, we supply our children with expensive toys, hoping that these will occupy them and keep them from disturbing us.

Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness, possesses you. And in this materialistic age, a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.

Realize that the banality around us that passes as "hipness" or "mass culture" is as satisfying as "mass food"—only it comes in much more unappetizing portions.

Retailing is the art of selling something that is not necessary to people who are. Anyone who does not understand this sooner, rather than later, goes out of business.