Quotes About Materialism

When consuming goods rather than satisfying work becomes the focus of our culture, we have created (or acquieced in) a society of permanent adolescents.

Rousseau introduced the idea of false needs, and showed how the systems we live in work against our growing up: they dazzle us with toys and bewilder us with so many trivial products that we are too busy making silly choices to remember that the adult ones are made by others.

Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.

Photography has become the quintessential art of affluent, wasteful, restless societies.

Poor fool, ruining his life for a piece of cloth smeared with mineral paste, for a fake, I had to tell myself, a mere curiosity.

I hate when people dismiss the loss of an object because "it's just a thing." Things are important. They give comfort, shelter, style, identity. The sum total of your things is a road map of your life. They show where you've been, what you accomplished, who you loved, who loved you back. They are an expression of who you are. You can learn a lot about a person by their things. Material things are not what's most important in life, of course!

I suddenly realized, money can't buy happiness. But it sure as shit can take it away.

I would get once my career took off, but it was the first time in a long time seeing my aging MINI Cooper parked between two luxury cars didn't bum me out.

There is more real wealth in a pound of honey, or a load of manure for that matter, than all the currency in the world. We often destroy the world's real wealth to create an illusion of wealth, confusing symbol and substance." —William Longgood, The Queen Must Die

We often destroy the world's real wealth to create an illusion of wealth, confusing symbol and substance.

They'd had nothing—a rented spot in a trailer park and a car that was older than Mama herself. And yet Margie had never felt deprived. There was a richness to their lives that had nothing to do with the bank account. Their world was built on a foundation of love and trust between the two of them.

If she were their mother she'd teach them these things are nothing, the clothes and toys and furniture. These things fool people into thinking they must stay where the things are. Leave it all, she'd teach them, even your hopes, and all the dreams of safe, calm places. Go with what is most terrifying, the dizzying empty night and the lonely stars until night slows and you see the whole design. Always choose love over safety if you can tell the difference...

What had he ever wanted that he could not buy? And if that wasn't riches he didn't know what was.

Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail.

The world at large does not judge us by who we are and what we know it judges us by what we have.

I'm an American and I want instant gratification.

Te willen hebben, een huis in de duinen. Te willen hebben, verzamelde werken. Te willen hebben, één blauwe veer. Te willen hebben, een zinvol bestaan. Te willen hebben, gehad.

I know how tempting it is to believe that something outside—a great job, meeting Mr. or Ms. Right, winning the lottery— can make you feel okay and mollify envy. For a while these may seem to work, but an outer fix alone, no matter how gratifying, can't sustain self-esteem.

If money does not make you happy, give it back

een maatschappij waarin het er alleen nog om ging om tijdens de grote uitverkoop van waarden en normen de eigen schaapjes op het droge te krijgen.

Los jóvenes de hoy en día no sois conscientes de los privilegios que tenéis, os parece natural tener de todo… por eso no apreciáis nada

She didn't like to think she was so shallow that a mere dress could make her happy, but she had to concede that it gave her a new sense of self-confidence.

One industrial age belief is that GDP or GNP is a measure of progress. I don't care if you're the President of China or the U.S., if your country doesn't grow, you're in trouble. But we all know that beyond a certain level of material need, further material acquisition doesn't make people happier.

People concerned about inflation today tend to buy big houses and nice cars.