Quotes About Materialism

We have moved to a level where we have made happiness and contentment largely impossible. We have created a pseudo-happiness, largely based in having instead of being. We are so overstimulated that the ordinary no longer delights us. We cannot rest or abide in our naked being in God, as Jesus offers us.

It is strange that when people have so much, they are so anxious about not having enough—to do, to see, to own, to fix, to control, to change.

In a materialistic society we have projected our sense of worth almost exclusively onto things. That is why it's hard to rediscover our souls in ourselves.

was that what people had thought of as the good big one now would become the shitty little one. Worse, the quickest way to beget a new desire, Bea knew, was to satisfy an old one, and each new desire had a way of becoming more expensive than the last. If she was foolish enough to gratify her customers' current demands, who knew what they'd dream up next?

For people who dealt largely in dreams, his father was fond of observing, realtors were a surprisingly unromantic bunch, like card counters in a Vegas casino.

It was for this reason he'd always felt that owning things was overrated. All you were doing was alleviating the disappointment of not owning them.

you missed what you didn't have far more than you appreciated what you did have. It was for this reason he'd always felt that owning things was overrated. All you were doing was alleviating the disappointment of not owning them.

materialism takes root in early childhood, and is driven mainly by low self-esteem.

When people can afford necessities in life, an increase in income dones not result in a significantly happier life.

Thanks to our capacity to adapt to ever greater fame and fortune, yesterday's luxuries can soon become today's necessities and tomorrow's relics."6

Their constant outward-looking, their mania for radios, cars, and a thousand other trinkets made them dream and fix their eyes upon the trash of life, made it impossible for them to learn a language which could have taught them to speak of what was in their or others' hearts. The words of their souls were the syllables of popular songs.

The most valued pleasure of the people I knew was a car, the most cherished experience a bottle of whisky, the most sought-after prize somebody else's wife.

That cigar-chomping hemorrhoidal bigot who sits astride the riding mower on the two and a quarter acres beside you, he is smart enough to spend his IRA on this stock, so why can't you? Do you want him to have something you do not?

Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things!

It is a fatal mistake to assume that God's goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns.

Your value is not determined by your valuables

God warns us to not get too attached to what's around us because it is temporary. We're told, "Those in frequent contact with the things of the world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them, for this world and all it contains will pass away."9

A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree. PROVERBS 11:28

A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree. PROVERBS 11:28 (MSG)

Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things!

Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make me more happy, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better versions.

It is a fatal mistake to assume that God's goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns.13

It is a fatal mistake to assume that God's goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns.

every increased possession loads us with weariness, and he's right." There