Quotes About Materialism

The odd thing is that only lonely people have a tendency to festoon their abodes with extravagant items.

I'm convinced that the trouble with you is, you're horribly greedy. Greedy men are apt to seem miserable. Look, what more could you want than a day like this?" "Something definite. What it might be, I've no idea

Possessing by letting go of things was a secret of ownership unknown to youth.

Romanticism, which encourages variety, meshes perfectly with consumerism.

Consumerism tells us that in order to be happy we must consume as many products and services as possible.

Money, social status, plastic surgery, beautiful houses, powerful positions – none of these will bring you happiness. Lasting happiness comes only from serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin.1

Consumerism tells us that in order to be happy we must consume as many products and services as possible. If we feel that something is missing or not quite right, then we probably need to buy a product (a car, new clothes, organic food) or a service (housekeeping, relationship therapy, yoga classes). Every television commercial is another little legend about how consuming some product or service will make life better.

Like the elite of ancient Egypt, most people in most cultures dedicate their lives to building pyramids. Only the names, shapes and sizes of these pyramids change from one culture to the other. They may take the form, for example, of a suburban cottage with a swimming pool and an evergreen lawn, or a gleaming penthouse with an enviable view. Few question the myths that cause us to desire the pyramid in the first place.

Our once green and blue planet is becoming a concrete and plastic shopping centre.

Consumerism has worked very hard, with the help of popular psychology ('Just do it!') to convince people that indulgence is good for you, whereas frugality is self-oppression. It

One interesting conclusion is that money does indeed bring happiness. But only up to a point, and beyond that point it has little significance. For

Modernity, in contrast, is based on the firm belief that economic growth is not only possible, but absolutely essential... Modernity has turned 'more stuff' into a panacea applicable to almost all public and private problems, from religious fundamentalism through Third World authoritarianism down to a failed marriage... Economic growth has thus become the crucial juncture where almost all modern religions, ideologies and movements meet.

Today, a single affluent family generally has more timepieces at home than an entire medieval country.

One of history's few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations. Once people get used to a certain luxury, they take it for granted. Then they begin to count on it. Finally they reach a point where they can't live without it.

Consumerism has worked very hard, with the help of popular psychology ('Just do it') to convince people that indulgence is good for you, whereas frugality is self-oppression.

Even if you are quite satisfied with your current conditions, you should strive for more. Yesterday's luxuries become today's necessities. If once you could live well in a three-bedroom apartment with one car and a single desktop computer, today you need a five-bedroom house with two cars and a host of iPods, tablets and smartphones.

Kadaise žalia ir žydra m?s? planeta pamažu tampa iš betono ir plastiko nulietu prekybos centru.

buying more stuff will make us happy, because we saw the capitalist paradise with our own eyes on television.

El consumismo nos dice que para ser felices hemos de consumir tantos productos y servicios como sea posible.

The new ethic promises paradise on condition that the rich remain greedy and spend their time making more money, and that the masses give free rein to their cravings and passions – and buy more and more. This

Everyone always wants money because everyone else also always wants money,

We tend to believe that if we could just change our workplace, get married, finish writing that novel, buy a new car or repay the mortgage, we would be on top of the world. Yet when we get what we desire we don't seem to be any happier. Buying cars and writing novels do not change our biochemistry. They can startle it for a fleeting moment, but it is soon back to its set point.

This raises the possibility that the immense improvement in material conditions over the last two centuries was offset by the collapse of the family and the community.

People pursue wealth and power, acquire knowledge and possessions, beget sons and daughters, and build houses and palaces. Yet no matter what they achieve, they are never content.