Money often costs too much. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The tragedy dates to 1859, when around 450 passengers on the Royal Charter, returning from the Australian goldmines to England, drowned when their ship was wrecked off the north coast of Wales.
What caused this shipwreck? Well, many of those on board were weighed down by the gold in their money belts that they just wouldn’t abandon so close to home.
You see, most of us, most of the time, would agree with this statement attributed to actress Mae West –
I’ve been rich, and I’ve been poor. And, believe me, rich is better.
But there comes a point when we have achieved a comfortable (sometimes, way more) standard of living and yet we continue to strive for more stuff.
And why?
The reason could be found in what the father of modern economics Adam Smith wrote in 1759 –
The rich man glories in his riches because he feels that they naturally draw upon him the attention of the world.
So, not only does material wealth make for a more comfortable life, but we also derive satisfaction from the perceived admiration of others.
And not just that, we come to know ourselves by the things we possess, including money. Maybe this is why ‘Mine!’ is one of the common words used by preschoolers, and a large number of conflicts in playschools are over the possession of toys. It starts that early!
Ruskin Bond wrote this in A Book of Simple Living –
If you owe nothing, you are rich.
Money doesn’t make people happy. But neither does poverty.
The secret, then, is to have as much as you need – or maybe a little more, and then share what you have.
I believe our lives are not defined by what we possess, but by what we pursue.
History has ample proof that it is not what people (like Alexander and Hitler) have tried to possess, but what people (like Einstein and Gandhi) pursued that brought meaning to their lives and to those around them.
“I enjoy life,” Seneca said, “because I am ready to leave it.”
In his book On the Shortness of Life, Seneca wrote this –
As far as I am concerned, I know that I have lost not wealth but distractions. The body’s needs are few: it wants to be free from cold, to banish hunger and thirst with nourishment; if we long for anything more we are exerting ourselves to serve our vices, not our needs.
Imagine if we can unburden ourselves of 90% of our worldly goods, it should not be difficult to leave the remaining 10% behind?
Right? Wrong? What do you think?
Right and than maybe wrong !! While it is true that the world is today what it is because of the people like Gandhiji and Einstein it is also true that people like Tata, Birla, Ford and Gates have also contributed greatly to the world. So probably the greed for money has to be there, the reason for greed is the real reason for the happiness or otherwise.
Hello Mr. Ashok,
I do agree that Tata, Birla, Ford and Gates have contributed greatly to the world. But it was not out of greed for money. They built huge conglomerates not because they were greedy for money but because they wanted to bring a change in the lives of others. They wanted to solve problems and improve our standard of living. Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Late. Steve Jobs have always said that they never did what they for money but for the sheer passion of it and to bring a change in human life.
Best Regards
Jobs and Gates, only two examples, were enormously wealthy when they said it was never for the money.
Both knew that money solves money problems. I can’t think of any problems that are solved by poverty, and poverty is extremely hard work.
We don’t necessarily have to be greedy to have something. However, it’s also my firm belief that money is the root cause of happiness because everything can be bought with money in a capitalist economy.
How does one buy LOVE or HAPPINESS with money ??
Or for that matter, GOOD HEALTH ??
Perfect timing, Vishal… 🙂
I have been detaching myself from our portfolio that is 40% down, thanks to being all in into small and mid caps. And there is enough in the bank to be comfortable and not worry about the immediate future.
Though, being in the ‘now’ for almost two years now, does become a bit difficult at times! 😀
Rich & sad is good.
Poor & happy is better.
Rich & happy is the best.
Thank you sir for your kindness sharing.
I completely reject the idea which proclaims, whatever is happening is happening for good amd whatever will happen, will happen for good. And be satisfied with what you have. Which essentially means don’t shape your destiny rather wait for miracles to happen. And this is a regressive thinking. So I would rather say greed is good, its the essence of growth and development. If I have a business idea but no reward on horizon, I will never execute it. But one has to carefully balance greed and astuteness. For example the recent 11-12% spike in Accelya solutions on a single day. Greedy people kept sitting on their asses. The nimble ones made money with financial astuteness as the 3.5 billion euro valuation didnt look real.
Nice Article, The feeling of Abundance is more in the mind ,and Abundance is a givers attribute, & givers are rich anyways as they are willing to share 👍👍
A good perspective – Greed is essence of growth and development. Now I know why the DHFLs and HDILs of the world were apple of the eyes of many ! These guys also thought they were nimble and astute.
Another perspective on Accelya. Someone bought it at Rs. 110 in May of 2012 and gets Rs 27 as dividend every year. Forget the CMP of Rs. 950.
Not all who kept sitting on their A**** are greedy. And not all those who are nimble are legends.
Markets throw an valuable life lesson – Its the place where both the Buyer and Seller seem to think they are making the right call. That’s called PERSPECTIVE.
Thanks a lot Vishal.
For sharing some wondeful message.
This one is ultimate.
Two points are relevant here.
One, we should not forget that money is a very powerful tool or means for achieving many noble goals (apart from enabling/supporting a mere mortal earthly existence) – which will otherwise remain just a pipe dream, no matter how lofty the intentions and ambitions. But, as we all know, any tool can well be misutilised (remember, a knife with a surgeon and with a criminal). So, how money is used is more important than the money itself – money by itself (like a knife) can not be intrinsically good or bad.
Two, we need to clearly distinguish ‘greed’ from what is called a ‘mild degree of continued dissatisfaction’ from the current state / status quo – to provide sustained motivation for higher achievements, no matter where one might be placed on the totem pole, and to obviate complacency. Thus, to my mind, so long as the money remains a means to a noble end, and not an end in itself, that should be fine. That is what would seem to explain the ongoing expansion of the world’s largest business enterprises.
Few needs more freedom
For me the proper balance was to accumulate until I could pursue.
Poverty of aspirations make people poor , not money. Byproduct of aspiration is Money.
Aspiration can be multi-dimensional / form of profession, activity etc.
The day learning stops, aspiration will have natural death.
What our education system has enforced into us is studying ( & not learning ) which is nothing beyond 3R – Read, Recollect, Reproduce. Only teacher teaches 3R but Guru makes you learn . There can no better Guru than parent ( particularly mother because strongest human bonding is mother – child) & no better place than Home.
Elon Musk was already a mutli-millionaire (received US$ 165 million in 2002 when he sold his stake in e-bay as per wikipedia). He could have just invested his money in Bonds and Dividend paying stocks and then just enjoyed life living off the money he had. Instead, he chose to risk it all by founding companies like SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity… and he was virtually bankrupt in 2008 when funding dried up due to financial crisis. Today he is a multi-billionaire so seems like he is having a good life. But understand that what drove him to risk it all in 2002-2004. Certainly not the greed to make more money. It was that hollow-feeling that you have when you have lots of money but you feel you haven’t done enough good for the world (again, not everyone gets that feeling, there are all types of people in this world). So Vishal’s point is valid here that having loads of money/possessions is not going to make one happy beyond a point. It is the feeling of doing something which improve the world that drive many people after they have achieved enough money to live a good life. Also, the point of many other people is also valid that the greed is the grease which lubricates the machinery of innovation. The venture capitalists fund new ideas in there greed to make more money, which ultimately results in new innovations and improves the world. So let’s respect all colors of life and all types of people (except outright criminals)… the variety in everything is what makes this world interesting 🙂
Dear Vishal,
Nice and educative article! The lesson is earn money but be generous!
Regards,
Absolutely right. Lesson from Viveka Choodamani of Adi Sanakara in brief.
Either Hitler or Gandhi, all are required to carry forward the humanity, they are all part of nature, they were, they are and they will be, Ram is so great because he killed the Ravana (who was great scholar himself), if He would have killed something small, He would not have been “Ram”. There all are interpretations by people about Gandhi or Hitler or somebody else. When you change the way you look at things, the things change. My observation is this, when I am this side, I see the things from this side, when I am another side, then the same things would be interpreted differently. I I think everybody, either good or bad has some role to play in this universe. Good and bad are interpretations.
Aspirations drive us and so do attachments. Having a goal gives a purpose to life.. Maslow’s law of hierarchy drives us to do more once hunger and thirst is taken care of.. Whether for virtue or for vice.
Let’s just say, money should be the byproduct of what we pursue and not the only object .
Dear Vishal,
I have been Subscriber to your newsletter for Past Few months, the above Article Resonates with me the Most. I totally agree having Enough for your needs, future plans and A bit more to Live comfortable is all you need. Sharing My Experience .. I was myself a Shopping Junkie, if you may . Shopped a lot for Clothes and Worldly stuff, but for a past few months , I have Limited myself to Worldly things , I need and it has been a Life transforming Experience for me. My thoughts have moved towards betterment of people around me, human kind and Environment. Its giving me Great satisfaction and Happiness.
Do you have money? Or does money have you?
Do you have possessions? Or do possessions have you?
How you answer these questions will go a long way towards defining your life.
True!!
However money doesnot buy happiness still it has power to create it. Sir
This is really interesting take on the concept.
Dear Vishal,
I do agree with the opinions that basically the money has nothing to do with our happiness as long as our basic needs fullfilled, a perfect example for this is a child.
Happiness basically lies in the dreams and aspirations to achieve something which we don’t possess, ones we are in possession of our desired thing the happiness no more present and it fades away with very short time. Like in case of a child wish to get new toy and once it is in possession of his desired toy , he start dreaming or desiring for something new toy. So keeps goes on…
So basically happiness is a state of mind and not exactly related to the money or some earthly things. Life is a journey and certainly we can’t carry all the stuff with us life long except few memories. So its always fair to enjoy this journey instead of wasting time in accumulating earthly things.
Capt Siddharth Udawat
realy great topic we cant buy happiness with money money is important but happines also
Great Post! Thanks for sharing this great information with us.
I partially agree with what you said. If we were to drop 90% of our wealth and just hold 10% don’t you think it would lead to a waste of resources and development won’t be achieved. I recommend that instead of dropping 90% of wealth, i feel it should be used to better improve the conditions of living so that subsequent wealth influx can be better managed which wouldn’t lead to the loss of lives like it did according to the instance you gave in the early paragraph of this article
Great Article Vishal! like they say in America “One mans try is another man’s treasure” this is the pillar stone of America being the best capital country to strive for success. Have a happy 2020 New year to you , your family and all tribe members families. Lord bestow them with” Great health and prosperity”