quotations about possessions
Yes, money and possessions are useful and make one's life easier but only up to a point. After that the excess is simply superfluous. There is even a psychological term for this: The law of diminishing marginal utility. Basically, this means that the first cup of coffee is better than the second. By extension, the third and fourth give even less pleasure.
STEPHANIE HAINES
"More isn't always better", Greenfield Reporter, May 4, 2016
Possession gives a right, so far as man is concerned, to unmolested enjoyment, unless someone else can establish a better title.
FRANCIS WAYLAND
The Elements of Moral Science
The strong desires of man's insatiate breast may stand possess'd
Of all that earth can give; but earth can give no rest.
FRANCIS QUARLES
Emblems
In general, possessions are thought to play a role in the development of a more individuated self during early life, whereas in later life they are thought to become an important means by which individuals maintain and cultivate their sense of self at different ages.
FLOYD W. RUDMIN
To Have Possessions: A Handbook on Ownership and Property
Why the obsession with worldly possessions? When it's your time to go, they have to stay behind, so pack light.
ALEX MORRITT
Impromptu Scribe
Nothing but what has visible substance, is capable of actual possession.
JOSEPH YATES
Millar v. Taylor
Overall, I was happiest to be alone; for it was then I was most aware of what I possessed.
ROMAN PAYNE
Rooftop Soliloquy
The cleverer I am at miniaturizing the world, the better I possess it.
GASTON BACHELARD
The Poetics of Space
Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.
ALAIN DE BOTTON
Status Anxiety
Those that much covet are with gain so fond,
For what they have not, that which they possess
They scatter and unloose it from their bond,
And so, by hoping more, they have but less;
Or, gaining more, the profit of excess
Is but to surfeit, and such griefs sustain,
That they prove bankrupt in this poor-rich gain.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The Rape of Lucrece
Possessions are mere transient effects that come when they are required, and after their purpose has been served, pass away.
JAMES ALLEN
Mind is the Master
No possession is gratifying without a companion to share it.
SENECA
attributed, Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom