What Does It Mean to Be Wealthy?
Metadata
- Author: Kristen Meriwether
- Full Title: What Does It Mean to Be Wealthy?
- Category:articles
- Published Date: 2023-07-31
- URL: https://dailystoic.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-wealthy/
Highlights
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“The real measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money.” – John Henry Jowett (View Highlight)
- Being wealthy means more than just having a lot of money. Wealth is having the wisdom to make smart, informed decisions about your desires. Wealth is well-being and staying content with your situation. Wealth is gratitude, safety, comfort – and so much more. (View Highlight)
- Asking questions such as ‘How can I make money fast?’ or ‘How can I get rich?’ won’t suffice. We must dig deeper. We must look past the money, and reflect on ourselves. Is it the money that we want, or the peace of mind that comes with it? Is it the fame that we want, or the self-sufficiency that results? (View Highlight)
- “To accept it without arrogance, to let it go with indifference.” – Heraclitus (View Highlight)
- “Anything at all: the applause of the crowd, high office, wealth, or self-indulgence. All of them might seem to be compatible with it—for a while. But suddenly they control us and sweep us away.” (View Highlight)
- The person who wanted more was the person who would lose their harmony. Their excessive wants and ambition would become an insurmountable obstacle, deeming them a slave to their desires. (View Highlight)
- The Stoics were not only literally wealthy, but figuratively wealthy as well. They understood the value of things. They understood when to want things. They understood how to want things. (View Highlight)
- This was what made them wealthy. Not the physical money they owned, but the perspective they possessed. The mindset they had. The temperance they practiced. The way they handled themselves. That’s what true wealth is – something we all can learn from. (View Highlight)
- “Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are.” – Seneca (View Highlight)
- “Like seeing roasted meat and other dishes in front of you and suddenly realizing: This is a dead fish. A dead bird. A dead pig. Or that this noble vintage is grape juice, and the purple robes are sheep wool dyed with shellfish blood.” (View Highlight)
- Note: Marcus Aurelius on the value of perspective when it comes to our treasures.