Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty. — Socrates This week, we’ll begin to wind down our examination of money as a magical tool. I hope you’ve had a chance to contemplate your own beliefs about money: where it comes from, how much is available to you, and how much you need. For, as … Read more
If all the rich people in the world divided up their money among themselves, there wouldn’t be enough to go around.— Christina Stead (1903-1983) From the historical perspective of the creation and meaning given to money, to the current value placed on it by complex forces of governmental agencies and economic policies, all of us … Read more
If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to. — Dorothy Parker Yesterday, we examined the pervasive Puritan work ethic and its relationship to our beliefs about money. There is no denying that it has in some ways has been very valuable. It has been … Read more
It is a tragic mix-up when the United States spends $500,000 for every enemy soldier killed, and only $53 annually on the victims of poverty. * — Dr. Martin Luther King As we begin to consider and heal our own relationship with money, we can’t overlook the values and ideology that permeate the very foundation … Read more
O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stainedWith the blood of the grape, pass not, but sitBeneath my shady roof; there thou may’st rest,And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe;And all the daughters of the year shall dance!Sing now the lusty song of fruit and flowers.— William Blake, To Autumn, 1783 If you’re still … Read more
Threshold © Joanna Powell Colbert Every horizon, upon being reached, reveals another beckoning in the distance. Always, I am on the threshold.— W. Eugene Smith, Photojournalist (1918 -1978) As we examine the meaning of money, I find it interesting thatAlan Greenspan, the highest guru of money in our lifetime, has been making the talk show … Read more
lt is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. — Seneca What gives the plastic and pieces of paper in our wallets value? We do. For several generations, money has ceased being representative of any “real” commodity, like gold. Its power and value come only from … Read more
All the perplexities, confusion and distresses in America arise not from defects in the constitution or confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, as much from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation. — John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson What is the difference between a hobby, a passion, … Read more
Money is, in some respects, life’s fire: it is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.— P.T. Barnum As we move this week to the threshold that brings the dark time of the year to the Northern Hemisphere, and the great harvest celebrations, we naturally consider the meaning of abundance in our lives. For … Read more
O Gold! I still prefer thee unto paper,Which makes bank credit like a bark of vapour.— Lord Byron For the past 500 years or so, money has been in the form of paper or metal coins. Now, though, it comes in the form of a plastic card, and increasingly, as typed symbols converted into electronic … Read more