#Possessions Quotes

“Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner.”

“The instinct of ownership is fundamental in man's nature.”

“A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life: he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.”

“If it is not nailed to the floor, it's mine. If I can pry it loose, it is not nailed down.”

“There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.”

“But not gold in commercial quantities, Just enough gold to make the engagement rings And marriage rings of those who owned the farm. What gold more innocent could one have asked for?”

“Whatever we treasure for ourselves separates us from others; our possessions are our limitations.”

“. . . you did not seem to me over-fond of money. And this is the way in general with those who have not made it themselves, while those who have are twice as fond of it as anyone else. For just as poets are fond of their own poems, and fathers of their own children, so money-makers become devoted to money, not only because, like other people, they find it useful, but because it's their own creation.”

“I hate it when people pilfer my things.”

“Every man looks at his wood-pile with a kind of affection.”

“Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.”

“Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends... Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.”

“My precept to all who build, is, that the owner should be an ornament to the house, and not the house to the owner.”

“Keeping plenty of gold and jade in the palace makes no one able to defend it.”

“He who possesseth little is so much the less possessed. Blessed be moderate poverty!”

“He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss.”

“Even the most beautiful scenery is no longer assured of our love after we have lived in it for three months, and some distant coast attracts our avarice: possessions are generally diminished by possession.”

“We are to enjoy what we have while we have it, but we are never to get to the point where we think we could not love without it.”

“Possession isn't nine-tenths of the law. It's nine-tenths of the problem.”

“Truly, whoever possesses little is that much less possessed: praised be a little poverty!”

“Like Paul Kraston said, all I ask in life is a water bed, a TV and a typewriter. Well, I'll just have an ordinary bed, a TV and a guitar.”

“Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed by them.”

“The more a man possesses over and above what he uses, the more careworn he becomes.”

“You're really spread out now, you've got stuff all over the WORLD! You've got stuff at home, stuff in storage, stuff in Honolulu, stuff in Maui, stuff in your pockets...supply lines are getting longer and harder to maintain.”

“Possessions are usually diminished by possession.”

“Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly materialistic, and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith of external progress, driven by an insatiable desire for power and vast possessions. Yet by this vain striving for perfection in a world where everything is relative,they wander even further away from inward peace and happiness of the mind.”

“The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, person and family history, belief systems, and often nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you.”

“She would say, "Someone should invent something to do with things you cannot use anymore but that you still cannot throw out.”

“To me the ego is the habitual and compulsive thought processes that go through everybody's mind continuously. External things like possessions or memories or failures or successes or achievements. Your personal history.”

“I learned the importance of a man's chair early in life. I learned that he may love several wives, embrace several cars, be true to more than one political philosophy, and be equally committed to several careers, but he will have only one comfortable chair in his life. I learned it will be an ugly chair. It will match nothing in the entire house. It will never wear out.”

“Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only in the price.”

“It is an appalling thing to feel all one possesses drain away.”

“It is difficult, if not impossible, to define the limit of our reasonable desires in respect of possessions.”