I found these laying around in a file on my PC.
Where is happiness found? John Rockefeller, a Christian millionaire said, “I have made many millions, but they brought me no happiness. I would barter them all for the days I sat on an office stool in Cleveland and counted myself rich on three dollars a week.”
W.H. Vanderbilt said, “The care of 200 million dollars is too great a load for any brain or back to bear. It is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it.”
John Jacob Astor left five million, but had been a martyr to dyspepsia and melancholy. He said, “I am the most miserable man on earth.”
Henry Ford, the automobile king, said, “Work is the only pleasure. It is only work that keeps me alive and makes life worth living. I was happier when doing a mechanic’s job.”
Andrew Carnegie, the multi-millionaire, said, “Millionaires seldom smile.”
A. Naismith as quoted by Paul Lee Tan #3546
Regarding the title of this post, “<>” means “does not equal.”
“Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Ever notice that the happiest people seem to be those who don’t have a lot of money? I wonder if the equation is somewhere where you have enough money to survive and put some aside, give to charity, etc. but you’re not necessarily rich. If you have all kinds of money and have 5 houses and 20 cars and your own jet…I can see where you would soon get tired of it all, because now you have it all…
It also helps to have God in your life, but that’s a given, right? 🙂
A good friend of Laurel’s had money through her husband’s profession. She repeatedly remarked that the benefits are very small — it just means you have more to keep track of.