Money, Wealth, Happiness & You

September 24, 2008
BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian

During these times of money uncertainty and confusion, allow me to share some quotes on money, wealth, happiness with you.

Here is a great quote by Ben Franklin: "As for a little more money and a little more time, why it’s ten to one, if either one or the other would make you one whit happier. If you had more time, it would be sure to hang heavily. It is the working man who is the happy man. Man was made to be active, and he is never so happy as when he is so. It is the idle man who is the miserable man. And, as for money-Don’t you remember the old saying, "Enough is as good as a feast?" Money never made a man happy yet nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies one want, it doubles and trebles that want another way."

Thomas Jefferson proclaimed: "It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness."

Samuel Johnson shares his wisdom by stating: "Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use."

Henry David Thoreau counsels us: "Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul."

Coretta Scott King proclaimed: "I'm fulfilled in what I do... I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes -- the finer things of life -- would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense."

Dr. Robert Muller instructs us by saying: "Over consumption and over wealth are not the ultimate sources of happiness although the present economic system tries to make us believe so."

George Bernard Shaw directs us by saying: "We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it."

Frank McKinney Hubbard helps us ponder by stating: "It's pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed."

John Templeton advises us by saying: "Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth... Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it."

Andy Rooney always has something to say about everything and happiness is no exception:
"For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don't enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are that you're not going to be very happy. If someone bases his happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn't going to be happy much of the time."

Margaret Young so rightly states: "Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want."

Gratitude is one of the most important attributes of happiness. This French proverb so aptly states; "Gratitude is the heart's money."

William Ogden has gives us the true direction for happiness by saying: "The ingredients of happiness are so simple that they can be counted on one hand. Happiness comes from within, and rests most securely on simple goodness and clear conscience. Religion may not be essential to it, but no one is known to have gained it without a philosophy resting on ethical principles. Selfishness is its enemy; to make another happy is to be happy one's self. It is quiet, seldom found for long in crowds, most easily won in moments of solitude and reflection. It cannot be bought; indeed money has very little to do with it."

Andre Maurois cautions us by stating: "The greedy search for money or success will almost always lead men into unhappiness. Why? Because that kind of life makes them depend upon things outside themselves."

George Lucas Lorimer is right on the mark with his quote. "It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven't lost the things that money can't buy."

Morihei Ueshiba instructs us by saying: "One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train."

Aristotle, so wisely said almost 2,400 years ago: "All men seek one goal: success or happiness. The only way to achieve true success is to express yourself completely in service to society. First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal--a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends--wisdom, money, material and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end."

A rich man is a man who has died with more money than he could spend. A wealthy man is a happy man because wealth is much more than mere money. True wealth enhances the possessor and benefits all.

Lionel Ketchian is the founder of the Happiness Club and can be reached at PrintLRK@aol.com. The website is www.HappinessClub.com.