It's helpful to realize that materialism and consumerism are terrible wastes of time, spirit and resources. But the best things in life are neither free nor costly. They are given by the Grace of God, if you're a believer, or by one lucky break after another, if you're not. A healthy body is a great gift, though not indispensable to happiness. A healthy mind, however -- free of depression, mood swings and delusion -- is an essential precondition for happiness and flourishing. Treatment for the misfortune of mental and physical malaise is not free, but it probably should be a human right. From there, we lucky ones make do with our strengths, talents and moral compass; we learn to love. Goodness follows.
23
Rather than ask only the pretentious, ask the typical and very average person wandering our capitalist wasteland? We've learned nothing here.
80
Waking up in the morning is my favorite thing and I wish I could say that doing so is free, but in truth it is very, very expensive. I have been living with advanced lung cancer for more than a decade now. I have had most of one lung removed, chemotherapy twice, two targeted therapies by prescription, and three as experimental therapies in clinical trials. Every six weeks I have scans of my chest and abdomen, a brain MRI and an EKG. My care is enormously expensive and if I didn't have insurance, undoable. An ethicist might wonder if the cost of my continuing survival could be justified. My friends and family would argue yes. And me? I hope that I am paying it forward per my participation in clinical trials. All those mornings? Priceless.
65
The best things in my life are the love of family and friends. One cannot buy it but neither does it come free as one has to earn it over time through affection, compassion, truthfulness, loyalty, and understanding.
We all love sunshine, but the company of loved ones turns even the darkest day into a bright and beautiful one.
We all love sunshine, but the company of loved ones turns even the darkest day into a bright and beautiful one.
21
Yes, the best things in life are free, well, more or less.The best things i now enjoy in my later years, is listening through my Bose sound system to the music of Ludovico Einaudi. This man plays the piano with a skill and passion that borders on genius handed down from some spirit from across the galaxies. Some of his pieces, In A Time Lapse, Live From Home, come to mind. This brings me great joy. Yes, the sound system is expensive, but the music is free. All i have to do is reach for my lap top and type in what i want. I am so glad i lived long enough to see these modern miracles. Yes, you do need money for this, but it's not all that much, and what you get back is beyond any price. Almost like the sun. Always there.
10
"The best things in life are free" but the state of mind that allows us to perceive them as such is actually very costly. One needs to have some sense of security (physical, financial, emotional) - which is usually the result of hard work, patience, relentless self-improvement and, above all, luck, and which can and does disappear temporarily and, in due time, permanently. So the best things in life are in fact very expensive.
36
You pose your question to seven people of means. Their status and wealth allows them to make their observations from positions of strength and comfort. It is easy to speak of happiness and the best things in life being free when you can indeed afford most of "the second best things." For me, I do not care about their views because they cannot know the opposite side of the coin as long as they have their positions and trappings in the public eye. As my best friend would oftentimes say, "If I have to be poor, I'd rather be poor with money."
55
As a life long New Yorker, one of the best things is The New York Public Library. When I started visiting the various branches in the Bronx and Brooklyn, it was merely for books. But more recently, I've checked out a wide variety of music and some DVDs too. But now I avoid borrowing DVDs because patrons are fined $3.00 a day late fee, and you're only allowed a one week rental. Have paid my share of fines which I never mind. but being quite destitute, avoid them if I possibly can.
17
Scientific studies have shown that our brains are wired for 'more'. It's part of our human nature and survival instincts. It does not mean, however, that we can not or should not control the desire for 'more', or, at least find constructive and useful ways to harness that drive.
Companies selling products, advertisers selling ads, telling us what we should want, need, buy - yes, it's in our face all the time; however, we have the ability and capability to ignore those messages, and think for ourselves.
We need to recognize that buying some 'thing' will not bring us lasting happiness. We might be happy at the moment, but, over time, we will want something more. We need to find ways to experience happiness without buying more stuff.
We need to stop thinking so much about ourselves, and start thinking more about other people and the world around us, and how we are going to make this world a better place - and that does not involve buying more stuff.
Companies selling products, advertisers selling ads, telling us what we should want, need, buy - yes, it's in our face all the time; however, we have the ability and capability to ignore those messages, and think for ourselves.
We need to recognize that buying some 'thing' will not bring us lasting happiness. We might be happy at the moment, but, over time, we will want something more. We need to find ways to experience happiness without buying more stuff.
We need to stop thinking so much about ourselves, and start thinking more about other people and the world around us, and how we are going to make this world a better place - and that does not involve buying more stuff.
9
I liked Richard Hell's explanation that the best way to achieve happiness is to have a vocation, to like to do something, and continually try to do it better, rather than accumulating ever more things in an effort to continue being happy.
There is much to ponder in his wise statement.
There is much to ponder in his wise statement.
49
If it is true that "most of us are so rarely satisfied with sunshine, love and the stars" it is only because we face a daily barrage of advertisements premised on the notion that this or that product will make you happy.
We have capitalism to thank for that - it's PR industry in the early 1900s adopted the strategy of no longer marketing products, but rather the "happiness" those products can bring. It was a necessary strategy, dependent as capitalism is on the public spending every penny they have on things they often don't really need. If a large segment of the public were to cease the mindless consumerism, capitalism would collapse like a house of cards.
Yanis Varoufakis applied an excellent analogy to a belief that is inarguable: "Trying to replace authentic happiness with some purchased object or service is the equivalent of substituting a sleeping pill-induced stupor for a good night’s sleep."
Those profiting handsomely from this madness come up with some real doozies trying to rationalize the converse:
"It’s a very good thing when a hotel is able to attract clients who are ready to pay $80,000 a night for a suite, because that provides a living for so many: the workers who built the suite, the architects who designed the hotel, the artisans who made the furniture, the staff who work there."
The rich and their minions still cling to "trickle down", but that notion is as intellectually bankrupt as capitalism is morally bankrupt.
We have capitalism to thank for that - it's PR industry in the early 1900s adopted the strategy of no longer marketing products, but rather the "happiness" those products can bring. It was a necessary strategy, dependent as capitalism is on the public spending every penny they have on things they often don't really need. If a large segment of the public were to cease the mindless consumerism, capitalism would collapse like a house of cards.
Yanis Varoufakis applied an excellent analogy to a belief that is inarguable: "Trying to replace authentic happiness with some purchased object or service is the equivalent of substituting a sleeping pill-induced stupor for a good night’s sleep."
Those profiting handsomely from this madness come up with some real doozies trying to rationalize the converse:
"It’s a very good thing when a hotel is able to attract clients who are ready to pay $80,000 a night for a suite, because that provides a living for so many: the workers who built the suite, the architects who designed the hotel, the artisans who made the furniture, the staff who work there."
The rich and their minions still cling to "trickle down", but that notion is as intellectually bankrupt as capitalism is morally bankrupt.
50
First World problems, indeed.
30
The best thing is life is, well, life itself. We all have a one way ticket. Being alive in the universe is hitting the cosmic lottery. If everyone recognized this, we wouldn't blow each other up and destroy the planet because we would be too awestruck at our good fortune, and too cognizant of the very short time we have, regardless how long we might live. Enjoy every breath and be kind to others. Nice things are nice (I like fine wine, cashmere and expensive shoes) but things don't provide anything lasting, only a a passing fancy.
58
My own reaction is quite different from Coco Chanel’s. There are enough pleasant things in life that are free to keep the destitute from inescapable, deep depression and suicidal tendencies. But the very best things in life are immensely expensive.
A sunrise, a sunset, the smile of a beautiful woman, a soaring bird among the hills … these things and so many like them are free.
But the resolve of a child you mentor not to do something because he realizes that it would be wrong? Imagine the cost of guiding an unformed animal to that exquisite pinnacle of character and civilization; and imagine the many layers of civilization that child must have mastered to come to such a conclusion and resolve; and imagine how stupendous it is to achieve such heights, for both the mentor and the child.
A sunrise, a sunset, the smile of a beautiful woman, a soaring bird among the hills … these things and so many like them are free.
But the resolve of a child you mentor not to do something because he realizes that it would be wrong? Imagine the cost of guiding an unformed animal to that exquisite pinnacle of character and civilization; and imagine the many layers of civilization that child must have mastered to come to such a conclusion and resolve; and imagine how stupendous it is to achieve such heights, for both the mentor and the child.
11
What are the best things in life? Are they free? Are they possessions one might own? What are the most important things to a person in the modern age?
To answer questions such as these in the modern age it is probably best to first agree that people often argue about the problem of whether or not one is a "materialistic" person, and whether it would not be better to value things other than "possessions" because one really should be more than a "shallow person obsessed with possessions".
Speaking of myself, I am grateful first of all for having quite exceptional health and a mind which more or less works. Also I seem blessed with good temperament. I am pretty happy to be who I am. But I am also a person who recognizes that many things in life people class as materialistic possessions are exceptional pieces of human work (art, design, engineering, craftsmanship) and emerged from people among us dreaming at their best.
I value a good tomato, acoustic guitars such as Martin, Guild and Gibson, well made hiking boots such as Vasque or hunting boots such as Muck. Choose your favorite possessions. Chances are they are what you often use--you own them because they are of high quality and serve you well. The problem of "materialism" seems be one of people who do not know themselves well and therefore just accumulate possessions. There is no contradiction between a very spiritual, thoughtful person and one who likes possessions provided the possessions "fit nicely" to person.
To answer questions such as these in the modern age it is probably best to first agree that people often argue about the problem of whether or not one is a "materialistic" person, and whether it would not be better to value things other than "possessions" because one really should be more than a "shallow person obsessed with possessions".
Speaking of myself, I am grateful first of all for having quite exceptional health and a mind which more or less works. Also I seem blessed with good temperament. I am pretty happy to be who I am. But I am also a person who recognizes that many things in life people class as materialistic possessions are exceptional pieces of human work (art, design, engineering, craftsmanship) and emerged from people among us dreaming at their best.
I value a good tomato, acoustic guitars such as Martin, Guild and Gibson, well made hiking boots such as Vasque or hunting boots such as Muck. Choose your favorite possessions. Chances are they are what you often use--you own them because they are of high quality and serve you well. The problem of "materialism" seems be one of people who do not know themselves well and therefore just accumulate possessions. There is no contradiction between a very spiritual, thoughtful person and one who likes possessions provided the possessions "fit nicely" to person.
13
It is a blessing to have few wants. It took me about 30 years on Earth to reach this point, but having finally done so has brought me a peace of mind that no amount of money can buy. My simple, uncluttered life seems to baffle many of my family members and peers due to the fact that I could live a ridiculously opulent life if I really wanted to. I truly feel sorry for them that in all their years of living, they never figured it out.
28
how very nice that all these well-off people, who obviously don't have to worry about where the money for their rent, clothing, food and commute expenses are coming from. all very nice to have a "hobby or vocation" but one still must keep body and soul together. it's hard to live on love.
70