Pope Benedict XVI Quotes

As adults, if our top priorities are constantly directed toward the acquisition of more and better worldly goods, it will not take long to increase our love in those directions. The purchase of a larger house or a nicer car or a more expensive boat may cause us to sacrifice our resources and develop an unwise love for these symbols of success and pleasure. We learn to love that which we serve, and we serve that which we love.

In our rich consumers' civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions.

As human beings, we're very materialistic and have all this stuff - furs and cars and diamonds and money.

The media is convincing people that if you have that 'next thing,' that diamond, the right car, then you'd be happier.

You always hear the phrase, money doesn't buy you happiness. But I always in the back of my mind figured a lot of money will buy you a little bit of happiness. But it's not really true. I got a new car because the old one's lease expired.

Money may not buy happiness, but it can damn well give it!

What I think is so amazing about having everything, and feeling like I have everything, is that I don't really find happiness within materialistic things. Like, it's cool if I can buy myself a new car, and I think it's amazing for a week, but then the thrill is over, and I'm like, 'Oh, so I guess that wasn't really happiness.'

I didn't think about money or cars or anything like that.

Some people, of course, can be happier with the cars, the fancy threads, the hilltop mansion, and the other status symbols of 'having made it', but I found that several of my most prized possessions were slipping away, despite all the fortune I had amassed.

Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected.... Hoarding is idolatry.

Poor is the man who desires a lot

Mankind, why do ye set your hearts on things That, of necessity, may not be shared?

I used to think that having many material things would increase one's stock of happiness. I found that to be completely untrue. The trappings don't make the man at all.

Being pretty successful, I can, of course, afford some luxuries. But I realize again and again how we have to disillusion ourselves of the idea that these things are going to give us real satisfaction.

May we look upon our treasure, the furniture of our houses, and our garments, and try to discover whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions.

Possessions only provide temporary happiness.

We are concerned with things. We are concerned with success. We are concerned with money. We are concerned with instrumentalities.

It’s hard, in America, not to equate ‘happiness’ with ‘things’.

I don't really like money - I like the things you can buy with money.

Whoever dies with the most stuff wins.

It's a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money.

After the first million, money isn't important.

In sports teams, apart from talk of sporting prowess and the imparting of inspirational thought, an extraordinary amount of time is spent discussing, and flaunting, material possessions.

Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac and dressed nice and had plenty of food, that's all I cared about.

What is wealth? A dream of fools.