Henry David Thoreau Quotes

When the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him... a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.

I'm not materialistic. I love clothes and all that stuff, but I don't need it to live.

I am totally unattached to material items.

The American dream is a crock. Stop wanting everything. Everyone should wear jeans and have three T-shirts, eat rice and beans.

The older I get, the less I need. I wear the same jean shorts for the whole week. I'm not running to the store to get the latest bag.

Very early on in life, I decided the hell with it: material things weren't for me. Christmas would come, and other kids would have all these presents, and it wouldn't bother me a bit.

I know I've been lucky, but I'm not very materialistic - I don't believe in collecting many unnecessary things and I'm not into girlie shopping.

I'm really not a materialistic person.

I have no use for eight houses, 88 cars and 500 suits. I can't eat but one steak at a time. I don't want but one woman. It's silly to have as one's sole object in life just making money, accumulating wealth.

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.

The more wants a man has, the less freedom.

Utility is when you have one telephone, luxury is when you have two, opulence is when you have three - and paradise is when you have none.

Money makes life easier but I don't want to be rich, not at all.

Real freedom is having nothing. I was freer when I didn't have a cent.

Security depends not so much upon how much you have, as upon how much you can do without.

I don't like to attach myself to material things.

The older I get, the less I obsess about material stuff. In fact, stuff has become the enemy. There always seems to be more of it than I have storage in my house!

I prefer to stay poor.

He who knows how to be poor knows everything.

I always tried to live my life as though nothing changed. People would say, 'You can have a Rolls-Royce'. I'd say to that, 'What do I want with a Rolls-Royce when I can have a Volkswagen or a bike?' Some people get carried away with the juice.

We have allowed ourselves to be defined by our consumption instead of by our ability to move beyond it.

Sometimes it's better to look at things than own them... owning means anxiety and lots of bags to carry around.

I would much rather be asked, why I do not have one, than why I do have one.

I don't covet images or belongings. My television set and video are rented, any paintings aren't worth a fortune, and money is of little interest.

I really don't need luxury.