Donald Miller Quotes

Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows.

Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends.

If a man can tell if he's been successful in his life by having great friends, then I have been very successful.

I've never had an affair with somebody who wasn't at the same time a very good friend of mine, if you see what I mean.

I'm not a minimalist, as I'm sure you've noticed.

Everybody is different and I think that we live in a material world. But for me, possessing things is not that interesting. Living in a grand environment to show myself and others that I have wealth has zero appeal. Whatever I own is temporary, since we're only here for a short period of time. It's what we do and produce, it's our actions, that will last forever. That's real value.

Friendships are nice. So is competence.

A good friend is worth pursuing... but why would a good friend be running away?

There is a close relationship between a house full of possessions and a heart full of desires, between a cluttered closet and a crowded schedule, between having no place to put possessions and having no priorities for our life. These are precious clues. They remind us to slow down, to live in the present, to reduce the desires that drain our vitality, to clarify priorities so we can give our time and attention to what matters most. Tragically, in the press of modern life, we have managed to get backwards one of life's most vital truths: people are to be loved; things are to be used.

I don't need a Rolls-Royce, I don't need a house in the country, I don't need to live in the south of France. I'm quite happy as I am.

When the Forbidden Fruit was handed to Adam and Eve, they were allowed the moral choice to accept or decline. I know people who have refused to feast on the money tree. They live simply, within their means, and seem far more content than those who are trying to horde their wealth while clinging to the ladder of 'success,' terrified to let go. That isn't real living. The Puritans rightly saw that as covetousness.

Having a Rolex or a Benz is not something that actually represents your success because there’s always something more expensive to buy. Success is really being able to do things for others as well as the people around you and yourself.

How few our real wants, and how vast our imaginary ones!

People always ask me if I believe diamonds are a girl's best friend. Frankly, I don't.

Money drives the world, but when everything falls apart to leave the underpinnings of our life bare to the scrutiny of critics and thieves, the only thing remaining, the only thing that can't be taken away, is the love you hold for the people you care about.

I don't have close relationships with agents. They're friends, but they're not confidants.

I lost some friends when I made the move, but if that's what matters to them, then they're not really friends at all.

Sell your clothes- keep your thoughts.

It is not expedient or wise to examine our friends too closely; few persons are raised in our esteem by a close examination.

When you read Marx (or Jesus) this way, you come to see that real wealth is not material wealth and real poverty is not just the lack of food, shelter, and clothing. Real poverty is the belief that the purpose of life is acquiring wealth and owning things. Real wealth is not the possession of property but the recognition that our deepest need, as human beings, is to keep developing our natural and acquired powers to relate to other human beings.

When you look back... on your love affairs... what you really find out is that the only person you really go to bed with is yourself.

Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.

As you focus on simplifying your life, make sure that your approach to the process is a loving and accepting one. Know that you are doing all that you can do right now, and that is all anyone can do.

A man who is not a good friend to himself cannot be so to any one else.