Admittedly, I love quotes. There were times when I was too focused on making money. I worked so hard and I let the time pass me by without taking the time to enjoy life. I started compiling these quotes to remind myself that money is not everything.
Here are some of my favorite quotes.
Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
Dolly Parton
This quote would hit me so hard if I read this in my early 20s.
In college, I worked as a full-time teaching assistant from 9-5 (actually taught programming classes, created exam materials, grade student exams, etc) and took night classes from 5-9 pm. I was so focused on getting a high GPA to get scholarships.
I rarely visit my father nor spend time with my friends. On Saturday morning, I got a call from my brother that my father was in the emergency room. I quickly got on my motorbike and when I arrived at the hospital, he was already gone.
He suffered from a heart attack, and in a matter of hours, his life disappeared.
The last time he called me was a week before he passed away and I was out with my friends. I did not want to talk very long with him. And a week later, I really regretted it. I never thought that my father would be gone so early.
But this taught me that life is too short to take everything seriously. I knew what it meant to lose someone. Admittedly, it was a slow learning process for me to appreciate little things in life.
I think it is a good thing to be self-driven but at the same time, we need to have a balance. As cliche, as it sounds, stops and smell the roses, may not be a piece of bad advice.
Real happiness requires less than you think.
Unknown
I found this quote matches with my experiences.
Maybe I am quite lucky that I just never have the desire to own a luxury car, a big house with a piano-shaped swimming pool, or the latest gadget. I see them as a way to get into debt and prolong my time to gain my “freedom”.
I love checking out stuff in the mall but then I can get too analytical when I see the price tag. For instance – when I see a pair of $150 jeans, I thought this can be used for my monthly groceries instead (I try to not be too analytical about this).
Thankfully, simple things like a delicious bowl of noodle soup 🍜, beautiful weather 🌞, meaningful conversation, working on the things I care about 📝🎵, and being productive make me happy.
I want to keep it that way and I hope I’ll never change.
You can get more money but you cannot get more time.
Jim Rohn
When I made my biggest money mistakes in my mid20s for the first time, thankfully I had this phrase repeated in my head so I felt less like a failure.
I put a deposit of ~$1400 into the Japanese-style house that I was not sure I wanted to buy, canceled the purchase, and never got my money back (I really hated myself – heck ~$1400 is A LOT of money). This was my mistake for not evaluating other opinions and what I really want carefully.
I told myself that it is ok to make this money mistake because at least I was still young. I can always make more money later.
Similarly, when I reach my FI number, I want to remind myself that it’s time to quit my day job, not worry about money and pursue other things that I always want to want to do (responsibly). Simply because I can’t ever get more time in my life.
No amount of money will make you happy if you aren’t happy with yourself.
Allison Nichols.
This quote struck me when I finally achieved “the dream” that I thought I always wanted to reach.
Despite making more money as a software engineer, I felt a sort of emptiness in my life. I was not happy with who I am and I did not feel fulfilled with what I was working on.
Every time I looked at my dusty piano or my guitar, I felt a sense of guilt and that just made me even worse.
Since graduating from high school, I did not realize that what I had to work on the impact my happiness. As mentioned above, I worked and studied full-time. Life was so busy and all I focused on was getting more money on the scholarships and my achievement.
Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have taken different classes and explored different groups and activities. The purpose is to know more about myself – what I really want, what type of tasks I enjoyed working on, and what makes me happy.
In my late twenties, I took a leap of faith and finally make a career change. It was a gradual process but doing it is the only way I could feel better about myself.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the best-known motivation theories in psychology. Maslow believes that after people meet all the basic needs (physiological, safety, love, and esteem), they tend to have a desire to be self-actualized.
When you are at the bottom of the pyramid – you would not normally worry about the next level of the pyramid. For instance, if you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, you would probably not think about achieving your self-actualization.
I was lucky enough to be able to face the top pyramid of the issue. The reason I stopped being happy because I did not actualize myself towards the direction I wanted to be.
Money can buy almost everything including time for sure. For instance, you could quit a job you hate to make a career change. Quitting can save you time and reduce your unhappiness but what you do with that time perhaps arguably will determine your happiness in the future.
Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don’t want..to impress people that they don’t like.
Will Rogers
Embarrassingly, I was one of those people who were trying to keep up with the Joneses In high school.
I could not afford to buy a branded pair of expensive Nike shoes. Yet, I still used all of my pocket money to buy those Nike shoes and socks to impress my basketball teammates. I did not even like my teammates.
Part of it maybe because I just wanted to be liked by my friends. But the cost is too much. Not only I could have used the money for my college, but I also had to spend time looking for the shoes. In the end, I did not use the shoes that much. Most importantly, I want to be liked for who I am, not because of what I own!
I am glad I quickly changed.
Although I still like branded items (I love Converse sneakers!), but now I purchased them because I love them (or find them useful), not to impress anyone.
Money often costs too much.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I read stories on Reddit on how a banker wish could go back in time and spend more time with his family and paid attention to his wife’s unhappiness before it was too late. I also know a family that’s broken because they fight over inheritance.
Personally, I, too, almost sacrifice a relationship with a close relative who borrowed money from me.
The truth is money can cost your time, your health, and your relationship. Unfortunately, sometimes you cannot get it back.
Does the risk outweigh the rewards? This is very situational, and only one can make a decision about it. From what I’ve been through, no, the risk does not outweigh the reward.
The good news is usually the damage does not happen overnight.
For instance, working too much for a few months probably would not damage one’s relationship and health, yet. The only thing is when they start noticing the red flag (for instance, burnout, appointment at doctors, spouse complaints), maybe they should take the sign a bit more seriously.
There are probably plenty of chances somewhere in the middle. If they decide to step back before the damage is done, they probably have a pretty good chance to recover their health and relationships.
Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.
Ayn Rand
Last year in December, I hired a piano teacher to get better at chord progression. But I am not too sure if because her teaching style did not fit me or something else, but I had a hard time sitting down and practice on the tasks she assigned to me.
I decided to try a piano subscription – and fortunately, I really like the teacher and the materials! I have no problem sitting down and start practicing.
The point I was trying to make is, money can be used as a tool to save you time. In my case, I wish I could fasten my skill acquisition by hiring a piano teacher.
But it is still up to me whether I want to sit down and start practicing. I can hire the best teacher in the world but if I could not push myself to practice, I would still not make a progress.
Despite the popularity and the amount of money they own, many celebrities are still unhappy with their life. This is a piece of evidence that there are things that money cannot solve such as meaningful relationships, self-love, and self-worth.
No matter how hard you hug your money, it never hugs back.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
I saved the best for the last! I thought this one is funny and interesting. Although money never hugs back, it certainly can buy you a cute puppy to cuddle with!
Do you have favorite money isn’t everything quotes? Please share your favorite quotes and I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Vi, a software engineer with a keen interest in personal finance, had planned to retire once she reached her lean FI/RE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) goal. However, after achieving the goal, she took few months of a mini-retirement filled with travel and adventure and decided to continue her career.
For the past five years, Vi has been using Personal Capital (Empower), a free financial tool. Her favorite features include the dashboard for net worth, allocation, and planning, which help track her FI/RE goal and keep those investment fees in check.