The real problems of our planet are not economic or technical, they are philosophical. The philosophy of unbridled materialism is being challenged by events.
E. F. SchumacherRead
If, however, economic ambitions are good servants, they are bad masters
Interpretation
What this quote means
Economic ambitions can be beneficial when controlled, but they can lead to negative consequences when they dominate our lives.
This quote by E. F. Schumacher emphasizes the dual nature of economic ambitions. While they can drive progress and serve beneficial purposes, unchecked ambitions can overtake our priorities and lead to detrimental outcomes, highlighting the importance of maintaining balance and control in our economic pursuits.
Themes
EconomicAmbitionsServantsMastersBalance
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on personal finance, this quote can illustrate the importance of managing one's economic goals.
More from E. F. Schumacher
All quotes βThe substance of man cannot be measured by Gross National Product.
E. F. SchumacherRead
The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, sometimes one forgets which it is.
E. F. SchumacherRead
By means of trees, wildlife could be conserved, pollution decreased, and the beauty of our landscapes enhanced. This is the way, or at least one of the ways, to spiritual, moral, and cultural regeneration.
E. F. SchumacherRead
We still have to learn how to live peacefully, not only with our fellow men but also with nature and, above all, with those Higher Powers which have made nature and have made us; for, assuredly, we have not come about by accident and certainly have not made ourselves
E. F. SchumacherRead
The heart of the matter, as I see it, is the stark fact that world poverty is primarily a problem of two million villages, and thus a problem of two thousand million villagers.
E. F. SchumacherRead
Similar quotes
Fate finds for every man; his share of misery.
EuripidesRead
Christianity even when watered down is hot enough to boil all modern society to rags.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
The river itself has no beginning or end. In its beginning, it is not yet the river; in the end it is no longer the river. What we call the headwaters is only a selection from among the innumerable sources which flow together to compose it. At what point in its course does the Mississippi become what the Mississippi means?
T. S. EliotRead
Compassion is the key in Islam and Buddhism and Judaism and Christianity. They are profoundly similar.
Karen ArmstrongRead
At school he had done things which had formerly seemed to him very horrid and made him feel disgusted with himself when he did them; but when later on he saw that such actions were done by people of good position and that they did not regard them as wrong, he was able not exactly to regard them as right, but to forget about them entirely or not be at all troubled at remembering them.
Leo TolstoyRead
As long as I am content to know that He is infinitely greater than I, and that I cannot know Him unless He shows himself to me, I will have Peace, and He will be near me and in me, and I will rest in Him.
Thomas MertonRead