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All too often a family’s spending is governed more by their yearning than by their earning. They somehow believe that their life will be better if they surround themselves with an abundance of things. All too often all they are left with is avoidable anxiety and distress
Joseph B. Wirthlin
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the dangers of prioritizing desires over financial reality within a family.

Joseph B. Wirthlin emphasizes the tendency of families to let their aspirations and desires dictate their spending habits rather than adhering to their actual earnings. This behavior leads to unnecessary stress and anxiety, as individuals may accumulate material possessions in the belief that they will enhance their quality of life, only to find that such pursuits result in emotional turmoil and dissatisfaction.

Themes

FamilySpendingYearningAnxietyMaterialism

In practice

Example use cases

During a financial literacy seminar to highlight the importance of budgeting.

More from Joseph B. Wirthlin

Some of the happiest people I know have none of the things the world insists are necessary for satisfaction and joy.
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If we only look around us, there are a thousand reasons for us not to be happy, and it is simplicity itself to blame our unhappiness on the things we lack in life. It doesn’t take any talent at all to find them. The problem is, the more we focus on the things we don’t have, the more unhappy and more resentful we become.
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Love is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the pathway of discipleship. It comforts, counsels, cures, and consoles. It leads us through valleys of darkness and through the veil of death. In the end love leads us to the glory and grandeur of eternal life.
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Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable.
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We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating it again and again until we reach our destination.
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The true greatness of a person, in my view, is evident in the way he or she treats those with whom courtesy and kindness are not required.
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