Things. Things. Things.
To see people being super-obsessed with cool gadgets, or talking endlessly about posh cars etc. etc. when an enlightening discussion about what life really is and what we REALLY want (n that ain’t ‘bigger better more expensive things’) would be nice always reminds me of this scene from Into the Wild:
”Christopher McCandless: Why would I want a new car? Datsun runs great. Do you think I want some fancy boat? Are you worried what the neighbors might think?
Billie McCandless: Well, we weren’t gonna get you a brand new Cadillac, Chris. We just want to get you a nice new car that’s safe to drive. And you never know when that thing out there just might blow up.
Christopher McCandless: Blow up! Blow up? Are you guys crazy? It’s a great car. I don’t need a new car. I don’t want a new car. I don’t want anything.
Billie McCandless: Okay.
Christopher McCandless: These things, things, things, things.”
- Into the Wild
Christopher McCandless: Blow up! Blow up? Are you guys crazy? It’s a great car. I don’t need a new car. I don’t want a new car. I don’t want anything.
Billie McCandless: Okay.
Christopher McCandless: These things, things, things, things.”
- Into the Wild
If you can afford it, do buy it. But don’t seek happiness in things. Seek it within. Seek it in helping others. Seek it in having a productive day. Don’t buy things to feel superior to others. Buy them to make your day really easier. In fact best would be to buy it only if it really does make your day, your work, your life easier. If you are buying it to be a part of the rat-race of consumerism and all that stuff, you may win in the end but you will still be a rat.
The original rat-race quote: ”The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat. — commonly attributed to Lily Tomlin inPeople magazine (26 Dec 1977)[1], but according to The Yale Book of Quotations (Shapiro & Epstein, p. 767), Rosalie Maggio in The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women states that William Sloane Coffinsaid “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat” as chaplain of Williams College or Yale University in the 1950s or 1960s. [2]”
What a rat-race is: ”A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of the futile efforts of a lab rat trying to escape while running around a maze or in a wheel. In an analogy to the modern city, many rats in a single maze expend a lot of effort running around, but ultimatelyachieve nothing (meaningful) either collectively or individually.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_race
Filed under: Excerpts & Quotes, Misclaneous, Philosophy & Simplosofy, Random Ramblings, Social Issues, Life, Things, Gadgets, Into the Wild, Cars
This time of the year, the ceasless buying makes no sense. There’s so much useless rubbish being exchanged,which is just going to get re-wrapped and passed on next year. To me the biggest gift is someone’s time and company.
reminds me of this hadith “If the son of Adam had two valley of money, he would wish for a third, for nothing can fill the belly of Adam’s son except dust, and Allah forgives him who repents to Him.”
Thanks for sharing such an amazing hadith!