May 23, 2023 | Issue #69

1 Quote. 1 Reflection. 1 Question.

1 Quote.

"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to be left alone."

 -From: Henry David Thoreau

-Source: Walden

1 Reflection.

Henry David Thoreau was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. He is regarded as one of the best American writers of all time and influenced great leaders like JFK and MLK. 

His most famous book was Walden which is where this and many other quotes come from. 

In our lives, we have heard a symphony of "wealth" phrases and quotes but this one from Thoreau is very different. Here he doesn't talk about consuming less or investing more, no. Here he tells the reader to grapple with their own mind and rewire their thinking. 

From the moment we wake up to the moment we lay down to sleep, we encounter several things that could bother us.

Our car won't start. 
Our headphones are dead. 
Our boss is in a shitty mood. 
The homeless guy on the subway is break-dancing again. 
Milk is 2 dollars more expensive than last year. 
We drove to Chick-fil-A and forgot it was Sunday. 
We stubbed our toe on the dining room table again. 


I can go on and on but you get the point. 

Life becomes better when we become indifferent to things. For many of us, we have lived a quarter of our lives already. We have already spent 90% of the time we will have with our parents. Now is the time to become rich and start getting back to the things that matter—people, purpose, and health.

1 Question.

What little things bother you and why?