"I Don't Care Too Much For Money, For Money Can't Buy Me Love"

It's January. Time to rebalance the portfolio, compute the net worth, add up last year's expenses, figure out this year's budget . . . and remind myself of the following:

For money you can have everything it is said. No that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.

-Arne Garborg, writer (1851-1924)

And furthermore:

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

- Jesus (Luke 12.15)

Noted and Quoted: Making Life Count

"I've spent a lot of money on booze, birds, and fast cars - the rest I just squandered."

- George Best (1946-2005)

Quitcherbitchen: At Least You've Got Food, a Place to Sleep, and an Internet Connection

[We'll leave ecclesiology behind for now in order to look at another topic of interest.]

Here's a site that provides comparative statistics about the world's demographics (it's more interesting than the way I just worded the description!): www.miniature-earth.com. The Flash presentation is maybe 5 minutes long.

In a similar vein, globalrichlist.com will show you where you rank among the world's richest people. You may be surprised, especially when you see your percentile. Of course, we have a high cost of living here in the "first world," but still . . .