November 18, 2011

Working To Live Or Living To Work?



"The best work never was and never will be done for money."




John Ruskin
19th century English art critic

Maybe it takes someone from the arts to recognize this.

3 comments :

  1. Every time I got a significant raise I thought I would be satisfied, only to find I wasn't. I now make 10x what I did when I first began my career and it feels like I'm where I started.

    ReplyDelete
  2. But I hope you're not saying that not being satisfied is a bad thing. Continually aspiring to do better is how we move forward.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I heard an interesting take on the 99% versus the 1% thing the other day and this exchange indirectly reminds me of that.

    The commentator made the point that those who believe they can only benefit by getting something from those who have more than they do, are viewing things as a zero sum game. In other words as though there is only so much to be had and if I'm going to get more than I currently have it must come from you. But (he said) that is not and never has been the way things work. Instead we continually create new incremental wealth than existed before.

    It's true and you only have to look at measures of wealth over the years to see that is so. The US and most all other countries in the world, individually and collectively have more today than they did 10, 20 or 50 years ago and while the rich of the past maybe have more today than they did previously, there are numerous examples of the newly rich as well.

    God help us if they only way we can get more is to take from someone else.

    ReplyDelete