“Whoever prefers the material comforts of life over intellectual wealth is like the owner of a palace who moves into the servants’ quarters and leaves the sumptuous rooms empty.”–Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Aphorisms Want to be rich and famous? Then don’t expect to be happy, argues psychologist Tim Kasser in his book The High Price of Materialism. If your aim in life is to be wealthy, famous, and good looking then you’re increasing your chances of being miserable. The psychologist argues that materialistic values are the stuff of unhappiness, low life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety. Materialistic people, he argues, are more likely to suffer physical ailments like headaches and sore throats, take substances like tobacco, alcohol and drugs, be self-conscious, limit their opportunities for authenticity, autonomy and freedom, sabotage feelings for…
