Materialism, the belief that material possessions and wealth are paramount in life, can have a profound impact on human psychology.
It prioritizes physical substance over spiritual values, leading individuals to relentlessly pursue worldly possessions.
This concept, although not inherently detrimental as we all strive for items for entertainment and satisfaction, can become complicated when the desire exceeds what one can afford or need.
This can lead to discontentment and even distress.
The collection of quotes presented here, selected from across the web, aims to inspire a reconsideration of the true meaning of happiness.
See also: Living Simple quotes and Be Kind quotes.
These quotes highlight the potential adverse effects of excessive materialism and reinforce the idea that real happiness can’t be found in physical things.
Materialism Quotes
Nobody is interested in the commodity. People buy feelings. ~ Michael Gerber.
Every increased possession loads us with new weariness. ~ John Ruskin.
Consumption is an unquenchable thirst. ~ Joshua Fields Millburn.
A great property is a great bondage for the owner. ~ Publius Syrus.
Let there be as little materialism as possible, with the maximum of spirituality. ~ Swami Vivekananda.
There must be more to life than having everything. ~ Maurice Sendak.
If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace. ~ John Lennon.
Happiness depends upon ourselves. ~ Aristotle.
If you can’t be happy with a coffee, you won’t be happy with a yacht. ~ Naval Ravikant.
Best Materialism Quotes
Materialism and all its miseries can never be conquered by materialism. ~ Swami Vivekananda.
The only time you look in your neighbor’s bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don’t look in your neighbor’s bowl to see if you have as much as them. ~ Louis C.K.
‘Material’ is meant to be a fun, lighthearted song about the tiny bit of materialism that’s in all of us. The message is meant to translate the notion that you don’t need luxury items to feel special; you already are special. ~ Yuna.
Of prosperity, mortals can never have enough. ~ Aeschylus.
Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth. ~ Mahatma Gandhi.
A lot of people get so hung up on what they can’t have that they don’t think for a second about whether they really want it. ~ Lionel Shriver.
Money is a great servant but a bad master. ~ Francis Bacon.
You will be happy with stuff only if you can be happy without stuff. ~ Thibaut.
Houses are full of things that gather dust. ~ Jack Kerouac.
Powerful Materialism Quotes
You have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now. ~ Wayne Dyer.
My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations. ~ Michael J. Fox.
People spend more time taking care of their possessions than they do their body. ~ James Pierce.
Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel.
The material possessions aren’t the problem; our attachment is the problem. ~ Joshua Fields Millburn.
Material blessings, when they pay beyond the category of need, are weirdly fruitful of headache. ~ Philip Wylie.
Americanism: Using money you haven’t earned to buy things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like. ~ Robert Quillen.
Individually, people are finding that a simpler lifestyle provides greater satisfaction than the relentless pursuit of materialism. ~ Laurance Rockefeller.
Hold material goods and wealth on a flat palm and not in a clenched fist. ~ Alistair Begg.
Famous Materialism Quotes
The more you desperately want to be rich, the more poor and unworthy you feel, regardless of how much money you actually make. ~ Mark Manson.
No one is impressed with your possessions as much as you are. ~ Morgan Housel.
We’re all to driven by materialism. Obsessed with success. With money. With trying to impress people who’ll never be impressed. ~ Sophie Kinsella.
The wonderful things in life are the things you do, not the things you have. ~ Reinhold Messner.
It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. ~ Bertrand Russell.
Stop collecting things and start pursuing meaning. ~ Carlos Del Valle.
Matters of the heart are important to me. All this materialism and all the money and wealth are things that you don’t take to the grave. One day you have it. The next day you don’t. ~ Shari Arison.
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? ~ Janis Joplin.
Spending money to show people how much money you have is the fastest way to have less money. ~ Morgan Housel.
Top Materialism Quotes
As long as you think more is better, you’ll never be satisfied. ~ Richard Carlson.
The best way to organize your stuff is to get rid of most of it. ~ Joshua Fields Millburn.
Materialism is the philosophy of the subject who forgets to take account of himself. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer.
Happiness does not come from consumption of things. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh.
For greed, the entire world is too little. ~ Seneca.
Our chief comforts often produce our greatest anxieties, and the increase in our possessions is but an inlet to new disquietudes. ~ Oliver Goldsmith.
When somebody says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money. ~ H.L. Mencken.
To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible. ~ Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach.
Own less, love more. ~ Joshua Becker.
Meaningful Materialism Quotes
Materialism is an identity crisis. ~ Bryant H. McGill.
Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things. ~ Matthieu Ricard.
Consume ideas, rather than physical possessions. ~ Anthony Pompliano.
He does not possess wealth, it possesses him. ~ Benjamin Franklin.
Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful. ~ Regina Brett.
Those who lose themselves in their desire for possession lose their innate nature. ~ Zhuangzi.
Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions. ~ Chuck Palahniuk.
So these were the 55 quotes about Materialism.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other popular blog posts on the topics of Zen quotes and Body Positivity quotes.
