Money: getting it, losing it, wasting it, wanting it

My relationship with the root of all evil

Ahh, money. It makes the world go round. It can consume our attention, make us joyful or sad, make us foolish or desperate, cause envy, greed, disagreements, even murder. It’s something we both talk about and yet keep private. It’s somehow both status we display and shameful, both open and secret.

My own relationship with money seems to be a little different than most. For example, my wife and I have never squabbled about money. It’s not that we always had a lot of it; no, there were times when we cut new notches in belts that were already close to their ends. But at other times it felt like we could have whatever we wanted, that money truly was no obstacle to feeding our wishes and needs. I used to joke about that. I’d tell my wife “You spend it, I’ll make more.” Such brash confidence then. But there was truth in it, because when we needed something, I would find a way to make enough money to get it.

“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor and rich is better”

I don’t know who said that. From what I see at Quote Investigator, quite a few people have expressed those feelings. I can’t make a good claim on the words; I’ve been poorer, but never really poor, and I’ve been pretty well…