The priority we give to material goods in our life is up to each of us to determine. This is also part of deciding how we want to define ourselves. If we are looking to our jobs and to material things to tell us how we are, what we are worth, and where we fit in the world, this is a sign that we have become profoundly confused about the order of things. It shows we have missed the point about how we human beings stand in relation to the material world.

17th Karmapa
from the book The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out
translated by Ngodup Tsering Burkhar & Damchö Diana Finnegan
Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 17th Karmapa.
Further quotes from the book The Heart Is Noble
:
- There are no fixed starting points
- Just Love
- My trust is a gift
- Our life is vast
- Making healthy relationships possible
- Authentic love
- Interdependent reality
- Boxing Love with Our Expectations
- We truly have everything we need already
- Look what he did
- Balanced Life
- Who are you
- Let the moon be the keeper of my love
- Distinguishing between wants and needs
- Breaking barriers
- Expanding our sense of ourselves
- Take joy in your sincere intentions
- We need space to grow and learn from our own mistakes
- Facing Impermanence Wisely
- Greed is a recipe for dissatisfaction