The
importance of money in human life is similar to the importance of food for the
body. Just like you can’t live even for a few days without food, you can’t
survive for long without money.
You
can definitely solve most of your problems of life if you have unlimited supply
of money. If you have lots of money:-,
- You won’t be facing basic problems of life like food, water,shelter or clothing.
- You can buy all items for your comfort like house, Air-conditioners,TV and other household goods to live comfortably.
- You can engage many servants to take care of you and live like a king
The
only problem is that money does not come just like that to any person by any
amount of wishing, praying or wanting. You have to work hard and compete with
fellow human beings to earn money as the supply of money is limited in this
world but the demand of money is unlimited.
Hence,
money which is a solution of all problems actually becomes the root of all
problems for most people.
Most
people fail to strike a balance between earning and enjoying money. They
believe that more money means more joy. Hence they workday and night; make all
sorts of compromises and suffer all types of pain in order to earn money in the
hope that they would use this money to enjoy happiness soon. However, for most
people, such time never comes and they die unhappy and dissatisfied.
"How
Much Land Does a Man Require?" is a beautiful story by Leo Tolstoy
which explains this nature of man.
A
peasant named Pahom overhears his wife and sister-in-law argue over the merits
of town and peasant farm life. He thinks to himself"if I had plenty of
land, I shouldn't fear the Devil himself!" Satan is present sitting
behind the stove and listening. Satan abruptly accepts his challenge and also
tells that he would give Pahom more land and then snatch everything from him.
A
short amount of time later, a landlady in the village decides to sell her
estate, and the peasants of the village buy as much of that land as they can.
Pahom himself purchases some land, and by working off the extra land is able to
repay his debts and live a more comfortable life.
Later,
he moves to a larger area of land at another Commune.Here, he can grow even
more crops and amass a small fortune, but he has to grow the crops on rented
land, which irritates him. Finally, after buying and selling a lot of fertile
and good land, he is introduced to the Bashkirs, and is told that they are
simple-minded people who own a huge amount of land.
Pahom
goes to them to take as much of their land for as low a price as he can
negotiate. Their offer is very unusual: for a sum of one thousand rubles, Pahom
can walk around as large an area as he wants, starting at daybreak, marking his
route with a spade along the way. If he reaches his starting point by sunset
that day, the entire area of land his route encloses will be his, but if he
does not reach his starting point he will lose his money and receive no land.
Pahom
is delighted as he believes that he can cover a great distance and has chanced
upon the bargain of a lifetime. He stays out as late as possible, marking out
land until just before the sun sets. Toward the end,he realizes he is far from
the starting point and runs back as fast as he canto the waiting Bashkirs. He
finally arrives at the starting point just as the sun sets. The Bashkirs cheer
his good fortune, but exhausted from the run, Pahom drops dead.
His
servant buries him in an ordinary grave only six feet long, thus ironically
answering the question posed in the title of the story.
This
story provides the greatest wisdom about money.
You
must ask this question: “How much money does a man require?”
And
then try to find the answer yourself.
The
right answer to this question can solve most of the problems of your life and
fill it with joy and peace.
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