The above quotation comes from the insightful mind of Kahlil Gibran, and certainly seems at odds to those that are enthralled to the western world and of western values – for we find there that far too many people are either held by their possessions or of their desire for more possessions, believing that these possessions are thereby the key to both their security as well as to their happiness.
The thing about possessions is that it takes a strong mind and the firm control of such, to understand that our value in life does not come from what we so have and own; but rather from what we so do to help make society a better place for our being a participant in it. When it comes to possessions, each one of us knows for a certainty, that we can take nothing material with us to the world beyond; and while it certainly seems prudent to desire to leave into the hands of those that we respect and love, some material contribution to their welfare, that shouldn’t be the main driving force of our being; for a far better legacy and of more meaning for them is to leave for those that we care for, our living example of good character, sound morals, and valued community service.
Those that are overly enamored of what they so have and further have a desire to add more to their treasure chest, are obviously beholden to that craving, which perhaps unbeknownst to them, can become the primary driving force of the decisions that they so make. That is to say, those that are materially oriented, typically find that they are never quite ever satisfied, and because of that lack of satisfaction, or perhaps because that satisfaction never seems to last for a long enough period of time, they keep coming back to their supposed need to collect even more of what they so have. Further to the point, the desire for material goods, if not tempered by good character, can set some people upon a path in which they will do whatsoever that they have to do to get such, which thereupon distorts their moral compass as well as their values.
Those of us that live in what appears to be a very material world, do not need to buy into whatsoever is up for sale. Each of us, has been gifted with freewill and thereupon our own consciousness to do whatever that it is, that we set out mind upon. In other words, we are the masters of our own fate, and thereupon how we approach the world. Those then, that value freedom, must understand that freedom necessitates to the degree so possible, the release of unnecessary desires as well as unnecessary possessions which serve more to enchain us to them, and almost never to free us because of them. To be wise, is to understand that our good interactions with one another and our good works, is of far more meaning than our possessions; for that which is temporal in substance, should never rule over that which is eternal.