Pick one
Which would you rather have, money, power, or fame?
That’s actually a real interview question if you want to work for Pimco investment management.
I think most people reading this would probably choose money over the other two.
The problem with having power is that it almost always distorts the powerful person’s perception of reality. “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” as British politician Lord Acton once said. I don’t know how my personality would change if I had power. Studies have shown that power brings out objectionable behavior in people.
Abraham Lincoln said, “nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Frankly I think power comes with too much responsibility because it requires you have to have a lot of influence over other people. I can barely keep up with my own life. I don’t need to tell other people how to live theirs, lol.
Being famous has a lot of downsides too. As Al Pacino once said, “people are always nice to you. You’re in a conversation and everybody’s agreeing with what you’re saying – even if you say something totally crazy. You need people who can tell you what you don’t want to hear.”
And ironically it may be harder to have deeper, more meaningful connections if you’re too popular. “I don’t think I could think of a single thing that’s more isolating than being famous,” says Lady Gaga.
But wealth doesn’t inherently have any of those problems. You could be a millionaire and nobody will know except for your bank. Nobody will try to curry favour with you to gain more power for themselves, and nobody will invade your privacy. 🙂
The advantage of money
It’s not that money doesn’t come with problems. It just has the least amount of problems compared with the other two. 😉
Becoming wealthy is also the most passive of the three, requiring the least amount of active management. You can automate your savings and easily invest in low cost index funds. Then one day you will become rich.
But power and fame often requires a lot of hard work to obtain. Not only that, but it also requires effort to maintain them. If you hold a position of power, you have to be constantly on the lookout for anyone trying to take that power for themselves.
Being famous requires constant diligence as well because the world’s eyes are on you. You can’t do anything you want. You have very little freedom. Bill Murray believes, “there aren’t many downsides to being rich. But being famous, that’s a 24 hour job right there.”
That’s why I would choose money over power and fame. Besides, once you have money you can simply buy the other two if you really want to, lol.
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Random Useless Fact:
The average mail carrier makes $20 to $25 per hour.
A wise man by the name of Tony Montana once said “You gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.” Not sure where Fame plays into this 😉
Lol. Maybe fame comes at the end when everyone knows you have the money, power, and women. 😅
I’d choose power if it didn’t require people knowing who I was. However, non-magically obtained power requires responsibility and a ton of work and a constant attempt from people around you to acquire it from you.
Fame garners influence, influence is power, power and fame earn money.
Power often leads to infamy, and both of those lead to money.
Money can buy people’s attention as they will be unable to avoid noticing your actions, and money can garner power.
Depending on how you use any of the three, you can achieve the other two.
That’s true. You can leverage one to gain the others. I think this concept of wealth, power, and fame could be the foundation for a fun board game if one doesn’t already exist, lol.
for me personally, I think I deviate heavily towards the teachings of Taoism which is essentially, “stay in your own lane” lol I’d care less what others are doing or what others think of me, therefore “fame” itself I never even cared for, I constantly don’t understand why people wanna get famous it’s just…so stupid lol money is definitely important and we cannot neglect its power but what I have learned on my journey so far is developing a deeper understanding on my relationship with money because once you have that figured out I think you’ll make money very easily; just my two cents
I completely agree. People who are good at making money don’t just get lucky. They develop the skills and personality that make them into a person that money is attracted to.
That’s why if you strip a billionaire of their money, and not allow them to use their name or brand to get by, they will probably reach financial independence status again very quickly.
The people who understand money the most, also tend to have a deep understanding of their relationship to it. Otherwise, they would lose the money as soon as they make it. 😂
I think the biggest thing my mentor taught me was your exact point. The money was actually the by-product of their skill, knowledge, experience etc. if you have all those attributes, you’d be successful anywhere.
Don’t blame society, don’t blame the environment you’re in, if you’re gold you’ll shine anywhere, if you’re poop… well you’re poop even if the toilet is made of gold lol
Money – enough to achieve my best Health, Freedom and Simplicity.
Well said. 👍