
…gift of 35 cents to a teacher. Reflecting later on his earliest charitable contributions, he said, “It is a mistake for a man who wishes for happiness and to help others to think that he will wait until he has made a fortune before giving away money to deserving objects.”
…l lessons he penned to himself in that note of self-inspection, he acknowledged the worthlessness of amassing wealth in and of itself. “No idol more debasing than the worship of money,” he counseled himself, while committing to devote his efforts to pursuits he felt would most benefit society.
The signs are obvious to most of us. Muscles you never knew you had start to ache. The doctor keeps telling you to lose weight and get more exercise. And when the optometrist first utters the word “bifocals” everything goes silent and you see their lips moving in slow motion while it sinks in.