Having and Needing

"If you don't have anything, you don't need anything." This phrase is used in a conversation between father and daughter at the end of the movie Brokeback Mountain. The phrase comes from the book with the same title: Brokeback Mountain. It is an interesting quote. It seems to originate in this 1997 published short story as a little search discovered no earlier appearances of this phrase. This philosophical sentence is kind of stimulating and there is some truth to it. It goes against the flow and first impression. But clearly, if one has few possessions he or she is - by force or choice - used to few material things and adjusted to this simple life style. If one is used to it, one can live with it, and one doesn't need more. And with a little bit of luck one might even appreciate it. There is a lot of beauty in simplicity. People following voluntary simplicity have discovered this truth and find happiness through it.