Sigrid Undset Quotes

A man thinks he owns things, and it is he who is owned

It all depends on whether you have things, or they have you.

I felt I was owned by possessions.

He does not possess wealth; it possesses him.

Possessions are usually diminished by possession.

Anything you think you "must have" usually comes to own you.

People like to own things.

Whatever we treasure for ourselves separates us from others; our possessions are our limitations.

The things you used to own, now they own you.

Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.

There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men.

I own things I like, but nothing inanimate that I treasure in a deeply consuming way.

I want to feel that I own things.

It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go.

You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.

The more you own, the more it owns you.

Ownership is the most intimate relationship that one can have to objects. Not that they come alive in him; it is he who lives in them.

Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner.

I don't get that much enjoyment out of saying 'I own it.'

A child's appetite for new toys appeal to the desire for ownership and appropriation: the appeal of toys comes to lie not in their use but in their status as possessions.

I don't think anyone has a right to possess anything he doesn't love - art or anything else.

I don't like to attach myself to material things.

Possessions. The very word is potent - suggestive as it is of ownership both material and erotic. To possess. Possession. Possessed.

Sometimes it's better to look at things than own them... owning means anxiety and lots of bags to carry around.