collect more
than he honestly earns, he may earn more than it would be wise for
him to collect. And that brings us to the next question: How much
should one desire to collect from society? I answer, that no matter
how large a service he may render or how much he may earn, one should
not desire to collect more than he can wisely spend.

And how much can one wisely spend? Not as much as you might think,
and not nearly as much as some have tried to spend. No matter how
honestly money may be acquired, one is not free to spend it at will.
We are hedged about by certain restrictions that we can neither
remove nor ignore. God has written certain laws in our nature--laws
that no legislature can repeal--laws that no court can declare
unconstitutional, and these laws limit us in our expenditures.

Let us consider some of the things for which we can properly spend
money. We need food--we all need food, and we need about the same
amount; not exactly, but the difference in quantity is not great.
The range in expenditure is greater than the range in quantity, for
expenditure covers kind and quality as well as quantity. But there is
a limit even to expenditure. If a man eats too much he suffers for
it. If he squanders his money on high-priced foods, he wears his
stomach out. There is an old saying which we have all heard, that
"The poor man is looking for food for his stomach, while the rich man
is going from one watering place to another looking for a stomach for
his food." This is only a witty way of expressing the sober truth,
namely, that one is limited in the amount of money he can wisely
spend for food.

We need clothing--we all need clothing, and we need the same
amount. The difference in quantity is not great. The range in
expenditure for clothing is greater than the range in quantity,
because expenditure covers style and variety as well as quantity, but
there is a limit to the amount of money one can wisely spend for
clothing. If a man has so much clothing that it takes all of his time
to change his clothes, he has more than he needs and more than he can
wisely spend money for.

We need homes--we all need shelter, and we need about the same amount.
In fact, God was very democratic in the distribution of our needs,
for he so created us that our needs are about the same. The range of
expenditure for homes is probably wider than in the case of either food
or clothing. We are interested in the home. I never pass a little hou