Hard-earned lessons from lives shared by choice — every card donated deliberately by its author, with the whole life behind it. The Library is young; it grows one life at a time.
5 cards from 4 lives on money.
Money · Work & calling
세탁소는 현금 장사입니다. 삼십일 년 동안 아침마다 금고를 열면서 배웠습니다. 돈은 거짓말을 안 합니다. 사람이 돈을 가지고 거짓말을 하지요. 장부는 한글로 적었어도 숫자는 똑바로 적었습니다. 번 것보다 적게 쓰고, 남는 것은 아이들 학비로 보내고, 금고가 비는 날도 부끄러운 적은 없었습니다. 돈이 없는 것은 부끄러운 일이 아닙니다. 돈에 대해 거짓말하는 것이 부끄러운 일입니다.
— 박순자 (Park Soon-Ja) · 애넌데일에서 31년간 세탁소를 꾸린 할머니Demonstration
Money · Joy & gratitude
I was born two years into the Depression, so I'll tell you what rich is and you can stop wondering. Rich is when nobody you love needs a thing you can't get them. A coat, a coffin, bail, breakfast — doesn't matter what it is. By that measure I've been rich since about 1974, and I never once had what the bank would call money. Figure out which one you're chasing, honey. They don't run in the same direction.
To someone younger: Add up what you'd grab in a fire. That's your net worth.
— Dorothy "Dot" Jablonski · Wire-winder, diner owner, fed every kid on Cherry StreetDemonstration
Money · Joy & gratitude
Here's what nobody tells you about the wire transfer: Tuesday you have the number, and Wednesday you're still you. Same knees. Same temper. Same daughter who would rather have had you at the games. Money is a tool that is spectacular at solving money problems, and most of what I'd broken getting it wasn't a money problem. The number bought me time and quiet. What I did with the time and quiet — that part the money just sat and watched.
— Marcus Reyes · Built a freight company for nineteen years, then sold itDemonstration
Failure & setbacks · Money
In March of 2009 I sat in my truck outside the bank with a personal guarantee in a folder and my father's voice in my head saying never sign anything you can't carry. I signed it. We made payroll with eleven hours to spare — sixty families, none of whom ever knew. People think the lesson is "risk it all." It isn't. The lesson is: know exactly what you're carrying, say it out loud to the people it would land on, and then decide. Maria knew before the bank did. That's the only reason the marriage survived the business.
— Marcus Reyes · Built a freight company for nineteen years, then sold itDemonstration
Money
We were never rich. We were something better: unafraid. Spend less than you make, give some away where nobody sees you do it, and never confuse what you have with what you're worth.
— Eleanor Whitfield · Teacher, gardener, grandmother of sixDemonstration
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