Nassim Taleb’s The Bed of Procrustes has many nuggets of wisdom every time I read it.
“Wealthy” is meaningless and has no robust absolute measure; use instead the subtractive measure “unwealth,” that is, the difference, at any point in time, between what you have and what you would like to have.
Nassim Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes
I define wealth as “having enough.” But it is ambiguous. It doesn’t fully capture what I think and feel about true wealth. Taleb’s unwealth is a perfect way to define wealth!
The desire for more material wealth and power is unlimited. Hence, there is no absolute measure. Everyone always wants more. This is why Taleb says there is no robust absolute measure for wealth. The goal post always move.
But if you subtract what you want and what you have, then that is a better way to define wealth.
If our expenses do not inflate with our earnings, most of us are already wealthy according to this “unwealth” standard. And this brings so much peace because it means you don’t need more to be wealthy.