Spending
money in an excessive, wasteful, extravagant manner is Prodigality. The exact
opposite is Parsimony. It is an unwillingness to spend money wastefully.
Some
relate it to miserliness but it is apt to define it as the quality of being
careful with money matters.
Now,
let us look at the question. Which quality do you think is better?
Can
the golden plates and spoons in dining hall suffice to kill hunger? A person
who wishes to be indulged in extreme comforts, attempts to display the riches
that he possesses lavishly dives into a self-created well of egotism.
Without
being able to come out of the borehole, the person struggles to lead a happy
life.
However he makes the well look like a beautiful spring in an attempt to
mask his own struggle. He turns arrogant.
On the
other hand, when a person leads a simple and austere life, he would learn to be
content with his possessions.
He would understand the reality of life and won’t
have to wear a false face in front of others.
It is important for him to assess
this quality and not allow it go to extremes however this person gradually
turns to be treated as a niggard.
In
this context, Confucius comments that it is
better to be a niggard than arrogant. To become haughty in presence of opulent
things and being indulged in grandiose display of such stuff will only lead to
a downfall.
Thus the great master tells us to choose wisely the path of
parsimony. But it has to be noted that being a miser serves no good purpose. Being conscious about our own attitude, we need to avoid embracing arrogance unless we have decided to destroy our own life.
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