“As a man is said to
have a right to his
property, he may
be equally said to
have a property in
his rights.”
—JAMES MADISON“Few things in my life have
had a more genial effect
on my mind than the posses-
sion of a piece of land.”
—HARRIET MARTINEAU“DO NOT MOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR’S
BOUNDARY STONE SET UP BY YOUR
PREDECESSORS IN THE INHERITANCE YOU
RECEIVE IN THE LAND THE LORD YOUR
GOD IS GIVING YOU TO POSSESS.”
—DEUTERONOMY 19:14“LAND IS THE ONLY THING IN THE
WORLD THAT AMOUNTS TO ANYTHING.”
—MARGARET MITCHELLFINAL
THOUGHT
“A home of one’s
own is realizing the
American dream.
The fact that
homeownership
mostly turns
out to be a good
investment
makes for added
happiness.”
—MALCOLM FORBES“A pickpocket is obviously a
champion of private enterprise.
But it would perhaps be an exag-
geration to say that a pickpocket is
a champion of private property.”
—G.K. CHESTERTONTHOUGHTS ON
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTER: DAWN JONES/NEWSCOM; AP; ROGER VIOLLET/GETTY IMAGES; UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; BETTMANN/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; STEPHEN SHAMES/POLARIS/NEWSCOM; CORBIS HISTORICAL/GETTY IMAGES“We come and go, but the land is
always here. And the people who
love it and understand it are the
people who own it—for a little
while.”
—WILLA CATHER“At one time in the world
there were woods that no
one owned.”
—CORMAC MCCARTHYSOURCES: CHILD OF GOD, BY CORMAC MCCARTHY; THE OUTLINE OF SANITY, BY G.K. CHESTERTON;
THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER, BY JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE; SALESMAN IN BEIJING, BY
ARTHUR MILLER; O PIONEERS!, BY WILLA CATHER; HALF BROKE HORSES, BY JEANNETTE WALLS; THE
LETTERS OF THE YOUNGER PLINY, BY PLINY THE YOUNGER; YOU AND ME, BABE, BY CHUCK BARRIS; GONE
WITH THE WIND, BY MARGARET MITCHELL; THE COMPLETE POETRY AND PROSE, BY WILLIAM BLAKE.Property
“A HUMAN BEING NEEDS ONLY
A SMALL PLOT OF GROUND
ON WHICH TO BE HAPPY AND
EVEN LESS TO LIE BENEATH.”
—JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE“An object in posses-
sion seldom retains
the same charm it
had in pursuit.”
—PLINY THE YOUNGER80 | FORBES ASIA MAY 2017
“FIFTY PERCENT OF
SOMETHING IS BETTER
THAN A HUNDRED
PERCENT OF NOTHING.”
—CHUCK BARRIS“If any could desire
what he is incapable
of possessing, despair
must be his eternal lot.”
—WILLIAM BLAKE“It might
turn
out that
without
the right
to possess,
we are not
really sure
we have
the right to
speak and
to be.”
— ARTHUR MILLER“If the world went to hell in a
handbasket—as it seemed to be
doing—you could say goodbye to
everyone and retreat to your land,
hunkering down and living off it.”
—JEANNETTE WALLS