“I have too much of what I don’t need,” Grampa Hofmann likes to say. He was born in 1927 – a generation known as Depression Babies – and raised during the Great Depression.
Today, there are 40 million Americans of German ancestry. They represent one of the finest collections of diligent workers and disciplined immigrants from Europe. They were farmers, coal miners, and steel workers. They helped build our greatest cities, our highway system, and our financial foundation.
Entering America in the shadow of Lady Liberty through the gates of Ellis Island, they packed, with their meager belongs, practical proverbs filled with common sense and humor. Eighty years later, as Americans deal with the fallout from the Great Recession, there’s a wealth of ironclad advice from the Old Country.
As Grampa says, “A country can be judged by the quality of its proverbs.” When it comes to Germany there is plenty to say. Their words of wisdom are our inheritance.
So, is Grampa right? Do Americans have too much of what they don’t need? What do our overstuffed garages say about us – filled with outdated VCRs, unused exercise equipment, unwanted furniture, and stacks of plastic bins loaded with God-knows-what?
While spending an afternoon knocking back a couple beers and pouring over wise old proverbs with Grampa, I got to wondering what he would suggest… so I asked him. “Do you know any proverbs that speak to living the simple life? How would you help someone reduce?”
Here are 14 German proverbs (translated into English) – along with my thoughts in italics – that can guide you on the road to reducing:
1) A poor person isn’t he who has little, but he who needs a lot.
I’m rich when I’m content with what I have.
2) All beginning is difficult.
I could not experience the joy of being a licensed architect today if I had not embraced the challenge of Calculus in college.
3) God gives, but man must open his hand.
When opportunity knocks I still must open the door.
4) People show their character by what they laugh at.
Grampa’s life speaks to this one – attitude is everything.
5) He who cannot doubt, is a stupid man.
Questioning old ideas often leads to better ones.
6) He who teaches children learns more than they do.
I learn more when I collaborate with others.
7) Envy eats nothing but its own heart.
And it eats creative energy for dessert.
8) Who has never tasted what is bitter does not know what is sweet.
Grampa Hofmann has said more than once, “I’ve loved greatly because I’ve known heartache.” Which is why I put my whole heart into life.
9) Frugality keeps the house.
And overstuffed garages sink it.
10) Money alone doesn’t make one happy.
There are only two types of people – those who have learned this lesson and those who will.
11) Happy is the one who forgets that which cannot be changed.
I don’t worry much about problems I know I can’t fix.
12) Who begins too much accomplishes little.
And the opposite is true: He who starts small accomplishes much.
13) No one is luckier than he who believes in his luck.
It’s important to be good at what you do, but ask anyone who’s won the Lottery or sunk a hole-in-one, it’s important to be lucky, too.
14) Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses.
Look for the good in everything.
A positive attitude is why Grampa Hofmann is alive and spry well into his 80s. It started with he and his family being content “down on the farm” in the Central Valley Heartland of California. “We always had plenty to eat,” he reminisces. “What we couldn’t grow or make ourselves we traded for with a neighbor. What we didn’t have, we didn’t think much about.”
As we finished our time together, he showed me a faded photo as a 4-year-old sitting on his father’s lap in the seat of an old rusted tractor. I noticed he was barefoot.
“That was just the way we lived back then,” he said. “I never realized I was poor until I was six and went to grade school and saw other kids wearing shoes,” he said with a gleam in his eyes. “Before then, I thought all kids went barefoot.”
So, what is enough? What does it look like? And how does one get there? This is just the first leg of our trip. We’ll discuss specific ways to reduce the conjestion in your life in next week’s blog.
Thanks for joining me on the journey.
Having traveled through third world countries in Central America, I can tell you that there’s definite difference between poverty and impoverished. The former does not necessary lead to the latter. Some of the poorest people were the least impoverished.
Suzanne, I couldn’t agree more.
A favorite saying that I now cherish from my grandfather and mother was “If you dont’ want to hear the answer, then don’t ask the question.”
I didn’t really appreciate this saying’s wisdom at the time I first was hearing it (a very young age when the answer was often ‘no, you may not’). In your case wanted to hear the answer, so asking the question was good. Ask many more of your Grandfather while you can!
And congratulations on a great “new” SmallHouse home!
Brilliant. Just found you through Desire to Inspire. My husband designs $1M+ homes and yet we enjoy living in a modest 1,200 sf home/studio. In his practice he strives to show clients that smaller, quality made spaces will more closely reflect that illusive sense of contentment than sprawling square footage. I admire your examination into what is happiness and wealth in the context of our culture. Really really great to see. Thanks for blogging. Keep going!
Good example of minimalism and multi-use of furniture (bench and table for dining or workspace). Nice ideal to minimize living to the functional requirements, which allows for transportability.
Yep, people definitely have too much stuff. I remember way back when garages used to be places where you parked your cars.
[...] reading the blog of architect, Matt Hofmann, I came across this post that he mentions German proverbs and his thoughts on each proverb. I found these proverbs to hit [...]