Tuesday, November 6, 2012

(103)The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith

Although this is the first time I read about applied ethics and a Ph.D. holder who edited a magazine on Philosophy, it has been a rather pleasant experience!

When I moved to the part that Isabel admitted to her lover that she owned eleven million pounds of assets in America, my thoughts strayed to two women I have the privilege of knowing.

The first one inherited serious wealth when her father passed on. She was still in her mid-twenties, but she has always had her head screwed on right. Wealth did not change her much, she was still frugal and refused to touch even a cent of the interest her inheritance generated.

It became a matter of contention between her and the rest of her immediate family. If only she would loosen her tight grasp on the dough, say let ten percent of the interest be enjoyed by her husband and her four children; I dare say she would have a happier family life.

My second friend inherited millions in her fiftieth year. She has been well-to-do all along, being married to a husband who provides aplenty. Being generous with friends on food, my family and I have enjoyed her hospitality for many years. Those millions did not change her. It gives her a push to prove to herself capable at investing and generating more money. She is currently more focused than all the previous years I have known her.

Isabel is happier with her life that money enables her to lead compared to my two friends. My first friend is unhappy that for the last few years she could not add any of her earnings to her amassed wealth. My second friend has just begun to gauge her self-worth by the measure of the earning ratio of her investment. Wealth is a good servant, but a rather exacting master!!

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