Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them. Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden: Economy, 1854

Do not pursue what is illusory - property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade and can be confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life - don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is after all, all the same: the bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. Alexander Solzhenitsyn