“If your project has real substance, ultimately the money will follow you like a common cur in the street with its tail between its legs.”
Werner Herzog, ‘A Guide for the Perplexed‘
I’m thinking that this statement, while controversial and easily disproven in a variety of cases, holds some truth. And I think it holds a truth for the pursuit of happiness. If you life has real substance – courageous relationships, meaningful work – happiness will follow.
Chasing money or happiness is like pursuing the tail of a comet: you’re always chasing something that has already passed by and has no substance of its own. Money and happiness are the ephemeral lingering trails of something substantial that has already passed by.
Ride the comet.