"Man surprised me most about humanity.Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived"
About this Quote
As a spiritual leader, his intent isn’t just moral scolding. It’s diagnostic. The subtext is Buddhist in its mechanics: suffering comes from grasping, and modern life supercharges grasping by turning “enough” into an ever-receding horizon. Notice how “anxious about the future” functions as the pivot. Anxiety isn’t treated as an emotion; it’s a schedule, a regime that colonizes attention. That’s why the final image lands: living “as if he is never going to die” isn’t optimism, it’s denial dressed up as productivity.
Context matters. The Dalai Lama speaks from exile and from a tradition trained on impermanence; his authority comes less from power than from renunciation. That contrast sharpens the critique of capitalist tempo without naming it. He’s not arguing against earning money, he’s arguing against confusing accumulation with safety. The last clause is the rhetorical knife: death arrives not as tragedy but as accounting, exposing a life spent preparing to live.
Quote Details
| Topic | Live in the Moment |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lama, Dalai. (2026, January 14). Man surprised me most about humanity.Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/man-surprised-me-most-about-humanitybecause-he-172829/
Chicago Style
Lama, Dalai. "Man surprised me most about humanity.Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/man-surprised-me-most-about-humanitybecause-he-172829/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Man surprised me most about humanity.Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/man-surprised-me-most-about-humanitybecause-he-172829/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.














