Who said "We judge a person, not by what they have, but what they can do without."

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 24 Aug 2004 20:41 PDT

Could the quote be "We are not rich by what we possess but rather by
what we can do without"?

---

Clarification of Question by bandb7201-ga on 24 Aug 2004 21:52 PDT

A teacher at my sisters high school assigned this question. She said
who wrote this quote and we have searched everywhere and cannot find
it. If you can give me the author of the one you said or anything that
would help it would be great. Who knows maybe the teacher is
incorrect.

This is by far the best-known variant of the quote:

"We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without." 
~ Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) 
German metaphysician & transcendental philosopher 

Zaada: Famous Quotes by Immanuel Kant
http://www.zaadz.com/quotes/authors/immanuel_kant/

======================================================================

Here's another variation:

"Security depends not so much upon how much you have, as upon how much
you can do without."
~ Joseph Wood Krutch (1893-1970)

Zaadz: Joseph Wood Krutch Quotes
http://www.zaadz.com/quotes/authors/joseph_wood_krutch/

======================================================================

This is from a less famous (and more recent) source:

"The true measure of success is not what you have, but what you can do without."
(from "A Father's Book of Wisdom," by H. Jackson Brown) 

Family Guardian: Freedom and Sovereignty
http://famguardian.org/Subjects/Freedom/Freedom.htm

======================================================================

Yet another version of the quote says it is an anonymous zen proverb:

"A man is not measured by what he owns, but by what he can do without."

The Poker Penguin
http://poker-penguin.blogspot.com/2004_02_01_poker-penguin_archive.html

======================================================================

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "but OR by what * can do without"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22but+OR+by+what+*+can+do+without

I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear, or if a link doesn't
work for you, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer
further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

It was a great answer.

We are not rich by what we possess but rather by what we can do without. 
  -- Immanuel Kant

****NEW****

'A person is judged by how well he has bribed the jury'

Probono (2004)