--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Really, the proper study of economics is…" description: "\"Really, the proper study of economics is fulfilment, not consumption... It doesn't even matter if it's a green product or a green house... It's still c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe3/paul-hawken-3831_aspirations_really-the-proper-study-of-economics-is_2119049.png" --- # Really, the proper study of economics is fulfilment, not… ![“Really, the proper study of economics is fulfilment, not consumption... It doesn't even matter if it's a green product or a green house... It's still consumption. What matters in this world is the fulfilment of people's needs and the fulfilment of their aspirations.” quote by Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe3/paul-hawken-3831_aspirations_really-the-proper-study-of-economics-is_2119049.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe3/paul-hawken-3831_aspirations_really-the-proper-study-of-economics-is_2119049.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe3/paul-hawken-3831_aspirations_really-the-proper-study-of-economics-is_2119049.png) > “Really, the proper study of economics is fulfilment, not consumption... It doesn't even matter if it's a green product or a green house... It's still consumption. What matters in this world is the fulfilment of people's needs and the fulfilment of their aspirations.” [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True economics should prioritize satisfying human needs and aspirations over mere consumption of goods. **In simple terms:** Focus on fulfilling needs, not just consuming. Key Takeaway Prioritize fulfillment over consumption. Themes economics fulfilment needs aspirations sustainability Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy design - product development - community planning - education curricula Key Concepts human-centered economics needs fulfillment sustainable development Questions to Reflect On - How can we measure fulfillment versus consumption? - What policies encourage need‑based economies? A Different Perspective May overlook resource constraints and environmental limits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aspirations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspirations/) [Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption/) [Consumption Doesn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption-doesn-1403460/) [Consumption Matters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption-matters-3394092/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economics Fulfilment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics-fulfilment-4314171/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Even](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/even/) [Fulfilment Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfilment-consumption-4314170/) [Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/green/) [House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/house/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Matters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matters/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/product/) [Proper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proper/) [Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really/) [Still](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/still/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Energy consumption matters both to our environment and our economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-baldacci/energy-consumption-matters-both-to-our-environment-and-our-economy/) [John Baldacci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-baldacci/) > [Excess consumption doesn't make people happy. We can continue to provide for our needs, but we can't continue the endless pursuit of ever more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-dechristopher/excess-consumption-doesn-t-make-people-happy-we-can-continue-to/) [Tim DeChristopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-dechristopher/) > [Art has a smaller audience than, say, movies or other forms of mass consumption. But that doesn't mean the work doesn't have an impact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-solondz/art-has-a-smaller-audience-than-say-movies-or-other-forms-of-mass/) [Todd Solondz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-solondz/) > [Joint consumption doesn’t create intimacy,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/joint-consumption-doesn-t-create-intimacy/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) > [“I've discovered reduced consumption doesn't equal reduced community or reduced contentment. There is something liberating about unplugging the machine to discover the heartbeat of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hatmaker/i-ve-discovered-reduced-consumption-doesn-t-equal-reduced-community/) [Jen Hatmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hatmaker/) > [“He made a point of complimenting Lysistrara's brilliant handling of the rabies situation and thanking her for her generosity in the last minutes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/he-made-a-point-of-complimenting-lysistrara-s-brilliant-handling-of/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“Once this is all over, we’ll be a proper family, you’ll see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jk-rowling/once-this-is-all-over-we-ll-be-a-proper-family-you-ll-see/) [JK Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jk-rowling/) > [I've always had a proper job. I don't know anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-martin/i-ve-always-had-a-proper-job-i-don-t-know-anything-else/) [Guy Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-martin/) > [Along with enough sleep and taking proper supplements, I steam - in my steam shower. I find it's very healing, more than just your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idina-menzel/along-with-enough-sleep-and-taking-proper-supplements-i-steam-in-my/) [Idina Menzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idina-menzel/) > [I've not really spent much time in proper studios. The room itself where you're recording, and how you live while you're there is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/feist/i-ve-not-really-spent-much-time-in-proper-studios-the-room-itself/) [Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/feist/) > [Nothing is so good that impious and sacrilegious and wicked people cannot contort its proper benefit into evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/nothing-is-so-good-that-impious-and-sacrilegious-and-wicked-people/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [I think it eminently proper that a president should retire from active politics, and equally proper that he should be able to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/i-think-it-eminently-proper-that-a-president-should-retire-from/) [Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/) > [I played guitar from the age of four or five. Every year there would be a slightly larger triangular box under the Christmas tree,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-marr/i-played-guitar-from-the-age-of-four-or-five-every-year-there-would/) [Johnny Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-marr/) > [Proper listening is the foundation of proper living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/proper-listening-is-the-foundation-of-proper-living/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [There are always proper responses, even to rude questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/there-are-always-proper-responses-even-to-rude-questions/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) ## More by Paul Hawken > [Information from destructive activities going back a hundred years right up until today is being incorporated into the system. And as that happens the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/information-from-destructive-activities-going-back-a-hundred-years/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [When the planes still swoop down and aerial spray a field in order to kill a predator insect with pesticides, we are in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/when-the-planes-still-swoop-down-and-aerial-spray-a-field-in-order-to/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [The great thing about the dilemma we're in is that we get to re-imagine every single thing we do...There isn't a single thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/the-great-thing-about-the-dilemma-we-re-in-is-that-we-get-to-re/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Luck is earned. Luck is working so hard at your craft, service or enterprise that sooner or later you get a break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/luck-is-earned-luck-is-working-so-hard-at-your-craft-service-or/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/healing-the-wounds-of-the-earth-and-its-people-does-not-require/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [When cattle ranchers clear rain forests to raise beef to sell to fast-food chains that make hamburgers to sell to Americans, who have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/when-cattle-ranchers-clear-rain-forests-to-raise-beef-to-sell-to-fast/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [We are the only species on this planet without full employment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/we-are-the-only-species-on-this-planet-without-full-employment/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [We subsidize the disposal of waste in all its myriad forms — from landfills, to Superfund cleanups, to deep-well injection, to storage of nuclear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/we-subsidize-the-disposal-of-waste-in-all-its-myriad-forms-from/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity's willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/inspiration-is-not-garnered-from-the-litanies-of-what-may-befall-us/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren't pessimistic, you don’t have the correct data. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/if-you-look-at-the-science-that-describes-what-is-happening-on-earth/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [All is connected ... no one thing can change by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/all-is-connected-no-one-thing-can-change-by-itself/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [We can no longer prosper by increasing human productivity. The more we try to do, the more poverty we will create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/we-can-no-longer-prosper-by-increasing-human-productivity-the-more-we/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Throughout the industrial era, economists considered manufactured capital - money, factories, etc. - the principal factor in industrial production, and perceived natural capital as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/throughout-the-industrial-era-economists-considered-manufactured/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [his planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/his-planet-came-with-a-set-of-instructions-but-we-seem-to-have/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Sustainability, ensuring the future of life on Earth, is an infinite game, the endless expression of generosity on behalf of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/sustainability-ensuring-the-future-of-life-on-earth-is-an-infinite/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) [Explore all 121 Paul Hawken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) ## More Aspirations quotes > [Becoming famous is a really shocking thing, especially when you don't have aspirations to it. It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [I'm not walking around saying I am the best in the world but I'll always have aspirations to get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-ramsdale/i-m-not-walking-around-saying-i-am-the-best-in-the-world-but-i-ll/) [Aaron Ramsdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-ramsdale/) > [For 20 years, I've been running an institute in Chennai where serious dancers from Kerala come with aspirations of becoming professional dancers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shobana/for-20-years-i-ve-been-running-an-institute-in-chennai-where-serious/) [Shobana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shobana/) > [“All beings begin their lives with hope and aspirations. Among these aspirations is the desire that there will be a straight path to those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-zahn/all-beings-begin-their-lives-with-hope-and-aspirations-among-these/) [Timothy Zahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-zahn/) > [I've definitely become smuttier. When I first started out, I had these aspirations: 'I'm not going to do jokes about anything crude because I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-whitehall/i-ve-definitely-become-smuttier-when-i-first-started-out-i-had-these/) [Jack Whitehall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-whitehall/) > [I want to make sure that I fulfill the aspirations of the Gabonese people: to have access to a better life, job opportunities, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-bongo-ondimba/i-want-to-make-sure-that-i-fulfill-the-aspirations-of-the-gabonese/) [Ali Bongo Ondimba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-bongo-ondimba/) > [“The vision of life is not a "discovery"; it's a "work" and whatever position you occupy demands work. Your life may not be built…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-vision-of-life-is-not-a-discovery-it-s-a-work-and-whatever/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [A family needs to work as a team, supporting each other's individual aims and aspirations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/a-family-needs-to-work-as-a-team-supporting-each-other-s-individual/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [The powers, aspirations, and mission of man are such as to raise the study of his origin and nature, inevitably and by the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-powers-aspirations-and-mission-of-man-are-such-as-to-raise-the/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [“Betsy was so full of joy that she had to be alone. She went upstairs to her bedroom and sat down on Uncle Keith's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maud-hart-lovelace/betsy-was-so-full-of-joy-that-she-had-to-be-alone-she-went-upstairs/) [Maud Hart Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maud-hart-lovelace/) > [When I joined films, I was clueless about the industry and had no aspirations to be an actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arvind-swami/when-i-joined-films-i-was-clueless-about-the-industry-and-had-no/) [Arvind Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arvind-swami/) > [Every little kid that steps on the court or the field has aspirations to go pro. I think being a pro basketball player is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mcknight/every-little-kid-that-steps-on-the-court-or-the-field-has-aspirations/) [Brian McKnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mcknight/) > [The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/the-most-absurd-and-reckless-aspirations-have-sometimes-led-to/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [Sometimes fulfilling your dreams and aspirations means being a part of helping others fulfill theirs. In the end, we rise or fall together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-fulfilling-your-dreams-and-aspirations-means-being-a-part/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your aspirations to shreds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/my-chemical-romance/your-aspirations-to-shreds/) [My Chemical Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/my-chemical-romance/) [Browse all 511 Aspirations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspirations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Really, the proper study of economics is fulfilment, not consumption... It doesn't even matter if it's a green product or a green house... It's still consumption. 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