--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometimes I think we're on this world for…" description: "\"Sometimes I think we're on this world for three reasons: to be useful, to tell each other stories and to collect stuff. It's the only explanation for e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/paul-saffo-10456_collecting_sometimes-i-think-we-re-on-this-world-fo_1936202.png" --- # Sometimes I think we're on this world for three reasons… ![“Sometimes I think we're on this world for three reasons: to be useful, to tell each other stories and to collect stuff. It's the only explanation for eBay. We love to collect stuff, and at least if we're collecting stuff in cyberspace we're not deforesting the Sierra Nevada.” quote by Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/paul-saffo-10456_collecting_sometimes-i-think-we-re-on-this-world-fo_1936202.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/paul-saffo-10456_collecting_sometimes-i-think-we-re-on-this-world-fo_1936202.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/paul-saffo-10456_collecting_sometimes-i-think-we-re-on-this-world-fo_1936202.png) > “Sometimes I think we're on this world for three reasons: to be useful, to tell each other stories and to collect stuff. It's the only explanation for eBay. We love to collect stuff, and at least if we're collecting stuff in cyberspace we're not deforesting the Sierra Nevada.” [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human purpose may be summed as utility, storytelling, and accumulation, which modern platforms satisfy without harming nature. **In simple terms:** Purpose: usefulness, stories, collecting. Key Takeaway Balance digital collection with real-world stewardship. Themes purpose technology consumerism environment storytelling Mood optimistic thoughtful Type sociological inspirational When to use this quote - digital archiving - e-commerce strategy - sustainable design - personal productivity Key Concepts economics media studies environmental ethics Questions to Reflect On - What value does digital collecting add? - How can we ensure virtual habits stay eco-friendly? A Different Perspective Collecting online can still impact physical resources indirectly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cyberspace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cyberspace/) [Nevada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nevada/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“You know, Junpei, everything in the world has its reasons for doing what it does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-know-junpei-everything-in-the-world-has-its-reasons-for-doing/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [This has always been a man's world, and none of the reasons that have been offered in explanation have seemed adequate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/this-has-always-been-a-man-s-world-and-none-of-the-reasons-that-have/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [This is a world in which reasons are made up because reality is too painful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-diller/this-is-a-world-in-which-reasons-are-made-up-because-reality-is-too/) [Barry Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-diller/) > [I love my kids, they are amazing children, but they drive me bananas sometimes. And sometimes, I want to sell them on eBay... but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-aselton/i-love-my-kids-they-are-amazing-children-but-they-drive-me-bananas/) [Katie Aselton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-aselton/) > [Here's the thing: If you're so far left you actually believe that somebody owes you a job, citizenship and a heart transplant, you're mentally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/here-s-the-thing-if-you-re-so-far-left-you-actually-believe-that/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [The only thing I collect is art. I collect it because I like looking at it. A lot of it is really personal stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-hanna/the-only-thing-i-collect-is-art-i-collect-it-because-i-like-looking/) [Kathleen Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-hanna/) > [The federal government... announced a plan to spend, like, a trillion of taxpayer dollars to buy out bad mortgages and debt. Wall Street was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/the-federal-government-announced-a-plan-to-spend-like-a-trillion-of/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Today, over one million people now make their living on eBay, which is astounding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niklas-zennstrom/today-over-one-million-people-now-make-their-living-on-ebay-which-is/) [Niklas Zennstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niklas-zennstrom/) > [BLACKBERRY. Also know as "Crackberry" for it's addictive qualities. It is the modern girl's weapon. It allow her to bid on ebay while walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-garcia/blackberry-also-know-as-crackberry-for-it-s-addictive-qualities-it-is/) [Nina Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-garcia/) > [I usually bring a point and shoot with me so I can go out on the weekends and shoot a bit. I used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-yelchin/i-usually-bring-a-point-and-shoot-with-me-so-i-can-go-out-on-the/) [Anton Yelchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-yelchin/) > [The pace at eBay was frantic and urgent. We knew that if we didn't move fast, somebody would come into the market and quash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-skoll/the-pace-at-ebay-was-frantic-and-urgent-we-knew-that-if-we-didn-t/) [Jeffrey Skoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-skoll/) > [eBay's business is based on enabling someone to do business with another person, and to do that, they first have to develop some measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-omidyar/ebay-s-business-is-based-on-enabling-someone-to-do-business-with/) [Pierre Omidyar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-omidyar/) > [A captivating moment was when I realized that people, including myself, were not saying, 'I just bought an item on eBay.' They were saying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-meeker/a-captivating-moment-was-when-i-realized-that-people-including-myself/) [Mary Meeker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-meeker/) > [I toyed with making portraits based on people's discarded shopping lists found on the street, or old diaries bought on eBay, or other forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-blackall/i-toyed-with-making-portraits-based-on-people-s-discarded-shopping/) [Sophie Blackall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-blackall/) > [When you're paid $29 for something and 30 or 40 years later you're seeing it on eBay with pages going for $199 or more, it's like, "Dammit!"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-royer/when-you-re-paid-29-for-something-and-30-or-40-years-later-you-re/) [Mike Royer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-royer/) ## More by Paul Saffo > [I'm actually an optimist about what lies ahead. Are wikis reliable? It depends on the specific business. Is Wikipedia reliable? You bet. Wikipedia is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/i-m-actually-an-optimist-about-what-lies-ahead-are-wikis-reliable-it/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [The thing I see happening is that there's a real compression between generations. There used to be about 20 years difference (in technology use).…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/the-thing-i-see-happening-is-that-there-s-a-real-compression-between/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [Never mistake a clearer view for a short distance just because the technology looks like it's about to arrive in the very near future.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/never-mistake-a-clearer-view-for-a-short-distance-just-because-the/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [The goal of forecasting is not to predict the future but to tell you what you need to know to take meaningful action in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/the-goal-of-forecasting-is-not-to-predict-the-future-but-to-tell-you/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [Though I carry enough electronics to get nervous in a lightning storm, I love paper and I always have a Moleskine journal with me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/though-i-carry-enough-electronics-to-get-nervous-in-a-lightning-storm/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [I'm not sure the notion of employee or job is going to survive the transition over the next couple of decades. The very notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/i-m-not-sure-the-notion-of-employee-or-job-is-going-to-survive-the/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [Every day huge amounts of information break off like icebergs and melt away. What worries me is that much information in electronic form is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/every-day-huge-amounts-of-information-break-off-like-icebergs-and/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [The value of a social network is defined not only by who's on it, but by who's excluded,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/the-value-of-a-social-network-is-defined-not-only-by-who-s-on-it-but/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [Using technology merely to lower operational costs amounts to standing on a whale fishing for minnows. It just allows you to do the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/using-technology-merely-to-lower-operational-costs-amounts-to/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [When I lived in Japan in the 1980s, I once was mistaken for Paul Newman, and I didn't have much more hair than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/when-i-lived-in-japan-in-the-1980s-i-once-was-mistaken-for-paul/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [When everybody else is in a down market is focusing on what they're doing wrong, instead focus on what you should be doing differently,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/when-everybody-else-is-in-a-down-market-is-focusing-on-what-they-re/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [We do need to rethink privacy. I think we need to fall back on (former Supreme Court Justice) Felix Frankfurter's definition of privacy which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/we-do-need-to-rethink-privacy-i-think-we-need-to-fall-back-on-former/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [Each time you toss out a 'singing' greeting card, you are disposing of more computing power than existed in the entire world before 1950.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/each-time-you-toss-out-a-singing-greeting-card-you-are-disposing-of/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [I can't imagine how you can find the discipline to be emotionally detached reporting on a revolution, the winds of which are blowing right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/i-can-t-imagine-how-you-can-find-the-discipline-to-be-emotionally/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [I live on a canyon at the edge of San Mateo. We are fortunate to have lots of suburban wildlife as our neighbors, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/i-live-on-a-canyon-at-the-edge-of-san-mateo-we-are-fortunate-to-have/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) [Explore all 65 Paul Saffo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) ## More Collecting quotes > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Taking photos is a form of collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/taking-photos-is-a-form-of-collecting/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/if-you-re-feeling-fancy-free-come-wander-through-the-world-with-me/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [I found so-called great art too pompous, too stiff. What at this time was called minor art was freer, more imaginative, more open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/i-found-so-called-great-art-too-pompous-too-stiff-what-at-this-time/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [My real first job was delivering newspapers with I was 15. I would ride my bike around and chuck papers at people's houses. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/my-real-first-job-was-delivering-newspapers-with-i-was-15-i-would/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [I didn't really grow up a comic book fanatic. I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ritchson/i-didn-t-really-grow-up-a-comic-book-fanatic-i-was-a-big-baseball/) [Alan Ritchson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ritchson/) > [I don't know who had the training of you," he continued doggedly, "but your morals are shocking. You spent a night in my bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-chase/i-don-t-know-who-had-the-training-of-you-he-continued-doggedly-but/) [Loretta Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-chase/) > [...You can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/you-can-go-your-whole-life-collecting-days-and-none-will-outweigh-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Instead of collecting things and staying in one space, I want to collect experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kesh/instead-of-collecting-things-and-staying-in-one-space-i-want-to/) [Kesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kesh/) > [I started collecting couture when I was about 10 or 11 years old, and the very first piece I bought was a Balenciaga suit from 1962.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamish-bowles/i-started-collecting-couture-when-i-was-about-10-or-11-years-old-and/) [Hamish Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamish-bowles/) > [I imagine the wave of water colliding with the rock and spilling over the tile floor, collecting around my shoes. Doing a little at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-imagine-the-wave-of-water-colliding-with-the-rock-and-spilling-over/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I needed more knowledge in rigging and knotting. I started collecting books on knots and really learning more and more. That's how it started.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-petit/i-needed-more-knowledge-in-rigging-and-knotting-i-started-collecting/) [Philippe Petit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-petit/) > [Physics is the only real science. The rest are just stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/physics-is-the-only-real-science-the-rest-are-just-stamp-collecting/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [Some prescient American collectors, including Vicki and Kent Logan and Mera and Donald Rubell, began collecting Chinese art before 2000 with a genuine passion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-glimcher/some-prescient-american-collectors-including-vicki-and-kent-logan-and/) [Arne Glimcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-glimcher/) > [If I collected all the diamonds in the world, I'd have no 'income' but I'd have a lot of 'assets'. Would my company be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/if-i-collected-all-the-diamonds-in-the-world-i-d-have-no-income-but-i/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) Browse all 493 Collecting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sometimes I think we're on this world for three reasons: to be useful, to tell each other stories and to collect stuff. It's the only explanation for eBay. 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