Paul Graham has too much stuff.

The worst stuff in this respect may be stuff you don’t use much because it’s too good. Nothing owns you like fragile stuff. For example, the “good china” so many households have, and whose defining quality is not so much that it’s fun to use, but that one must be especially careful not to break it.

Another way to resist acquiring stuff is to think of the overall cost of owning it. The purchase price is just the beginning. You’re going to have to think about that thing for years—perhaps for the rest of your life. Every thing you own takes energy away from you. Some give more than they take. Those are the only things worth having.

We in the Lawrence Household pride ourselves on how little stuff we accumulate. We buy about 10% of things that we think we want to buy but still we buy about 50% too much.

Less stuff. It’s what’s good for you.