“If I gave you a treasure map, would you complain that it was only one page long?” It turned out the joke was on me. All of us place a subjective value on goods or services that may not relate to what they “should” be. Just as what we want and what we say we want aren’t always the same thing, the way we place a value on something isn’t always ratio

1. Nothing is free. To acquire anything requires an expenditure of time, energy, or money. (Not even natural resources can be used without an application of effort — whether that be cutting down a tree or picking up an apple.) 2. Anything you want that you can’t provide entirely for yourself requires an exchange with someone else. 3. A one-sided trans

“So, concerning the things we pursue, and for which we vigorously exert ourselves, we owe this consideration—either there is nothing useful in them, or most aren’t useful. Some of them are superfluous, while others aren’t worth that much. But we don’t discern this and see them as free, when they cost us dearly.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 42.6