The most conspicuous activities that we see going on in the
community are usually those that have to do with earning a living
or the production of wealth. [Footnote: The activities by which we
earn a living are also the activities by which wealth is produced.
It is important to understand that when we speak of "wealth" we do
not necessarily mean GREAT wealth. A boy who has a fifty-cent
knife, or a girl who has a twenty-five-cent purse, has wealth as
truly as the man who owns a well-stocked farm. The difference is
merely in kind and amount. Food, clothing, houses, books, tools,
cattle, are all forms of wealth. ANY material thing, for which we
are willing to work and make sacrifices because it satisfies our
wants, is wealth. Earning a living is merely earning or producing
wealth to satisfy our wants and those of others.] Indeed, some
people become so absorbed in the business of earning a living that
they seem to be LIVING TO EARN rather than EARNING TO LIVE. It
does not do to forget that not EARNING, but LIVING, is the real
end in view. Unless we know how to use what we earn to provide
properly for all of our normal wants, the effort we spend in
earning is very largely wasted.

Nevertheless, before we can enjoy a living it has to be earned, by
ourselves or by someone else; and the activities by which it is
earned occupy so important a place in our lives, are so closely
dependent upon the community, have so much to do with our
citizenship, and receive so much attention from government, that
we must give them some consideration in this chapter and several
chapters following.

IMPORTANCE OF VOCATIONAL LIFE