What Did Joseph Heller Say He Had That the Billionaire Would Never Have?

Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller were at a party at a billionaire's enormous estate. Vonnegut gestured at the opulence and said: 'Can you believe this? This guy has everything.'

Heller smiled. 'I have something he'll never have.'

'What could you possibly have that he doesn't?'

'Enough.'

Derek Sivers tells this story near the end of 'Anything You Want,' right after explaining what he did when he sold CD Baby for $22 million. He didn't celebrate. He didn't buy a house. He didn't start a fund or build an empire. He gave it away and went to bed.

'I slept longer than I had in months,' he wrote.

The Vonnegut/Heller exchange is often quoted alone. But what makes it land in Sivers's book is what comes next: 'The less I own, the happier I am. The lack of stuff gives me the priceless freedom to live anywhere anytime.'

He wasn't performing simplicity. He had discovered it. Heller's word — enough — isn't about scarcity. It's about knowing when the cup is full and choosing not to keep pouring.

What would it feel like to look at what you already have and say: this is enough?

Not settling. Not giving up. Just: full.