I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never

In the quiet depths of human longing, the words of Imelda Marcos resound like an ancient bell: “I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.” Though spoken in the modern age, this wisdom carries the weight of the ancients. It is a reminder that material wealth, no matter how dazzling, is a poor substitute for the living warmth of love, loyalty, and spirit. The gold and jewels that glitter so brightly soon lose their luster, while the heart that loves remains luminous through every season of life.

The origin of this thought reaches far deeper than the woman who spoke it. Across the centuries, wise souls have warned against the seduction of possessions. The sages of old knew that objects are silent companions; they do not rejoice in our victories nor comfort us in sorrow. They remain cold when our hearts burn and indifferent when our spirits break. To love what cannot love us back is to place our soul in exile, to build a temple of devotion upon shifting sand.

Consider the tale of King Midas, whose touch turned all he loved into gold. In his hunger for wealth, he embraced his daughter and watched her turn to lifeless metal. His tears fell upon her golden face, yet she did not stir. From his tragedy we learn that to worship material things is to invite ruin, for they answer our devotion only with emptiness. Midas’s palace was filled with treasure, yet he dwelt within it as a beggar of love. Thus, Imelda Marcos’s words echo the old truth—that the heart’s true home cannot be built of gold or stone, but of affection, virtue, and spirit.

Yet irony cloaks this saying, for Marcos herself became a symbol of opulence—of a woman surrounded by shoes, jewels, and luxury. Perhaps her words were both confession and prayer: a glimpse of what she once believed, and what she may have lost along the way. In her voice, one can almost hear the ache of remembrance—the faint echo of a father’s teaching drowned beneath the roar of worldly ambition. Thus, her statement becomes not only advice but warning: that even those who know the truth can be swept away by the tide of desire if their hearts are not anchored in love.

The ancient teachers tell us that the soul is nourished not by possession but by connection. When we give our hearts to people, to ideals, or to the pursuit of goodness, our love multiplies and returns to us, radiant and alive. When we give it to lifeless things, it decays. Like a seed buried in barren soil, it bears no fruit. The wise man learns to cherish what breathes, what speaks, what feels. He finds wealth in kindness, loyalty in friendship, eternity in love.

Let us look, too, to the humble story of Saint Francis of Assisi, who cast away riches and power to embrace poverty and compassion. He walked barefoot among the poor, finding joy in the whisper of the wind, the laughter of children, the songs of birds. Though he owned nothing, he was richer than kings, for he had learned the sacred truth: that love, not gold, sustains the soul. His example calls to us still—to value the living over the lifeless, the eternal over the fleeting.

The lesson, then, is clear as morning light: Do not give your heart to what cannot love you back. Cherish your relationships. Guard your integrity. Invest your passion in people and purposes that return warmth for warmth, meaning for meaning. When you feel the pull of vanity or greed, pause and remember: no object, no title, no treasure will ever whisper your name with tenderness when you are gone.

If you would live wisely, let your love be a living flame—direct it toward family, friendship, learning, and service. Tend it daily with compassion, and let no shadow of material desire dim its light. For the heart that loves wisely becomes unbreakable, and the soul that walks in this truth will never be poor. So let these words of old ring in your spirit: Never love anything that cannot love you back. It is the path of peace, of freedom, and of a joy that no riches can ever buy.