Intellectual Freedom Through Financial Independence

"The beauty is that whatever is left is mine to spend as I like. That has freed me up to do the crazy things I do. And spending millions on sculptures on some paddocks in the Kaipara is aberrant behaviour from an economic point of view, the money is written off and gone, like buying an ice-cream, there’s no way I could recoup it by selling The Farm. That seems to upset some of my contemporaries, but to me it is the essence of freedom."

"After I got over trying to find the purpose of life and realised that being a hippy was too boring, I concluded the best I could do is to keep stimulated and interested, and that’s not about money. It’s about reading, travelling and having a few challenges; you don’t need a lot of money to do that. Freedom is an attitude of mind."

"He was leaving New Zealand while at the very height of his powers. Gibbs was one of the nation’s half-dozen wealthiest individuals, a leading director of its biggest public company (Telecom), co-owner of one of its most successful private companies (Freightways), a major shareholder in one of the nation’s most promising start-up companies (Sky Television), which was soon to go public, a director of its largest brewer (Lion Nathan), as well as a leading member of the Business Roundtable and of the ACT party. He might have looked forward to a gentle transition into Grand Old Man of New Zealand company directorships and a stalwart of the cocktail set. But such a lifestyle never held much appeal to him. In his late fifties he wanted fresh challenges, not to ride on past accomplishments."