Question of morals: Quantity vs Quality

QUANTITY VS QUALITY

I will discuss the notion of progress and quality of life.

First I will talk about economic progress and I have chosen this graph about total minutes worked per day in different countries in the world.

It's a recent graph which shows which countries work the longest. We can see that Asian countries as Japan, China and Korea work a lot, and they are paid most of the time despite a little unpaid work. However the US and France are behind them and the country where people work the least is Denmark. So we can deduce that people in Asian countries work a lot but probably don't see their families often.They just think about work to improve their economic situation. This is a form of  progress for globalization and that is why Asian countries are really important nowadays and compete with the US for example. But maybe, this economic progress has a negative impact on the quality of life of people in these countries.



Secondly, I’ve chosen this story with a moral lesson to represent quality and discuss quality of life.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
 The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the remaining open areas of the jar. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.” “Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.” 
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party, or fix the disposal.” “Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”


The author is unknown, unfortunately. This story is about a professor with his students who teaches them a great moral lesson with rocks and sand in a jar. He explains that there are a few priorities in life such as family and health that are much more important than everything else. Even if you work a lot and have a lot of money you will not be happy if you cannot spend time with your family or if you are too tired.  These sentences show a lot of true things that we meet during our lives and this story can encourage the reader to see life differently.


 To conclude, for me, quality is more important than quantity and these examples demonstrate it.  Of course the problem of quantity vs quality is related to the question of economic progress because people don't think about quality when they don't have food or a house to live in. In western Europe there is a better balance between quality and quantity because the economic conditions are good in general.