Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived
Not the Dalai Lama — a paraphrase of James J. LachardJames J. Lachard (pen name of Jim Brown)English writer · fl. late 20th century · author of “An Interview with God”
The Dalai Lama never said this. As Wikiquote lists it among his misattributed lines ↗, the passage is “a loose adaptation” of the prose piece “I Dreamed I Had an Interview with God” by James J. Lachard (a pen name of the English writer Jim Brown), later published as An Interview with God. Lachard’s original reads “that they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health… they live as if they will never die and die as if they had never lived” — the widely shared Dalai Lama version is an expanded paraphrase of that.
“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived” Not the Dalai Lama. The line is an expanded paraphrase of "I Dreamed I Had an Interview with God" by James J. Lachard (pen name of Jim Brown), published as "An Interview with God" (ed. Reata Strickland, Simon & Schuster, 2002). Wikiquote lists it among the Dalai Lama's misattributed quotes.
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Dalai Lama. Use the credit shown above instead.
Can you use it?
? We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.
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In context
Evoking the world of James J. Lachard (Jim Brown) — pen name of Jim Brown · author of "An Interview with God". Theme: "Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
The real source
Work
“I Dreamed I Had an Interview with God” (published as An Interview with God)
Author
James J. Lachard (pen name of Jim Brown)
Editor / publisher
Reata Strickland, ed.; Simon & Schuster, 2002 (ISBN 0743229576)
Viral since
Circulated anonymously online from May 2001; later mis-pinned to the Dalai Lama
And God answered: “That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and die as if they had never lived.”
Original prose, not a Dalai Lama address
Lachard’s original wording. The long “Man. Because he sacrifices his health…” version attributed to the Dalai Lama is a later expanded paraphrase of these lines.
New Testament scholar Mark Goodacre investigated the line on his NT Blog ↗ and concluded bluntly that there is no record of the Dalai Lama saying it.
The Center for Global Leadership blog ↗ traces the piece to James J. Lachard (Jim Brown) and preserves the original wording — “lose their health to make money… live as if they will never die.”
A Jamaica Gleaner fact-check ↗ uses the quote as a case study, noting it is misattributed and that the real source is Jim Brown’s An Interview with God.
The exact viral wording attributed to the Dalai Lama is an anonymous, expanded paraphrase with no single authoritative published source in that form, so no clean copyright status can be asserted. Its underlying source — James J. Lachard’s “An Interview with God” (published 2002) — is a modern, in-copyright work; the Dalai Lama did not write it.
Fact-check
Who really said it
This is one of the internet’s classic feel-good misattributions: a reflective passage pinned to the Dalai Lama’s face and framed as his answer to “what surprises you most about humanity?” It is not his.
✕
The famous long “Man. Because he sacrifices his health…” versionThe Dalai Lama Misattributed
The underlying proseJames J. Lachard (pen name of Jim Brown) True source
The passage is a paraphrase of Lachard’s “I Dreamed I Had an Interview with God,” which spread anonymously from 2001 and was published as An Interview with God, edited by Reata Strickland ↗.
✓Bottom line: the thought and phrasing come from James J. Lachard’s “An Interview with God,” expanded into a paraphrase and mis-pinned to the Dalai Lama — whose own reference works do not contain it ↗.
Context
Why it spread
The passage rings true as spiritual wisdom, and the Dalai Lama is a magnet for such lines — a smiling, saintly face that lends instant authority to any uplifting aphorism. Once an anonymous inspirational piece detached from its author in 2001, editors and social-media posters filled the vacuum by crediting the most quotable holy man they could think of.
The irony, as several fact-checkers note, is that a passage about not living authentically became a case study in how the internet strips words from their real authors.
A meditation on living falsely, itself living under a false name.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
20th-century English writer · pen name of Jim Brown · author of “An Interview with God”
“James J. Lachard” was a pen name used by the English writer Jim Brown for a short inspirational piece, “I Dreamed I Had an Interview with God.” The unpublished manuscript leaked online and, after web designer Reata Strickland posted an anonymous copy on an Alabama church website in May 2001, it went viral and was published by Simon & Schuster in 2002 as An Interview with God, with Strickland credited as editor rather than author. The health-and-money passage comes from that piece — not from any speech or writing of the Dalai Lama.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Primary source
James J. Lachard [Jim Brown], “I Dreamed I Had an Interview with God,” in An Interview with God, ed. Reata Strickland (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002). Misattribution documented at Wikiquote, “Dalai Lama (Misattributed).”
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived’?” Last verified 14 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/man-because-he-sacrifices-his-health-in-order-to-make-money