It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.

The remark expresses a recurring Russellian theme: that anxiety over property and material security narrows the self and distorts values. “Preoccupation” suggests not mere ownership but mental captivity—worrying about acquiring, protecting, and comparing possessions. For Russell, such fixation diverts energy from the pursuits that make life “free and noble”: intellectual curiosity, affection, public-spirited action, and the cultivation of character. The line also echoes older moral traditions (Stoic and Christian critiques of avarice) while remaining secular: the problem is psychological and social, not metaphysical. In modern terms, Russell is diagnosing consumerism’s tendency to trade autonomy and dignity for status and accumulation.