You don’t have to pick between doing good and doing well. Plenty of people build careers that do both.

The choice gets presented as arithmetic when it is mostly a story, and both sides have reasons to keep telling it. Believe that useful work must pay badly and you will excuse the pay. Believe that paid work must be hollow and you will excuse the hollowness. In practice nurses, electricians, teachers, engineers and plenty of others get paid for work that leaves a place better than they found it.

Instead of picking a side, go collect examples. Ask two adults whose work you respect how they ended up there and whether it covers their life. Real answers from real people beat the slogan every time.