quotations about wealth
Beauty and strength were, both of them, much esteemed;
Then wealth was discovered and soon after gold
Which quickly became more honoured than strength or beauty.
For men, however strong or beautiful,
Generally follow the train of a richer man.
LUCRETIUS
De Rerum Natura
I call this inequality toxic because, over time and generations, it builds upon itself. Wealth and race map together to consolidate historic injustices, which now weave through neighborhoods and housing markets, educational institutions, and labor markets, creating an increasingly divided opportunity structure. So long as we have entrenched wealth inequality intertwined with racial inequality, we cannot even begin to bend the arc toward equity.
THOMAS M. SHAPIRO
"How Did America's Wealth Inequality Reach This Level of Toxic?", AlterNet, April 11, 2017
Wealth is power, and power is the only thing about which contemporary culture cares.
DEAN KOONTZ
Brother Odd
I spend my life hustling for small money, staying one step ahead of de police. But I will not do dat all my life. You see, I done read Napoleon Hill and as a thinking man, and with de grace of God, I go be millionaire before I reach thirty.
CHRIS ABANI
Graceland
The most wanton torture is that of the rich trying to kill time.
LEWIS F. KORNS
Thoughts
We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine
Let us not envy a certain class of men for their enormous riches; they have paid such an equivalent for them that it would not suit us; they have given for them their peace of mind, their health, their honour, and their conscience; this is rather too dear, and there is nothing to be made out of such a bargain.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of the Gifts of Fortune", Les Caractères
Those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
I account the office of benefactor, or almoner, to which God appoints all those whom he has favored with wealth, one of the most honorable and delightful in the world. He never institutes a channel for the passage of His bounties that those bounties do not enrich and beautify.
JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND
Gold-Foil
Rich isn't an amount of money, it's a mindset about how you live. If you believe you can win, you can.
DAVE RAMSEY
daily tip, official Dave Ramsey website
Successfully navigating wealth is a bit like flying a jetliner -- two, well-matched wings are required. One strong and one weak wing won't do; failure of either wing is catastrophic. In many families that flounder, the "planning wing" has received disproportionate attention -- trusts are established, advisors are in place, tax strategies are adopted and investment approaches are calibrated. The planning is superb. But, these complex structures comprise only one wing of the plane, and the other is equally important: family "culture."
MATTHEW WESLEY
"Wealth Planning Structures Must Match Family Cultures", Wealth Management, April 5, 2017
The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a crime forgotten, for it was properly done.
HONORE DE BALZAC
Père Goriot
A little in one's own pocket is better than much in another man's purse.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES
Don Quixote
Almost every wealthy man in this country will tell you that his greatest satisfaction and happiest days were when he was emerging from poverty into a competency; when he first felt the tonic from the swelling of his small savings towards the stream of fortune, and knew that want would no longer dog his steps.
ORISON SWETT MARDEN
The Miracle of Right Thought
Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.
G. K. CHESTERTON
A Miscellany of Men
If you are rich, you have to be an idiot not to stay rich. And if you are poor, you have to be really smart to get rich.
JOHN GREEN
"The Greek Debt Crisis Explained in Four Minutes", YouTube
In my years of working with people and their money, I can tell you that money is not their true wealth. Now, I am fully for working on and accumulation of one's net worth. Your net worth is the total of your assets minus your liabilities. Net worth is what we have to show for years of hard work, and rightfully it should add up to something significant. But your money, or even your net worth, is not your true wealth. Rather, True Wealth is all that money can't buy.
LOUANN SCHULFER
"Schulfer: Wealth money can't buy", Stevens Point Journal, February 3, 2016
Riches have never fascinated me, unless combined with the greatest charm or distinction.
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
letter to Ernest Hemingway, August 1936
We may see the small value God has for riches by the people he gives them to.
ALEXANDER POPE
"Thoughts on Various Subjects"
Wealth is the Conjurer's Devil,
Whom, when he thinks he hath, the Devil hath him.
GEORGE HERBERT
The Church-Porch