The only question with wealth is, what do you do with it?
—John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) American Oil Magnate, Philanthropist
If a rich man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, leisure, and liberty.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
Riches enlarge rather than satisfy appetites.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
I don’t mind their having a lot of money, and I don’t care how they employ it, but I do think that they damn well ought to admit they enjoy it.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
In the practical as in the theoretic life, the man whose acquisitions stick is the man who is always achieving and advancing, whilst his neighbors, spending most of their time in relearning what they once knew but have forgotten, simply hold their own.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
The best condition in life is not to be so rich as to be envied nor so poor as to be damned.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.
—Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) British Actor
Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The poor are the only consistent altruists; they sell all they have and give it to the rich.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
Everything you need you already have. You are complete right now, you are a whole, total person, not an apprentice person on the way to someplace else. Your completeness must be understood by you and experienced in your thoughts as your own personal reality.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
Sometimes the best gain is to lose.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
What real good does an addition to a fortune, already sufficient, procure? Not any. Could the great man, by having his fortune increased, increase also his appetites, then precedence might be attended with real enjoyment.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
Wherever there is excessive wealth, there is also in its train excessive poverty, as where the sun is highest, the shade is deepest.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
Although they posses enough, and more than enough still they yearn for more.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Wealth maketh many friends.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
A rich man is either a scoundrel or the heir of a scoundrel.
—Spanish Proverb
The jests of the rich are ever successful.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a great fortune, and when you have got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
O, what a world of vile ill-favored faults, looks handsome in three hundred pounds a year!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
—Buddhist Teaching
Don’t knock the rich. When did a poor person give you a job?
—Laurence J. Peter (1919–90) Canadian-born American Educator, Author
Lampis the ship owner, on being asked how he acquired his great wealth, replied, “My great wealth was acquired with no difficulty, but my small wealth, my first gains, with much labor.”
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
The trouble is that rich people, well-to-do people, very often don’t really know who the poor are; and that is why we can forgive them, for knowledge can only lead to love, and love to service. And so, if they are not touched by them, it’s because they do not know them.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
You can’t take it with you when you go.
—Common Proverb
Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies one want, it doubles and trebles that want another way. That was a true proverb of the wise man, rely upon it; Better is little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure, and trouble therewith.
—Thomas Browne (1605–82) English Author, Physician
When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him whose?
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Author
If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
The only thing wealth does for some people is to make them worry about losing it.
—Antoine de Rivarol (1753–1801) French Writer, Epigrammatist
Every gain made by individuals or societies is almost instantly taken for granted. The luminous ceiling toward which we raise our longing eyes becomes, when we have climbed to the next floor, a stretch of disregarded linoleum beneath our feet.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
Men pursue riches under the idea that their possession will set them at ease and above the world. But the law of association often makes those who begin by loving gold as a servant, finish by becoming its slaves; and independence without wealth is at least as common as wealth without independence.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The main source of our wealth is goodness. The affections and the generous qualities that God admires in a world full of greed.
—Alfred A. Montapert (1906–97) American Engineer, Philosopher
Wealth acquired by vanity shall be diminished; but he that gathers it by labor shall increase.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
If the majority of people of a country, no matter how great its natural resources, organize and conspire to get more out and put less in, to do less and get more, how long will, how long can it last?
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
Every man of ambition has to fight his century with its own weapons. What this century worships is wealth. The God of this century is wealth. To succeed one must have wealth. At all costs one must have wealth.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.
—George Goodman (b.1930) American Economist, Author
Money will buy you a bed, but not a good night’s sleep, a house but not a home, a companion but not a friend.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
A nation’s economic salvation does not lie in the amount of money its rich inhabitants can squander recklessly. A nation’s economic salvation lies in the amount of money its inhabitants can save and invest after providing themselves with all the necessaries and all the reasonable comforts of life.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not.
—Akhenaten (1378BCE–1348BCE) Egyptian Monarch, Religious Leader
The petty economies of the rich are just as amazing as the silly extravagances of the poor.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
Say not you know another entirely till you have divided an inheritance with him.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
There is no security against the perils of wealth except in becoming rich toward God.
—Charles Simmons (1924–2017) American Editor, Novelist
Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort, and like them, are often successfully cured by remedies in themselves very nauseous and unpalatable.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
In all the thrashing about that results from our dwindling gold reserves, it’s about time that this country and other countries get some perspective on the situation. The day this country is out of the stuff, that day gold becomes what it’s worth as a metal and no longer will have much significance as a monetary measurement. It isn’t the gold we have that makes this nation rich. It’s what we make, our knowhow, our productivity. So long as this country produces more and better, the world will continue to want what we make.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist