The rich man has his motor car,
His country and his town estate
He smokes a fifty-cent cigar
And jeers at fate.
Yet though my lamp burn low and dim,
Though I must slave for livelihood,
Think you that I would change with him?
You bet I would!
—Franklin P. Adams (1881–1960) American Journalist, Columnist, Author
Speculation is the romance of trade, and casts contempt upon all its sober realities. It renders the stock-jobber a magician, and the exchange a region of enchantment.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions, but in the fewness of my wants.
—Joseph Brotherton (1783–1857) English Politician, Reformer
Riches are not an end of life, but an instrument of life.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
A penny is a lot of money, if you have not got a penny.
—Yiddish Proverb
A wise man’s day is worth a fool’s life.
—Arabic Proverb
For a person to build a rich and rewarding life for himself, there are certain qualities and bits of knowledge that he needs to acquire. There are also things, harmful attitudes, superstitions, and emotions that he needs to chip away. A person needs to chip away everything that doesn’t look like the person he or she most wants to become.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
The petty economies of the rich are just as amazing as the silly extravagances of the poor.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker. The example of great and pure individuals is the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and irresistibly invites abuse. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
When the anger of the gods is incurred, wealth or power only bring more devastating punishment.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
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 Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Let us not envy some men their accumulated riches; their burden would be too heavy for us; we could not sacrifice, as they do, health, quiet, honor, and conscience, to obtain them: it is to pay so dear for them that the bargain is a loss.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
It is great wealth to a soul to live frugally with a contented mind.
—Lucretius (c.99–55 BCE) Roman Epicurean Poet, Philosopher
To whom can riches give repute, or trust, content, or pleasure, but the good and the just?
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Wealth, howsoever got, in England makes lords of mechanics, gentlemen of rakes; Antiquity and birth are needless here; ‘Tis impudence and money makes a peer.
—Daniel Defoe (1659–1731) English Writer, Journalist, Pamphleteer
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
A miser grows rich by seeming poor; an extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich.
—William Shenstone (1714–63) British Poet, Landscape Gardener
Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, leisure, and liberty.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
A high station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Glamour cannot exist without personal social envy being a common and widespread emotion.
—John Berger (1926–2017) English Art Critic, Novelist
Every man thinks God is on his side. The rich and powerful know he is.
—Jean Anouilh (1910–87) French Dramatist
About the only difference between the poor and the rich, is this, the poor suffer misery, while the rich have to enjoy it.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Many speak the truth when they say that they despise riches, but they mean the riches possessed by other men.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
You can’t take it with you when you go.
—Common Proverb
The million covet wealth, but how few dream of its perils! Few are aware of the extent to which it ministers to the baser passions of our nature; of the selfishness it engenders; the arrogance which it feeds; the self-security which it inspires; the damage which it does to all the nobler feelings and holier aspirations of the heart!
—John Neal (1793–1876) American Editor, Poet, Novelist, Critic
The world at large does not judge us by who we are and what we know; it judges us by what we have.
—Joyce Brothers (1927–2013) American Psychologist, Advice Columnist
Riches do not delight us so much with their possession, as torment us with their loss.
—Dick Gregory (1932–2017) American Comedian, Civil Rights Activist
There are two times in a man’s life when he shouldn’t speculate: when he can afford to and when he can’t.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Leave a Reply