Seek not proud wealth; but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly, yet have not any abstract or friarly contempt of it.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
By desiring little, a poor man makes himself rich.
—Democritus (c.460–c.370 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
If your riches are yours, why don’t you take them with to the other world?
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Whatever a person saves from his revenue he adds to his capital, and either employs it himself in maintaining an additional number of productive hands, or enables some person to do so … for a share of profits. As the capital of an individual can be increased only by what he saves … so the capital of a society can be increased only in the same manner.
—Adam Smith (1723–90) Scottish Philosopher, Economist
Gross and vulgar minds will always pay a higher respect to wealth than to talent; for wealth, although it be a far less efficient source of power than talent, happens to be far more intelligible.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
There is no security against the perils of wealth except in becoming rich toward God.
—Charles Simmons (1924–2017) American Editor, Novelist
It is easy to be generous with other people’s money.
—Latin Proverb
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
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
What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
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
No one should be rich except those who understand it.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
THERE was a man in our town, and he was wondrous rich;
He gave away his millions to the colleges and sich;
And people cried: The hypocrite! He ought to understand
The ones who really need him are the children of this land.
When Andrew Croesus built a home for children who were sick,
The people said they rather thought he did it as a trick,
And writers said: He thinks about the drooping girls and boys,
But what about conditions with the men whom he employs?
There was a man in our town who said that he would share
His profits with his laborers, for that was only fair,
And people said: Oh, isn’t he the shrewd and foxy gent?
It cost him next to nothing for that free advertisement.
There was a man in our town who had the perfect plan
To do away with poverty and other ills of man,
But he feared the public jeering, and the folks who would defame him,
So he never told the plan he had, and I can hardly blame him.
—Franklin P. Adams (1881–1960) American Columnist, Radio Personality, Author
Enough is often too much in our material world, but seldom enough in our material world.
—Bob Woodward (b.1943) American Investigative Journalist, Author
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
I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow who used to say, Take care of the pence, for the pounds will take care of themselves.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
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
Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Poor men seek meat for their stomachs, rich men stomachs for their meat.
—English Proverb
I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
We do not commonly find men of superior sense amongst those of the highest fortune.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
It is far more easy to acquire a fortune like a knave than to expend it like a gentleman.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The more you learn what to do with yourself, and the more you do for others, the more you will learn to enjoy the abundant life.
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.
—Anonymous
I would rather have a million friends than a million dollars.
—Eddie Rickenbacker (1890–1973) American Aviator
Fell luxury! more perilous to youth than storms or quicksands, poverty or chains.
—Hannah More
Another advantage of being rich is that all your faults are called eccentricities.
—Anonymous
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
The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was free for him to administer during life, will pass away “unwept, unhonored, and unsung,” no matter to what uses he leave the dross which he cannot take with him. Of such as these the public verdict will then be: “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” Such, in my opinion, is the true gospel concerning wealth, obedience to which is destined some day to solve the problem of the rich and the poor.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist