quotations about wealth
Anyone, without any great penetration, may distinguish the dispositions consequent on wealth; for its possessors are insolent and overbearing, from being tainted in a certain way by the getting of their wealth. For they are affected as though they possessed every good; since wealth is a sort of standard of the worth of other things; whence every thing seems to be purchasable by it.
ARISTOTLE
Rhetoric
Wealth is the parent of luxury and indolence, and poverty of meanness and viciousness, and both of discontent.
PLATO
The Republic
But I have wealth he cannot touch,
Spoiler of kings!
For I have tasted agony
And worn joy's wings.
KARLE WILSON BAKER
"The Highwayman", Burning Bush
The first wealth is health.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
"Power", The Conduct of Life
Those that say they despise riches are saints or liars.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
The wealth of the richest 62 people grew by more than half a trillion dollars in that last half-decade, while the wealth of the poorest 50 percent of people globally decreased by more than $1 trillion during the same period. Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being sucked upwards at an alarming rate.
GILLIAN B. WHITE
"Where Is All the World's Money Going?", The Atlantic, January 19, 2016
As soon as I find myself in the presence of a rich man, I cannot help looking upon him as an exceptional and beautiful being, as a sort of marvellous divinity, and, in spite of myself, surmounting my will and my reason, I feel rising, from the depths of my being, toward this rich man, who is very often an imbecile, and sometimes a murderer, something like an incense of admiration. Is it not stupid? And why? Why?
OCTAVE MIRBEAU
The Diary of a Chambermaid
Flying under the radar also means you don't have to keep up with the Joneses. If people don't realize you're wealthy, they won't expect you to buy a bigger house, drive a nicer car, or shop at expensive stores. The pressure is off, so you are free to make whatever financial decisions are best for you.
SARAH WINFREY
"5 Reasons Stealth Wealth Is the Best Wealth", WiseBread, March 24, 2017
Capitalist production, therefore, develops technology, and the combining together of various processes into a social whole, only by sapping the original sources of all wealth -- the soil and the labourer.
KARL MARX
Capital
Wealth flows from energy and ideas.
WILLIAM FEATHER
Forbes, Volume 135
Wealth hath never given happiness, but often hastened misery.
MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER
Proverbial Philosophy
Real estate is at the core of almost every business, and it's certainly at the core of most people's wealth. In order to build your wealth and improve your business smarts, you need to know about real estate.
DONALD TRUMP
Think Like a Billionaire
The wealthy seldom possess wealth: oftener they are possessed by it.
IVAN PANIN
Thoughts
Luxury is artificial poverty; and no man has so much care as he who endeavours after the most riches.
WELLINS CALCOTT
Thoughts Moral and Divine
Wisdom ruleth in counsel -- so do riches.
LANCELOT ANDREWES
Ninety-six Sermons
When a fortune comes without calling, it's apt to leave without asking.
GEORGE HORACE LORIMER
Old Gorgon Graham
A rich man is an honest man--no thanks to him; for he would be a double knave, to cheat mankind when he had no need of it: he has no occasion to press upon his integrity, nor so much as to touch upon the borders of dishonesty.
DANIEL DEFOE
Robinson Crusoe
The great thing about having been poor is how liberated it makes you if you eventually become rich. There's nothing like the knowledge that you don't need money to survive. That the money cushion you lie on every night doesn't have to be three feet thick, and you can still get to sleep.
BILL MAHER
"The Great Thing About Having Been Poor", HuffPost, March 1, 2012
Wealth is a tide which flows into one place by ebbing from another.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
Wealth is not just a matter of money. Wealth is also about power, status, opportunity, identity, and self-image. Wealth confers transformative advantages, while lack of it brings tremendous disadvantages. A family's income reflects educational and occupational achievements, but wealth is needed to solidify these achievements to build a solid foundation of economic security. Wealth is a fundamental pillar of economic security, and without it, hard-won gains are easily lost.
THOMAS M. SHAPIRO
"How Did America's Wealth Inequality Reach This Level of Toxic?", AlterNet, April 11, 2017