quotations about wealth
Nought is there in wealth
That serves as bulwark 'gainst the subtle stealth
Of Destiny and Doom.
AESCHYLUS
Agamemnon
Wealth is power, and power is the only thing about which contemporary culture cares.
DEAN KOONTZ
Brother Odd
I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.
MARK TWAIN
American Claimant
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
"The Deserted Village"
The most wanton torture is that of the rich trying to kill time.
LEWIS F. KORNS
Thoughts
Riches are but a means, or instrument; and the virtue of an instrument lies in its use.
BENJAMIN WHICHCOTE
Moral and Religious Aphorisms
Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.
REX STOUT
The Red Box
We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine
Wealth makes an ugly person beautiful to look on and an incoherent speech eloquent; and wealth alone can enjoy pleasure even in sickness and can conceal its miseries.
SOPHOCLES
fragment, The Sons of Aleus
That which can be lost cannot be deemed riches.
LEONARDO DA VINCI
Thoughts on Art and Life
Wealth is the Conjurer's Devil,
Whom, when he thinks he hath, the Devil hath him.
GEORGE HERBERT
The Church-Porch
Those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Great wealth and great poverty will disintegrate a nation in about the same time.
LEWIS F. KORNS
Thoughts
Our incomes should be like our shoes, if too small, they will gall and pinch us, but if too large, they will cause us to stumble and to trip. Wealth, after all, is a relative thing, since he that has little and wants less is richer than he that has much but wants more. True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Riches have never fascinated me, unless combined with the greatest charm or distinction.
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
letter to Ernest Hemingway, August 1936
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
A rich woman seems to have all her banknotes about her, guarding her virtue, like a cuirass, in the lining of her corset.
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
Madame Bovary
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
A little in one's own pocket is better than much in another man's purse.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES
Don Quixote
One of the biggest favours you can do yourself and your wealth is to address that gnawing "want", find tools to stop it getting out of control.
DAWN RIDLER
"Big wealth killers", Biz News, March 30, 2017