quotations about wealth
The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a crime forgotten, for it was properly done.
HONORE DE BALZAC
Père Goriot
Wealth is power, and power is the only thing about which contemporary culture cares.
DEAN KOONTZ
Brother Odd
Wealth has never the value to its possessor as it is supposed to have by an avaricious admirer.
ANTHONY LISLE
The Westminster Review, January 1914
The most wanton torture is that of the rich trying to kill time.
LEWIS F. KORNS
Thoughts
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
"The Deserted Village"
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
We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine
Those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
I spend my life hustling for small money, staying one step ahead of de police. But I will not do dat all my life. You see, I done read Napoleon Hill and as a thinking man, and with de grace of God, I go be millionaire before I reach thirty.
CHRIS ABANI
Graceland
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
If you are rich, you have to be an idiot not to stay rich. And if you are poor, you have to be really smart to get rich.
JOHN GREEN
"The Greek Debt Crisis Explained in Four Minutes", YouTube
I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.
MARK TWAIN
American Claimant
Successfully navigating wealth is a bit like flying a jetliner -- two, well-matched wings are required. One strong and one weak wing won't do; failure of either wing is catastrophic. In many families that flounder, the "planning wing" has received disproportionate attention -- trusts are established, advisors are in place, tax strategies are adopted and investment approaches are calibrated. The planning is superb. But, these complex structures comprise only one wing of the plane, and the other is equally important: family "culture."
MATTHEW WESLEY
"Wealth Planning Structures Must Match Family Cultures", Wealth Management, April 5, 2017
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
Wealth is the Conjurer's Devil,
Whom, when he thinks he hath, the Devil hath him.
GEORGE HERBERT
The Church-Porch
I account the office of benefactor, or almoner, to which God appoints all those whom he has favored with wealth, one of the most honorable and delightful in the world. He never institutes a channel for the passage of His bounties that those bounties do not enrich and beautify.
JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND
Gold-Foil
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
We may see the small value God has for riches by the people he gives them to.
ALEXANDER POPE
"Thoughts on Various Subjects"
Riches are but a means, or instrument; and the virtue of an instrument lies in its use.
BENJAMIN WHICHCOTE
Moral and Religious Aphorisms
He who has wealth has friends.
CHANAKYA
Vridda-Chanakya