Call me a scoundrel, only call me rich!
All ask how great my riches are, but none
Whether my soul is good.[ἔα με κερδαίνοντα κεκλῆσθαι κακόν]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 181 (Nauck, TGF) (c. 430 BC) [tr. Gummere (1925)]
(Source)
Barnes frag. 65. Found (in Latin) in Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, 115.14:Sine me vocari pessimum, ut dives vocer.
An dives, omnes quaerimus, nemo, an bonus.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:If any gain ensue, I am content.
To be term'd wicked. We all ask this question,
Whether a man be rich, not whether virtuous.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Let me be called a scoundrel, but a rich one.
We all ask if he’s rich, not if he’s good.
[Source]