Quotations about:
    avarice


Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.


Be civil, then, to young and old,
Especially to persons who
Possess a quantity of gold
Which they might leave to you.
The more they have, it seems to me,
The more polite you ought to be.

Harry Graham (1874-1936) English journalist, poet, stage lyricist
“Politeness”
 
Added on 30-Jan-17 | Last updated 30-Jan-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Graham, Harry

By fixing men’s minds, not upon the discharge of social obligations, which restricts their energy, because it defines the goal to which it should be directed, but upon the exercise of the right to pursue their own self-interest, it offers unlimited scope for the acquisition of riches, and therefore gives free play to one of the most powerful of human instincts. To the strong it promises unfettered freedom for the exercise of their strength; to the weak the hope that they too one day may be strong. Before the eyes of both it suspends a golden prize, which not all can attain, but for which each may strive, the enchanting vision of infinite expansion. It assures men that there are no ends other than their ends, no law other than their desires, no limit other than that which they think advisable. Thus it makes the individual the center of his own universe, and dissolves moral principles into a choice of expediences.

R. H. Tawney (1880-1962) English writer, economist, historian, social critic [Richard Henry Tawney]
The Acquisitive Century, ch. 3 “The Acquisitive Society” (1920)
    (Source)
 
Added on 26-Jan-17 | Last updated 26-Jan-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Tawney, R. H.

During the greater part of the nineteenth century the significance of the opposition between the two principles of individual rights and social functions was masked by the doctrine of the inevitable harmony between private interests and public good. Competition, it was argued, was an effective substitute for honesty. Today … few now would profess adherence to the compound of economic optimism and moral bankruptcy which led a nineteenth century economist to say: “Greed is held in check by greed, and the desire for gain sets limits to itself.”

R. H. Tawney (1880-1962) English writer, economist, historian, social critic [Richard Henry Tawney]
The Acquisitive Century, ch. 3 “The Acquisitive Society” (1920)
    (Source)
 
Added on 5-Jan-17 | Last updated 5-Jan-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Tawney, R. H.

“Which of them shall be accounted greatest?” Let the churches stop trying to outstrip each other in the number of their adherents, the size of its sanctuary, the abundance of wealth. If we must compete let us compete to see which can move toward the greatest attainment of truth, the greatest service of the poor, and the greatest salvation of the soul and bodies of men. If the Church entered this kind of competition we can imagine what a better world this would be.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Cooperative Competition / Noble Competition,” sermon outline
    (Source)
 
Added on 30-Dec-16 | Last updated 30-Dec-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by King, Martin Luther

Money is that dear thing which
if you’re not careful, you can squander
your whole life thinking of …

salter-money-is-that-dear-thing-wist_info-quote

Mary Jo Salter (b. 1954) American poet, editor, academic
“A Benediction,” part 6, ll. 1-3 (1994)
 
Added on 26-Dec-16 | Last updated 26-Dec-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Salter, Mary Jo

The prouder a man is, the more he thinks he deserves; and the more he thinks he deserves, the less he really does deserve.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
Royal Truths (1866)
 
Added on 30-Aug-16 | Last updated 30-Aug-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Beecher, Henry Ward

When a nation forgets her skill in war, when her religion becomes a mockery, when the whole nation becomes a nation of money-grabbers, then the wild tribes, the barbarians drive in. … Who will our invaders be? From whence will they come?

Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) American author
Letter to Tevis Clyde Smith (Jul 1923)
 
Added on 24-May-16 | Last updated 24-May-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Howard, Robert E.

Kull was still mazed. “But being a wizard, having knowledge of all the ages and despising gold, glory, and position, what could Kaanuub offer Tuzun Thune that would make of him a foul traitor?”

“Gold, power, and position,” grunted Brule. “The sooner you learn that men are men whether wizard, king, or thrall, the better you will rule, Kull.”

Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) American author
“The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” (1929)
 
Added on 16-May-16 | Last updated 16-May-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Howard, Robert E.

Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the laborer, unless under compulsion from society.

Karl Marx (1818-1883) German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist
Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production (1873)
 
Added on 20-Apr-16 | Last updated 20-Apr-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Marx, Karl

To have money is a feare, not to have it a griefe.

George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 591 (1640 ed.)
    (Source)
 
Added on 24-Mar-16 | Last updated 22-Dec-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Herbert, George

The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.

Sterne - desire of knowledge - wist_info quote

Laurence Sterne (1713-1786) Anglo-Irish novelist, Anglican clergyman
Tristam Shandy, Book 1, ch. 3 (1760-1767)
 
Added on 3-Mar-16 | Last updated 3-Mar-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Sterne, Laurence

The good person loves people and uses things, while the bad person loves things and uses people.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight, ch. 4 (1982)
 
Added on 5-Jan-16 | Last updated 5-Jan-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Harris, Sydney J.

In private life, no motive of action is at present so powerful and so persistent as acquisitiveness, which, unlike most other desires, knows no satiety.

Inge - acquisitiveness - wist_info quote

William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
“Patriotism,” Outspoken Essays: First Series (1915)
 
Added on 21-Dec-15 | Last updated 4-Jan-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Inge, William Ralph

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.

Oprah Winfrey (b. 1954) American TV personality, actress
(Attributed)
 
Added on 19-Nov-15 | Last updated 19-Nov-15
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Winfrey, Oprah

The more lies are told, the more important it becomes for the liars to justify themselves by deep moral commitments to high-sounding objectives that mask the pursuit of money and power.

Bertram M. Gross (1912-1997) American social scientist, academic, bureaucrat
Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America, ch. 9 (1980)
 
Added on 30-Sep-15 | Last updated 30-Sep-15
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Gross, Bertram

Lust of absolute power is more burning than all the passions.

[Cupido dominandi cunctis affectibus flagrante est.]

Tacitus (c.56-c.120) Roman historian, orator, politician [Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus]
Annals, 15.53 (AD 117)
 
Added on 28-Jul-15 | Last updated 28-Jul-15
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Tacitus

Would you persuade, speak of Interest, not of Reason.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1734 ed.)
    (Source)
 
Added on 9-Jul-15 | Last updated 13-Feb-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Franklin, Benjamin

Wall Street, where enough is never enough.

Alison Leigh Cowan (contemp.) American journalist
“Divorce, Wall Street Style,” New York Times (22 Jan 1989)
 
Added on 7-Jul-15 | Last updated 7-Jul-15
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Cowan, Alison

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
“The Meaning of Life,” We Are Still Married (1989)
 
Added on 20-Nov-14 | Last updated 20-Nov-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Keillor, Garrison

I think if the church put in half the time on covetousness that it does on lust, this would be a better world for all of us.

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
Lake Wobegon Days (1985)
 
Added on 2-Oct-14 | Last updated 2-Oct-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Keillor, Garrison

The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.

Francis I (b. 1936) Argentinian Catholic Pope (2013- ) [b. Jorge Mario Bergoglio]
Evangelii Gaudium, sec. 56 (24 Nov 2013)
    (Source)
 
Added on 13-Aug-14 | Last updated 13-Aug-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Francis I (Pope)

Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

Francis I (b. 1936) Argentinian Catholic Pope (2013- ) [b. Jorge Mario Bergoglio]
Evangelii Gaudium, sec. 53 (24 Nov 2013)
    (Source)
 
Added on 6-Aug-14 | Last updated 6-Aug-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Francis I (Pope)

While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.

Francis I (b. 1936) Argentinian Catholic Pope (2013- ) [b. Jorge Mario Bergoglio]
Evangelii Gaudium, sec. 56 (24 Nov 2013)
    (Source)
 
Added on 30-Jul-14 | Last updated 30-Jul-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Francis I (Pope)

One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.

Francis I (b. 1936) Argentinian Catholic Pope (2013- ) [b. Jorge Mario Bergoglio]
Evangelii Gaudium, sec. 55 (24 Nov 2013)
    (Source)
 
Added on 23-Jul-14 | Last updated 23-Jul-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Francis I (Pope)

Behind this attitude lurks a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God. Ethics has come to be viewed with a certain scornful derision. It is seen as counterproductive, too human, because it makes money and power relative. It is felt to be a threat, since it condemns the manipulation and debasement of the person. In effect, ethics leads to a God who calls for a committed response which is outside the categories of the marketplace. When these latter are absolutized, God can only be seen as uncontrollable, unmanageable, even dangerous, since he calls human beings to their full realization and to freedom from all forms of enslavement. Ethics — a non-ideological ethics — would make it possible to bring about balance and a more humane social order. With this in mind, I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity: “Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs.”

Francis I (b. 1936) Argentinian Catholic Pope (2013- ) [b. Jorge Mario Bergoglio]
Evangelii Gaudium, sec. 57 (24 Nov 2013)
    (Source)

Quoting St. John Chrysostom, De Lazaro Concio, II, 6
 
Added on 16-Jul-14 | Last updated 16-Jul-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Francis I (Pope)

A miser grows rich by seeming poor; an extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich.

William Shenstone (1714-1763) English poet
“Of Men and Manners,” sec. 86, Men and Manners (1804)
    (Source)
 
Added on 14-Jul-14 | Last updated 14-Jul-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Shenstone, William

It is not want, but rather abundance, that creates avarice.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, ch. 40 (1588)
 
Added on 16-Jun-14 | Last updated 16-Jun-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Montaigne, Michel de

The state was endangered by two opposite vices, luxury and avarice; those pests which have ever been the ruin of every great state.

Livy (59 BC-AD 17) Roman historian [Titus Livius]
The History of Rome, Book 34, ch. 3 [tr. Baker (1836)]
    (Source)
 
Added on 9-Jun-14 | Last updated 9-Jun-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Livy

The darkest day in any man’s earthly career is that wherein he first fancies there is some easier way of gaining a dollar than by squarely earning it.

Horace Greeley (1881-1872) American newspaper editor, reformer, politician
(Attributed)

In Friends' Intelligencer (31 Aug 1867)
 
Added on 2-Jun-14 | Last updated 2-Jun-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Greeley, Horace

There are two considerations which always imbitter the heart of an avaricious man — the one is a perpetual thirst after more riches, the other the prospect of leaving what he has already acquired.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
(Attributed)

Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou, Treasury of Thought (1884)
 
Added on 19-May-14 | Last updated 19-May-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: ,
More quotes by Fielding, Henry

Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3 (1860)
    (Source)
 
Added on 12-May-14 | Last updated 22-Feb-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Ambition makes the same mistake concerning power, that avarice makes concerning wealth; she begins by accumulating power, as a mean to happiness, and she finishes by continuing to accumulate it, as an end.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 148 (1820)
    (Source)
 
Added on 28-Apr-14 | Last updated 31-Jan-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Colton, Charles Caleb

What the object of senile avarice may be I cannot conceive. For can there be anything more absurd than to seek more journey money, the less there remains of the journey?

[Avaritia vero senilis quid sibi velit, non intellego. Potest enim quicquam esse absurdius quam, quo viae minus restet, eo plus viatici quaerere?]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Senectute [Cato Maior; On Old Age], ch. 18 / sec. 65 (18.65) (44 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1900)]
    (Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Also I may not consceyue nor understande why avaryce & covetyse ought to be in an olde man for ther is no thyng more unreasonable nor more folyssh then is for to hepe gretter quantite of wordily goodes or of vitailles in the tyme when the man hath lesse wey for to endure & lyve.
[tr. Worcester/Worcester/Scrope (1481)]

But as for the avarice and covetousness of old men, I am not acquainted therewith, neither do I know what it meaneth. For what can be more absurd or repugnant to all reason than for a wayfaring man, when his journey is now almost dispatched and brought to an end, and hath but little way to go, to provide and furnish himself with the more victuals, and the shorter that his journey is, the more to seek and purvey for costage?
[tr. Newton (1569)]

But as for covetousnesse in age, I know not what it meanes; for there can be no greater absurdity, then when the journey is almost done, to take care to provide much more provision.
[tr. Austin (1648), ch. 19]

Of Age's avarice I cannot see
What colour, ground, or reason there should be,
Is it not folly? when the way we ride
Is short, for a long voyage to provide.
[tr. Denham (1669)]

As for Covetousness, and an eager Desire to heap up Riches in this World, when we are about to leave it, I must own, I know not what to make of it. For what in Nature can be more absurd, than to b e anxiously intent in making Provisions for our Journey, when we are almost at the End of it?
[tr. Hemming (1716)]

As to Covetousness, what it can profit an Old Man I am at a Loss to imagine. For what in Life can be more absurd, than to overstock ourselves with Provision, when we are nigh our Journey's End?
[tr. J. D. (1744)]

What covetousness in old men can mean, I must own, I cannot comprehend; for can any thing be more senselessly absurd, than that the nearer we are to our journey's end, we should still lay in the more provision for it.
[tr. Logan (1750)]

As to avarice, it is inconceivable for what purpose that passion should find admittance into an old man's breast. For surely nothing can be more irrational and absurd than to increase our provision for the road, the nearer we approach to our journey's end.
[tr. Melmoth (1773)]

But, as for avarice in an old man, I cannot understand what it purposes. For can anything be more absurd than to seek the more provisions the less remains of the journey?
[Cornish Bros. ed. (1847)]

What avarice in an old man can propose to itself I cannot conceive: for can anything be more absurd than, in proportion as less of our journey remains, to seek a greater supply of provisions?
[tr. Edmonds (1874)]

Avarice in old age is foolish; for what can be more absurd than to increase our provisions for the road the nearer we approach to our journey's end.
[Common English translation (e.g. (1873))]

As for senile avarice, I do not understand what it means; for can anything be more foolish than, in proportion as there is less of the way to travel, to seek the more provision for it?
[tr. Peabody (1884)]

As to greediness, I do not know
What it can mean. Can aught be more absurd
Than that as life draws to a close, we seek
More money to assist our journey's end?
[tr. Allison (1916)]

As for avariciousness in the old, what purpose it can serve I do not understand, for can anything be more absurd in the traveler than to increase his luggage as he nears his journey's end?
[tr. Falconer (1923)]

As for avarice in an old man, I simply can’t understand it; could anything be more ridiculous than to ask for more and more travel-funds as one’s journey grows closer and closer to its end?
[tr. Copley (1967)]

But greed is another thing altogether. I can never understand why elderly men are so attached to their money. What could be more pointless? Toward the end of a journey, one’s travelling expenses ought to be less, rather than more.
[tr. Cobbold (2012)]

When it comes to old people’s avidity,
It is altogether beyond my pale
To seek more food when shorter is the trail.
[tr. Bozzi (2015)]

 
Added on 21-Apr-14 | Last updated 2-Nov-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Cicero, Marcus Tullius

If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
(Attributed)

Attributed to Bacon in Alexander Anderson, Laconics: or Instructive Miscellanies, (1827). Attributed to French moralist Pierre Charron (1541-1603) in John Timbs, Laconics: Or, The Best Words of the Best Authors (1829). See also French saying.
 
Added on 14-Apr-14 | Last updated 16-May-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Bacon, Francis

Riches rather enlarge than satisfy Appetites.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #4048 (1732)
    (Source)
 
Added on 2-Jan-14 | Last updated 26-Jan-21
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Fuller, Thomas (1654)

Indeed, I know of no country where the love of money occupies as great a place in the hearts of men, or where people are more deeply contemptuous of the theory of permanent equality of wealth.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Vol. 1, pt. 1, ch. 3 (1835) [tr. Goldhammer]
 
Added on 1-Jan-14 | Last updated 1-Jan-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Tocqueville, Alexis de

Avarice is fear sheathed in gold.

Paul Eldridge (1888-1982) American educator, novelist, poet
“Lanterns in the Night,” Maxim 42, The Jewish Forum (Aug 1948)
 
Added on 30-Oct-13 | Last updated 28-Jan-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Eldridge, Paul

The ways to enrich are many, and most of them foul.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Riches,” Essays, No. 34 (1625)
    (Source)
 
Added on 29-Aug-13 | Last updated 25-Mar-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Bacon, Francis

To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.

[Sich mit Wenigem begnügen ist schwer, sich mit Vielem begnügen noch schwerer.]

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 89 (1880) [tr. Wister (1883)]
    (Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

To be satisfied with little is hard, to be satisfied with a lot is impossible.
[tr. Scrase/Mieder (1994)]
 
Added on 10-Dec-12 | Last updated 21-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Ebner-Eschenbach, Marie von

It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly.

Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Principles of Social Reconstruction [Why Men Fight], ch. 8 (1916)
 
Added on 31-Oct-12 | Last updated 2-Feb-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Russell, Bertrand

Possessions possess.

Paul Eldridge (1888-1982) American educator, novelist, poet
Maxims for a Modern Man, #2781 (1965)
    (Source)
 
Added on 26-Sep-12 | Last updated 28-Jan-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: ,
More quotes by Eldridge, Paul

We must honestly admit that capitalism has often left a gulf between superfluous wealth and abject poverty, has created conditions permitting necessities to be taken from the many to give luxuries to the few, and has encouraged small-hearted men to become cold and conscienceless so that, like Dives before Lazarus, they are unmoved by suffering, poverty-stricken humanity. The profit motive, when it is the sole basis of an economic system, encourages cutthroat competition and selfish ambition that inspire men to be more I-centered than thou-centered.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
    (Source)
 
Added on 22-Jun-12 | Last updated 9-Nov-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by King, Martin Luther

What greater evil could you wish a miser than a long life?

Publilius Syrus (d. 42 BC) Assyrian slave, writer, philosopher [less correctly Publius Syrus]
Sententiae [Moral Sayings], # 69 [tr. Lyman (1862)]
 
Added on 21-Nov-11 | Last updated 15-Feb-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Publilius Syrus

Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures. But there is another harm; and it is evident that we should try to do away with that. The great corporations which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them, but it is duty bound to control them wherever the need of such control is shown.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech, Providence, Rhode Island (23 Aug 1902)
 
Added on 8-Nov-11 | Last updated 7-Jul-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Roosevelt, Theodore

It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Erewhon, ch. 20 (1872)

See Bible, 1 Timothy 6:10
 
Added on 4-Nov-11 | Last updated 5-Sep-19
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Butler, Samuel

“At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”

“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.

“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?”

“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”

“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge.

“Both very busy, sir.”

“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”

“Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”

“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.

“You wish to be anonymous?”

“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned — they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.”

“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides — excuse me — I don’t know that.”

“But you might know it,” observed the gentleman.

“It’s not my business,” Scrooge returned. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!”

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
A Christmas Carol, Stave 1 “Marley’s Ghost” (1843)
    (Source)
 
Added on 3-Sep-11 | Last updated 21-Dec-20
Link to this post | 2 comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Dickens, Charles

But among the Very Rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
A Miscellany of Men, “The Miser and His Friends” (1912)
    (Source)

In a similar vein, in "The Paradise of Thieves," The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914), Chesterton has the character Muscari say:

To be clever enough to get all that money,
one must be stupid enough to want it.

 
Added on 18-Jul-11 | Last updated 13-Sep-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Chesterton, Gilbert Keith

Comparison, more than Reality, makes Men happy or wretched.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #1133 (1732)
    (Source)
 
Added on 23-Jun-11 | Last updated 26-Jan-21
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Fuller, Thomas (1654)

There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Hobbit, ch. 18 “The Return Journey” [Thorin] (1937)
    (Source)
 
Added on 22-Mar-11 | Last updated 25-Aug-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Tolkien, J.R.R.

For there is nothing so characteristic of narrowness and littleness of soul as the love of riches.

[Nihil enim est tam angusti animi tamque parvi quam amare divitias.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 1, ch. 20 (1.20) / sec. 68 (44 BC) [tr. Miller (1913)]
    (Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For nothing is a greater sign of a narrow, mean, and sordid spirit, than to dote on riches.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]

For there is not a greater symptom of a narrow and little mind, than the love of wealth.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]

For nothing so truly characterizes a narrow, grovelling disposition as to love riches.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

For nothing shows so narrow and small a mind as the love of riches.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

Shun the love of money, for there is no surer sign of a narrow, grovelling spirit.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

Nothing is as good an index of a narrow and trivial spirit as the love of wealth.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]

 
Added on 9-Dec-10 | Last updated 8-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Cicero, Marcus Tullius

The hater of property and of government takes care to have his warranty deed recorded, and the book written against Fame and learning has the author’s name on the title page.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1857, Spring)
    (Source)

See Cicero.

 
Added on 23-Nov-10 | Last updated 27-Mar-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Emerson, Ralph Waldo

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
1 Timothy 6:9-10 [KJV (1611)]
    (Source)

Alternate translations:

People who long to be rich are a prey to temptation; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and dangerous ambitions which eventually plunge them into ruin and destruction. "The love of money is the root of all evils" and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds.
[Jerusalem (1966)]

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.
[GNT (1976)]

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
[NRSV (1989)]

 
Added on 11-Nov-10 | Last updated 5-Sep-23
Link to this post | 3 comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Bible, vol. 2, New Testament

To believe that if we could have but this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization that the cause of our unhappiness is in our inadequate and blemished selves. Excessive desire is thus a means of suppressing our sense of worthlessness.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 6 (1955)
    (Source)
 
Added on 30-Jul-10 | Last updated 23-Jun-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Hoffer, Eric

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the Despot abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. it is easier to acquire wealth and power by this combination than by deserving them: and to effect this they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man, into mystery & jargon unintelligible to all mankind & therefore the safer engine for their purposes.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Horatio G. Spafford (17 Mar 1814)
    (Source)
 
Added on 12-Jul-10 | Last updated 10-Jul-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Jefferson, Thomas

Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Seditions and Troubles,” Essays, No. 15 (1625)
    (Source)
 
Added on 11-Jun-10 | Last updated 25-Mar-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Bacon, Francis