When we observe the lives of those whom an ample inheritance has let loose to their own direction, what do we discover that can excite our envy? Their time seems not to pass with much applause from others, or satisfaction to themselves: many squander their exuberance of fortune in luxury and debauchery, and have no other use of money than to inflame their passions, and riot in a wide range of licentiousness; others, less criminal indeed, but surely not much to be praised, lie down to sleep, and rise up to trifle, are employed every morning in finding expedients to rid themselves of the day, chase pleasure through all the places of publick resort, fly from London to Bath, and from Bath to London, without any other reason for changing place, but that they go in quest of company as idle and as vagrant as themselves, always endeavouring to raise some new desire, that they may have something to pursue, to rekindle some hope which they know will be disappointed, changing one amusement for another which a few months will make equally insipid, or sinking into languor and disease for want of something to actuate their bodies or exhilarate their minds.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1753-11-27), The Adventurer, No. 111
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Quotations about:
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Gold will be slave or master: ’tis more fit
That it be led by us than we by it.[Imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique,
tortum digna sequi potius quam ducere funem.]Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 10 “To Aristius Fuscus,” l. 47ff (1.10.47-48) (20 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]
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(Source (Latin)). Other translations:More worthy to cum after him constrained with a cord,
Then that it shoulde so have the heade, and leade the lowtishe Lorde.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Who ere has Money, either 'tis his Slave,
Or 'tis his Master, as when two men tug
At a Ropes ends: W' are dragg'd unless we drag.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Money must rule, or must obey the Mind,
More fit for Service than for Rule design'd
[tr. Creech (1684)]Gold is the slave, or tyrant, of the soul;
Unworthy to command, it better brooks controul.
[tr. Francis (1747)]That lucre, since it must be slave or lord,
May rather bear, than pull, the servile cord.
[tr. Howes (1845)]Accumulated money is the master or slave of each owner, and ought rather to follow than to lead the twisted rope.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]For hoarded wealth is either slave or lord.
And should itself be pulled, not pull the cord.
[tr. Martin (1881)]Hoarded up wealth, worthy to follow the twisted rope rather than to hold it, commands -- does not serve -- its possessor.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]Money stored up is for each his lord or his slave, but ought to follow, not lead, the twisted rope.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]His master or his slave is each man's hoard,
And ought to follow, not to pull, the cord.
[tr. A. F. Murison (1931)]Money stored up
Is every man's master, or slave. A well-woven rope
Ought to follow and not lead the way.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]The money we amass will either rule or serve us;
we should lead it on a halter, rather than be led.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]Piled-up gold can be master or slave, depending on its owner;
Never let it pull you along, like a goat on a rope.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]The money you have is either your master or slave.
The leash should be held by you, not by your money.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]The money a person amasses can give, or take, orders.
Its proper place is the end of the tow-rope, not the front.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]The money we hoard is our master or our servant:
The twisted rope should trail behind, not draw us on.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
When a man’s fortune will not fit him, ’tis as ofttimes with a shoe — if too big for the foot, it will trip him; if too small, will chafe.
[Cui non conveniet sua res, ut calceus olim,
si pede maior erit, subvertet, si minor, uret.]Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 10 “To Aristius Fuscus,” l. 42ff (1.10.42-43) (20 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]
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(Source (Latin)). Other translations:Who fits not his Minde to it, his Estate
If little, pinches him: throws him, if great.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Him whom his Wealth doth not exactly fit,
Whose stores too closely, or too loosely sit,
Like Shoes ill made and faulty, if too great
They overturn, and pinch him if too strait.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Our fortunes and our shoes are near allied;
Pincht in the straight, we stumble in the wide.
[tr. Francis (1747)]Whene'er our wants square ill with our estate,
Be it or very small or very great,
'Tis like an ill-made shoe which gives a fall
If 'tis too large, and pinches if too small.
[tr. Howes (1845)]When a man’s condition does not suit him, it will be as a shoe at any time; which, if too big for his foot, will throw him down; if too little, will pinch him.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Means should, like shoes, be neither large nor small;
Too wide, they trip us up, too strait, they gall.
[tr. Conington (1874)]Whene'er our mind's at war with our estate,
Like an ill shoe, it trips us, if too great;
Too small, it pinches.
[tr. Martin (1881)]He who is not satisfied with what he possesses resembles a man wearing a shoe either too large, so that it will throw him down, or too small, that it will inflame his foot.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]Suit not one's means one's lot -- 'tis like the shoe:
Be it too large, twill cause the man to fall;
Be it too small, his foot 'twill surely gall.
[tr. A. F. Murison; ed. Kraemer, Jr (1936)]If what you have
Won't do, well ... it's like the wrong size shoe:
If it's too big for your foot, you trip and fall all over yourself;
If it's too small, it pinches.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]A fortune that doesn't fit its owner resembles shoes;
if too big, it makes him totter; if too small, it chafes.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]A wrong size fortune is like a wrong size shoe:
Too big, it makes you trip; too little, it pinches your foot.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]If what he happens to have
Won't fit a man, it's as it is with a shoe:
Too big, it makes you stumble' too small, it pinches.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]A man’s means, when they don’t fit him, are rather like shoes --
he’s tripped by a size too large, pinched by a size too small.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]When a man’s means don’t suit him it’s often
Like a shoe: too big and he stumbles, too small it chafes.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
Earthly riches can neither bless us nor our children with happiness; we must either lose them in this life or leave them to be enjoyed after our death by one, we cannot tell whom, perhaps by those we would not should have them.
[Felices enim uel nos uel filios nostros non diuitiae terrenae faciunt aut nobis uiuentibus amittendae aut nobis mortuis a quibus nescimus uel forte a quibus nolumus possidendae.]Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 5, ch. 18 (5.18) (AD 412-416) [tr. Healey (1610)]
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(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:For it is not earthly riches which make us or our sons happy; for they must either be lost by us in our lifetime, or be possessed when we are dead, by whom we know not, or perhaps by whom we would not.
[tr. Dods (1871)]The riches of this earth can make neither us nor our children happy, if they are to be lost while we are alive or, after we are dead, are to pass to people we do not know or, perhaps, dislike.
[tr. Zema/Walsh (1950)]For neither we nor our children are made happy by earthly riches, since they are bound either to be lost while we are living or to be acquired after our death by persons unknown and perhaps unwelcome.
[tr. Green (Loeb) (1963)]Happiness, whether for us or for our children, is not the result of earthly riches, which must either be lost by us in our lifetime or else must pass after our death into the possession of those we do not know or, it may be, of those whom we do not wish to have them.
[tr. Bettenson (1972)]For neither we nor our sons are made happy by earthly riches. These things must either be lost while we are still alive or, after we are dead, acquired by someone whom we do not know, or perhaps by someone whom we would not wish to have them.
[tr. Dyson (1998)]For earthly riches do not make either us or our children happy; they will either be lost while we are still alive or will pass, after our death, to someone we do not know or even to someone we do not want.
[tr. Babcock (2012)]
I will enjoy the pleasure of what I give by giving it alive, and seeing another enjoy it. When I die, I should be ashamed to leave enough to build me a monument if there were a wanting friend above ground.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet
Letter to Jonathan Swift (9 Oct 1729)
