My friend, there will come one day to you a Messenger, whom you cannot treat with contempt. He will say, “Come with me;” and all your pleas of business cares and earthly loves will be of no avail. When his cold hand touches yours, the key of the counting-room will drop forever, and he will lead you away from all your investments, your speculations, your bank-notes and real estate, and with him you will pass into eternity, up to the bar of God. You will not be too busy to die.
Abbott Eliot "A. E." Kittredge (1834-1912) American clergyman and Presbyterian leader
(Attributed)
(Source)
In Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (ed.), Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1883). I could not find any primary source that Gilbert borrowed from.
Quotations about:
finance
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
We are a good natured bunch of saps in this country. […] When a bank fails, we let the guy go start another one.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1930-06-30), “Daily Telegram: Mr. Rogers Virtually Agrees with Barnum’s Famous View” [No. 1226]
(Source)
There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Following the Equator, ch. 56, epigraph (1897)
(Source)
Most bankers dwell in marble halls,
Which they get to dwell in because they encourage deposits and discourage withdrawals,
And particularly because they all observe one rule which woe betides the banker who fails to heed it,
Which is you must never lend any money to anybody unless they don’t need it.
Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer,” New Yorker (7 Dec 1935)
(Source)
Wall Street, where enough is never enough.
Alison Leigh Cowan (contemp.) American journalist
“Divorce, Wall Street Style,” New York Times (22 Jan 1989)
The Wall Street reactionaries are not satisfied with being rich. They want to increase their power and privileges, regardless of what happens to the other fellow. They are gluttons of privilege.
Harry S Truman (1884-1972) US President (1945-1953)
Speech, National Plowing Match, Dexter, Iowa (18 Sep 1948)
(Source)
Don’t complicate matters by assuming for me a cupidity and corruption beyond the limits I have set for myself. You’re suffering from an occupational disease. When an international financier is confronted by a holdup man with a gun, he automatically hands over not only his money and jewelry but also his shirt and pants, because it doesn’t occur to him that a robber might draw the line somewhere.
Rex Stout (1886-1975) American writer
Over My Dead Body, ch. 10 [Wolfe] (1940)
