WIST Quotations

Bible, Vol. 1. Old Testament -- Book 20. Proverbs 28:20 (Prov 28:20) [tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]

Dave — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:03:22 +0000

Honest people will lead a full, happy life. But if you are a hurry to get rich, you are going to be punished.

אִ֣ישׁ אֱ֭מוּנוֹת רַב־בְּרָכ֑וֹת וְאָ֥ץ לְ֝הַעֲשִׁ֗יר לֹ֣א יִנָּקֶֽה׃

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 28:20 (Prov 28:20) [tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]
(Source)

(Source (Hebrew)). Alternate translations:

A faithful man shall abound with blessings:
but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
[KJV (1611)]

A trustworthy man will be overwhelmed with blessings, but he who tries to get rich quickly will not go unpunished.
[JB (1966)]

A trustworthy person will be overwhelmed with blessings, but no one who tries to get rich quickly will go unpunished.
[NJB (1985)]

Reliable people will have abundant blessings,
span class="tab">but those with get-rich-quick schemes won't go unpunished.
[CEB (2011)]

The faithful will abound with blessings,
but one who is in a hurry to be rich will not go unpunished.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

A dependable man will receive many blessings,
But one in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]

Parker, Dorothy -- Interview (1956, Summer), “The Art of Fiction, No. 13,” by Marion Capron, The Paris Review, Issue 13

Dave — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 20:54:15 +0000

As for me, I’d like to have money. And I’d like to be a good writer. These two can come together, and I hope they will, but if that’s too adorable, I’d rather have the money. I hate almost all rich people, but I think I’d be darling at it.

Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) American writer, poet, wit
Interview (1956, Summer), “The Art of Fiction, No. 13,” by Marion Capron, The Paris Review, Issue 13
(Source)

Collected in Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, First Series (1958).

Bacon, Francis -- “Of Riches,” Essays, No. 34 (1625)

Dave — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 22:00:24 +0000

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)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1864-03-21) to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association, Washington, DC

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprize. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1864-03-21) to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association, Washington, DC
(Source)