Munny will buy a pretty good dog, but it wont buy the wag ov hiz tale.
[Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.]
Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 14 “A Ghost” (1874)
(Source)
Quotations about:
money
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
If the reactionary man, who thinks of nothing but the rights of property, could have his way, he would bring about a revolution; and one of my chief fears in connection with progress comes because I do not want to see our people, for lack of proper leadership, compelled to follow men whose intentions are excellent, but whose eyes are a little too wild to make it really safe to trust them.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
(Source)
The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickled down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the dryest little spot. But he didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow’s hands.
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist
Column (1932-11-25), “Weekly Article: And Here’s How It All Happened” [No. 518]
(Source)
An abbreviated form, used in memes, omits sentences 2-4, but is often presented in text as the full quotation.
The absence of effective State, and, especially, National, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. The prime need is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
(Source)
This mournful truth is ev’ry where confess’d,
SLOW RISES WORTH, BY POVERTY DEPRESS’D:
But here more slow, where all are slaves to gold,
Where looks are merchandise, and smiles are sold.Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Poem (1738), “London: A Poem,” ll. 176-179
(Source)
Boys, have you been following those appropriations? Well, Secretary Mellon has asked Congress to please wait till after March 15, when the new income taxes come in, before passing any legislation, as he don’t know how much there will be, if any. But Congress says: No, we are going to divide it up now, whether there is any to divide or not. What do you suppose we are in Congress for, if it ain’t to split up the swag? Please pass the gravy.
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist
Column (1928-01-01), “Daily Telegram”
(Source)
Numerous shortened variants of this can be found online. Written while in Beverly Hills.
Wealth is not without its advantages, and the case to the contrary, although it has often been made, has never proved widely persuasive.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Affluent Society, ch. 1, sec. 1 (1958)
(Source)
I only ask that Fortune send
A little more than I shall spend.Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Poem (1858) “Contentment,” st. 3
(Source)
Yes! ready money is Aladdin’s lamp.
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
As a now-forgotten Sunday-morning chatter announced in horror: “This could cause people to think that the rich can buy their way out of the justice system.”
No shit.
Been going to Texas prisons for a long time. Seen nobody rich on Death Row yet. You mean money has something to do with justice in this country?Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (2001-04), “Wake Me When We’re Equal,” The Progressive, Vol. 65, No. 4
(Source)
A shortened form (which is more widely quoted) was given in a Progressive memorial article for Ivins:Sunday-morning chatter announced in horror: "People may think the rich can buy their way out of the justice system." No shit. Been going to Texas prisons for a long time. Seen nobody rich on Death Row yet. You mean MONEY has something to do with justice in this country?
Money often costs too much, and power and pleasure are not cheap.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3
(Source)
Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).
As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?
[À mesure qu’on creuse plus avant dans le caractère national des Américains, on voit qu’ils n’ont cherché la valeur de toutes les choses de ce monde que dans la réponse à cette seule question : combien cela rapporte-t-il d’argent?]
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Letter (1831-06-09) to Ernest de Chabrol [tr. Toupin/Boesche (1985)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Collected in De Tocqueville, Selected Letters on Politics and Society, Part 1, No. 6 (1985) [ed. Roger Boesche].
Ernest de Chabrol-Chaméane was a childhood friend of De Tocqueville's.
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)). Other 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)]
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.[Οἱ δὲ βουλόμενοι πλουτεῖν ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς πειρασμὸν καὶ παγίδα καὶ ἐπιθυμίας πολλὰς ἀνοήτους καὶ βλαβεράς αἵτινες βυθίζουσιν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς ὄλεθρον καὶ ἀπώλειαν. ῥίζα γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστιν ἡ φιλαργυρία ἧς τινες ὀρεγόμενοι ἀπεπλανήθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἑαυτοὺς περιέπειραν ὀδύναις πολλαῖς.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 15. 1st Letter to Timothy 6: 9ff (1 Tim 6:9-10) [KJV (1611)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Other 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.
[JB (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)]People who long to be rich are a prey to trial; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and harmful ambitions which plunge people 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.
[NJB (1985)]But people who are trying to get rich fall into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful passions that plunge people into ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.
[CEB (2011)]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 (2021 ed.)]
To have gold brings fear, to have none brings grief.
[L’haver oro è un timore, il non haver un dolore.]
James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian, writer, aphorist
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in Italian” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)
Riches are a good handmaid, but the worst mistress.
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
De Augmentis Scientiarum [Advancement of Learning], Book 6, ch. 3, Antitheses #6 “Riches” (1605)
(Source)
Most people imagine that the rich are in heaven, but, as a rule, it is only a gilded hell. There is not a man in the city of New York with genius enough, with brains enough, to own five millions of dollars. Why? The money will own him. He becomes the key to a safe. That money will get him up at daylight; that money will separate him from his friends; that money will fill his heart with fear; that money will rob his days of sunshine and his nights of pleasant dreams. He cannot own it. He becomes the property of that money. And he goes right on making more. What for? He does not know. It becomes a kind of insanity.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Speech (1886-11-14), “A Lay Sermon,” American Secular Union annual congress, Chickering Hall, New York City
(Source)
The modern conservative is not even especially modern. He is engaged, on the contrary, in one of man’s oldest, best financed, most applauded, and, on the whole, least successful exercises in moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. It is an exercise which always involves a certain number of internal contradictions and even a few absurdities. The conspicuously wealthy turn up urging the character-building value of privation for the poor. The man who has struck it rich in minerals, oil, or other bounties of nature is found explaining the debilitating effect of unearned income from the state. The corporate executive who is a superlative success as an organization man weighs in on the evils of bureaucracy. Federal aid to education is feared by those who live in suburbs that could easily forgo this danger, and by people whose children are in public schools. Socialized medicine is condemned by men emerging from Walter Reed Hospital. Social Security is viewed with alarm by those who have the comfortable cushion of an inherited income. Those who are immediately threatened by public efforts to meet their needs — whether widows, small farmers, hospitalized veterans, or the unemployed — are almost always oblivious to the danger.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Speech (1963-12-13), “Wealth and Poverty,” National Policy Committee on Pockets of Poverty
(Source)
Galbraith used variations on this quote over the years.
- The above quotation was from a speech given, that was then entered into the Congressional Record, Vol. 109, Senate (1963-12-18).
- This material was reworked into an article "Let us begin: An invitation to action on poverty," in Harper's (1964-03), which was in turn again entered into the Congressional Record, Vol. 110 (1964).
- One of the last is most often cited: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy, that is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. It is an exercise which always involves a certain number of internal contradictions and even a few absurdities. The conspicuously wealthy turn up urging the character-building value of privation for the poor." ["Stop the Madness," Interview with Rupert Cornwell, Toronto Globe and Mail (2002-07-06)]
HECUBA: Then no man on earth is truly free,
All are slaves of money or necessity.
Public opinion or fear of prosecution
forces each one, against his conscience,
to conform.ἙΚΆΒΗ:[φεῦ.
οὐκ ἔστι θνητῶν ὅστις ἔστ’ ἐλεύθερος·
ἢ χρημάτων γὰρ δοῦλός ἐστιν ἢ τύχης
ἢ πλῆθος αὐτὸν πόλεος ἢ νόμων γραφαὶ
εἴργουσι χρῆσθαι μὴ κατὰ γνώμην τρόποις.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 864ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]
(Source)
When Agamemnon claims he cannot help her get revenge, as much as he'd like to if he were free to assist, because he has to pay attention to the sentiments of the Greek army.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:Alas! there's no man free: for some are slaves
To gold, to fortune others, and the rest,
The multitude or written laws restrain
From acting as their better judgement dictates.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Alas! no mortal is there who is free. For either he is the slave of money or of fortune; or the populace of the city or the dictates of the law constrain him to adopt manners not accordant with his natural inclinations.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]Vain is the boast of liberty in man;
A slave to fortune, or a slave to wealth,
Or by the people or the laws restrain’d,
He dares not act the dictates of his will
[ed. Ramage (1864)]Ah, among mortals is there no man free!
To lucre or to fortune is he slave:
The city's rabble or the laws' impeachment
Constrains him into paths his soul abhors.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Ah! there is not in the world a single man free; for he is a slave either to money or to fortune, or else the people in their thousands or the fear of public prosecution prevents him from following the dictates of his heart.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]Show me the mortal man who's really free.
He's either a slave to money or to chance.
Or the pressure of the mob or legal code
curbs him from acting as his will dictates.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]Ah! But there’s no such thing as a free man! All men are slaves, Agamemnon! Slaves to money, to Fate, to the cries of the masses, to the written laws! They all stop him from doing what he wants.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]Then no one is free
in this world. He’s chained to money, or to luck, or to majority
opinion, or to law. Any way you look at it,
he’s still a slave.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]Alas!
there is not in the world a single man who is free;
for he is a slave either to money or to fortune,
or else the mob, or fear of law, prevents him
from following the dictates of his heart.
[ed. Yeroulanos (2016)]There is no mortal who is free. Either he is a slave to money or fortune, or the city’s mob or its laws make him live otherwise than he would wish.
[tr. @sentantiq (2016)]Ha!
No one who is mortal is free --
We are either the slave of money or chance;
Or the majority of people or the city’s laws
Keep us from living by our own judgment.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
Words are like money; there is nothing so useless, unless when in actual use.
Samuel Butler (1835–1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, “Thought and Word,” viii (1912)Full text.
Religion — easily — has the Greatest Bullshit Story Ever Told! Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man — living in the sky — who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things He does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, He has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry, forever and ever, till the end of time! But He loves you! He loves you. He loves you and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise — somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story, holy shit!
George Carlin (1937–2008) American comedian
Show (1999-02-06), You Are All Diseased, Beacon Theater, New York City (HBO)
(Source)
(Source (Video)).Reprinted, slightly edited, in Napalm & Silly Putty, "Bullshit from the Sky" (2001):Religion -- easily -- has the Greatest Bullshit Story Ever Told! Think about it: religion has actually convinced people -- many of them adults -- that there's an invisible man who lives in the sky and watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And who has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to remain and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry, forever and ever, till the end of time! But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money! He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, but somehow ... he just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, pays no taxes, and somehow always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy shit!
Money is a needful and precious thing, — and, when well used, a noble thing, — but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I’d rather see you poor men’s wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace.
There is far too much law for those who can afford it and far too little for those who cannot.
Derek Bok (b. 1930) American lawyer, educator
Report to Harvard Board of Overseers (21 Apr 1983)
The three most important things a man has are, briefly, his private parts, his money, and his religious opinions.
Samuel Butler (1835–1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Further Extracts from Note-books of Samuel Butler (1934)
This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle! I am awaked almost every night by the panting of the locomotive. It interrupts my dreams. There is no sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work. I cannot easily buy a blank-book to write thoughts in; they are commonly ruled for dollars and cents. An Irishman, seeing me making a minute in the fields, took it for granted that I was calculating my wages. If a man was tossed out of a window when an infant, and so made a cripple for life, or scared out of his wits by the Indians, it is regretted chiefly because he was thus incapacitated for — business! I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business.
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1863-10), “Life without Principle,” Atlantic Monthly, No. 72
(Source)
Based his lecture (1854-12-06) "What Shall It Profit?" Railroad Hall, Providence, Rhode Island. He had edited it for publication before his death, and it was published posthumously.
Religious leaders too often think that if they just got the government to pay for their programs, they could do so much more good. But they should also know too well from bitter experience that big donors often have strings attached to their donations, and Uncle Sam is the biggest donor of all. Accept his money, even if he seems to be nodding in agreement with you, and sooner or later you’ll find you’ve compromised away your mission and become too dependent on his largesse to get it back. Churches should keep away from the state, not just for the good of the state, but for their own good as well.
Graham Ericsson (b. 1961) American technologist, writer, aphorist
Journal (2007-08-13)
It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy.
George Horace Lorimer (1867–1937) American journalist, author, magazine editor
Old Gorgon Graham: More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son, ch. 12 (1903)
(Source)
PEASANT: ‘Tis in such shifts
As these, I care for riches, to make gifts
To friends, or lead a sick man back to health
With ease and plenty. Else small aid is wealth
For daily gladness; once a man be done
With hunger, rich and poor are all as one.[ΑΥΤΟΥΡΓΌΣ: ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις δ᾽ ἡνίκ᾽ ἂν γνώμης πέσω,
σκοπῶ τὰ χρήμαθ᾽ ὡς ἔχει μέγα σθένος,
ξένοις τε δοῦναι σῶμά τ᾽ ἐς νόσους πεσὸν
δαπάναισι σῷσαι: τῆς δ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν βορᾶς
ἐς σμικρὸν ἥκει: πᾶς γὰρ ἐμπλησθεὶς ἀνὴρ
ὁ πλούσιός τε χὡ πένης ἴσον φέρει.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 426ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Murray (1905)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:When on these matters I reflect, I mark
How great the power of riches, to bestow
Upon the needy stranger, or expend them
To heal our bodies wasting with disease.
But for the diet of one day, is wealth
Of small importance : for the appetites
Of all men, whether rich or poor, demand
An equal share of necessary food.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]It is in such cases, whenever I fail in my intentions, that I see how wealth has great power, to give to strangers, and to expend in curing the body when it falls sick; but money for our daily food comes to little; for every man when full, rich or poor, gets an equal amount.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]But when my mind falls upon this subject, I consider how great a power wealth has, botht o bestow on strangers, and by expense to preserve one's body when fallen into sickness; but for one's daily food it comes to little. For every man once filled, rich or poor, bears an equality.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]In such things, when my thoughts turn thitherward,
I mark what mighty vantage substance hath,
To give to guests, to medicine the body
In sickness: but for needs of daily food
Not far it reacheth. Each man, rich and poor,
Can be but filled, when hunger is appeased.
[tr. Way (1896)]When I think of such things then I see what mighty power money has! Not only you help your friends with the stuff but you can also heal yourself from any illness when you have the money to pay. The cost of a normal everyday meal is cheap, because everyone, rich and poor, once he had enough he feels the same joy.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]It’s at times like this,
when I have no idea how to manage,
I think of the great power money has
for giving things to strangers and paying
to save someone whenever he falls sick.
The meals we need each day don’t come to much,
for all men, once they have eaten their fill,
feel much the same, whether rich or poor.
[tr. Johnston (2009), l. 515ff][...] whether rich or poor
Everyone is equal when their belly is full.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
Debt is the slavery of the free.
Publilius Syrus (d. 42 BC) Assyrian slave, writer, philosopher [less correctly Publius Syrus]
Sententiae [Moral Sayings]
If you would know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look at those to whom He gives it.
Maurice Baring (1874–1945) English man of letters, writer, essayist, translator
(Attributed)
(Source)
Quoted by Dorothy Parker in "The Art of Fiction," interview by Marion Capron, The Paris Review #13 (Summer 1956) (reprinted in The Portable Dorothy Parker (1944)). Not found in Baring's writings. The quotation is often attributed to Parker, especially in simpler forms, e.g., "If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to."
Most people are willing to pay more to be amused than to be educated.
Robert C. Savage (1914–1987) American Christian missionary, pastor, hymnologist, author
Life Lessons (1993)
(Source)
A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.
Everett Dirksen (1896–1969) American politician
(Attributed)
Frequently attributed to Dirksen, but not found in his writings or speeches. An anonymous reference is made in "Topics of the Times," New York Times (10 Jan 1938): "Well, now, about this new budget. It's a billion here and a billion there, and by and by it begins to mount up into money."
Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly.
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Riches,” Essays, No. 34 (1625)
(Source)
Also attributed to Benjamin Franklin.
The holy passion of friendship is so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring in nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson, ch. 8, epigraph (1894)
(Source)
Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex, you thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it and thought of other things if you did.
All I ask is a chance to prove that money can’t make me happy.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #0398
