Quotes About Wealth

Gordon Way, brother of Susan, employer of Richard MacDuff, was a rich man, the founder and owner of WayForward Technologies II. WayForward Technologies itself had of course gone bust, for the usual reason, taking his entire first fortune with it.

This planet has—or rather had—a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

But so successful was this venture that Magrathea itself soon became the richest planet of all time and the rest of the Galaxy was reduced to abject poverty. And so the system broke down, the Empire collapsed

no one was really poor—at least no one worth speaking of.

This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

As the expression goes, we spend our youth attaining wealth, and our wealth attaining youth.

People who advocate simplicity have money in the bank; the money came first, not the simplicity.

Lists only spell out the things that can be taken away from us by moths and rust and thieves. If something is valuable, don't put it in a list. Don't even say the words.

And for a while they were happy in their own manner; they had the animal confidence money affords.

A rich man is always simply a rich man, but a rich woman is only a poor woman who just happens to have money.

Poor Buoyancy: The realization that one was a better person when one had less money.

The whole Silicon Valley is oxymoronic—geeky and rich and hip.

Humanity actually seems to be split down the middle on the definition of luxury: those who want gilded leopard-shaped teapots and those who want to live in the white box their iPhone came in.

There was a pause while Pendergast considered this. "I prefer hypocrisy to poverty.

The rich will always be with us.' There is no answer, except to make sure we wealthy are not allowed to use our money as a tool of oppression and subversion of democracy.

From many bragging inscriptions of glorious combat and deeds, we know the Maya city-states were belligerent and engaged in frequent battles with each other and with their neighbors. These conflicts only intensified as the wealth and populations of the Maya city-states increased, swelling their hunger for resources.

The divide between the wealthy and everyone else is a false dichotomy—and one that obscures the real problem: there are many wicked people in the world, rich and poor. That is the real divide—between those who strive to do good, and those who strive only for themselves. Money magnifies the harm the wealthy can do, of course, allowing them to parade their vulgarity and malfeasance in full view of the rest of us.

Bah! The infirmities of age. What a bore. We gain honors, age, and wealth, and then just when we're ready to enjoy them, Father Time comes swooping down and screws up our bodies. Pulvis et umbra sumus and all that.

To one side, a vintage Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, polished to a gem-like brilliance, sat on a flatbed trailer, ready to be taken to its new owner. Constance looked from Pendergast to the Rolls and back again. "I really don't need two, you know," he said.

There is an old French curse: may your fondest wish come true. If this treatment is cheap and available to everyone, it will destroy the earth through overpopulation. If it is dear and available only to the very rich, it will cause riots, wars, a breakdown of the social contract. Either way, it will lead directly to human misery. What is the value of a long life, when it is lived in squalor and unhappiness?

make sure we wealthy are not allowed to use our money as a tool of oppression and subversion of democracy.

No, you don't destroy the rich—you do as Jesus did, and convert them.

For there is no defense for a man who, in the excess of his wealth, has kicked the great altar of Justice out of sight.

Human prosperity never rests but always craves more, till blown up with pride it totters and falls. From the opulent mansions pointed at by all passers-by none warns it away, none cries, 'Let no more riches enter!