Money Quotes

IV

But let our fears – if fears we have – be still,
And turn us to the future! Could we climb
Some Alp in though, and view the coming time,
We should indeed behold a sight to fill
Our eyes with happy tears!
Not for the glories which a hundred years
Shall bring us; not for lands from sea to sea,
And wealth, and power, and peace, though these shall be;
But for the distant peoples we shall bless,
And the hushed murmurs of a world’s distress:
For, to give food and clothing to the poor,
The whole sad planet o’er,
And save from crime its humblest human door,
Our mission is! The hour is not yet ripe
When all shall see it, but behold the type
Of what we are and shall be to the world,
In our own grand and genial Gulf stream furled,
Which through the vast and colder ocean pours
Its waters, so that far-off Arctic shores
May sometimes catch upon the softened breeze
Strange tropic warmth and hints of summer seas.

- Henry Timrod¹

1. From Ethnogenesis in Songs and Ballads of the Southern People. 1861-1865, pg. 13-14; Originally written on the occasion of the meeting of the Confederate Congress, at Montgomery, February 4, 1861, and published in the “Charleston Courier.” [↩]

System

Every night my prayers I say,
And get my dinner every day;
And every day that I’ve been good,
I get an orange after food.

The child that is not clean and neat,
With lots of toys and things to eat,
He is a naughty child, I’m sure -
Or else his dear papa is poor.

- Robert Louis Stevenson¹

1. A Child’s Garden of Verses, pg. 29 [↩]

On the contrary, as there is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher, everything was given away, so to speak, before it was received, like water on thirsty soil; it was well that money came to him, for he never kept any; and besides he robbed himself.  It being the custom that all bishops should put their baptismal names at the head of their orders and pastoral letters, the poor people of the district had chosen by a sort of affectionate instinct, from among the names of the Bishop, that which was expressive to them, and they always called him Monseigneur Bienvenu.  We shall follow their example and shall call him thus; besides, this pleased him.  ‘I like this name,’ said he; ‘Bienvenu counterbalances Monseigneur.’

- Victor Hugo¹

1. Les Miserables, pg. 11 [↩]

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

- Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

- Matthew 6:24 (NASB)

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

- Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

Autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying.

- Malcolm Gladwell¹

1. Outliers (2008), p. 149 via Fire and Knowledge [↩]

If we find a company we like, the level of the market will not really impact our decisions.  We will decide company by company.  We spend essentially no time thinking about macroeconomic factors.  In other words, if somebody handed us a predictions by the most revered intellectual on the subject, with figures for unemployment or interest rates, or whatever it might be for the next two years, we would not pay any attention to it.  We simply try to focus on businesses that we think we understand and where we like the price and management.  If we see anything that relates to what’s going to happen in Congress, we don’t even read it.  We just don’t think it’s helpful to have a view on these matters.

- Warren Buffett¹

1. Comment by Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Omaha, 1992 (As reported in “How to Buffett Against the Perils of Perots,” Herb Ross, Westfield Leader, August 6, 1992) [↩]

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

- 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (ESV)

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

- 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (NASB)

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

- 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (NIV)

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

- Attributed to Adrian Rogers¹

1. In a blog post titled The Problem With Socialism [↩]

Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything.

- Ecclesiastes 10:19 (ESV)

Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.

- Ecclesiastes 10:19 (NASB)

A feast is made for laughter,
and wine makes life merry,
but money is the answer for everything.

- Ecclesiastes 10:19 (NIV)

If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

- Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 (ESV)