Who hath not heard the rich complain
Of surfeits, and corporeal pain?
He barr'd from every use read more

Who hath not heard the rich complain
Of surfeits, and corporeal pain?
He barr'd from every use of wealth,
Envies the ploughman's strength and health.

It is sheer madness to live in want in order to be wealthy when you die.

It is sheer madness to live in want in order to be wealthy when you die.

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.

But I have learned a thing or two; I know as sure as fate,
When we lock up our read more

But I have learned a thing or two; I know as sure as fate,
When we lock up our lives for wealth, the gold key comes too
late.

He that is proud of riches is a fool. For if he be exalted above
his neighbors because he read more

He that is proud of riches is a fool. For if he be exalted above
his neighbors because he hath more gold, how much inferior is he
to a gold mine!

And you prate of the wealth of nations, as if it were bought and
sold,
The wealth of read more

And you prate of the wealth of nations, as if it were bought and
sold,
The wealth of nations is men, not silk and cotton and gold.

Know from the bounteous heavens all riches flow;
And what man gives, the gods by man bestow.

Know from the bounteous heavens all riches flow;
And what man gives, the gods by man bestow.

All gold and silver rather turn to dirt,
An 'tis no better reckoned but of these
Who read more

All gold and silver rather turn to dirt,
An 'tis no better reckoned but of these
Who worship dirty gods.

But wealth is a great means of refinement; and it is a security
for gentleness, since it removes disturbing read more

But wealth is a great means of refinement; and it is a security
for gentleness, since it removes disturbing anxieties.
- Ik Marvel (pseudonym of Donald G. Mitchell),