Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“Aggressive, overreaching wealth redistribution *does* happen in the United States, it just happens in the opposite direction conservatives scream about: our system takes money away from everyday people and siphons it towards the profanely wealthy.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born 1989) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 9/16/2020 on Twitter
“Relevance itself is wealth, it's a quality and a value. Time buys you relevance, time buys you greatness, time buys you money. So you must stay in the vision and with time, you would reap the benefits.”
Bolanle Austen-Peters (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bessas scowled. “I trust, sir banker, that you seek not to take advantage of our simplicity to squeeze unwonted wealth from us. You money-grubbers would pick a farthing from a dunghill with your teeth.”
L. Sprague de Camp (1907–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tariff is not the paramount question. The main question is the money question. Kansas suffers from two great robbers, the Sante Fe railroad and the loan sharks. The common people are robbed to enrich their masters. There are thirty men in the United States whose aggregate wealth is over one and one-half billions of dollars.”
Mary Elizabeth Lease (1850–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Once someone is trained and has a Mobile Money account, our hope is that they move forward—start a small business or create their own job. That’s how people build wealth.”
Soraya Hakuziyaremye first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From SIM Cards to Savings: How Rwanda’s Central Bank is Banking on Rural Women KT Press(September 22, 2026)
“I wonder why government is not doing anything to protect the copyright of artistes. These are the things that affect our economy. The music industry is a large section of the economy of this country. Why is government not paying attention, not caring? These are frustrations. Your intellectual property is your wealth and somebody is sitting on it. People are making money off someone’s work.”
Onyeka Onwenu (1952–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I simply cannot imagine having access to that much wealth (a billion dollars is one thousand stacks of a million dollars!) and thinking that using a minuscule percentage of that money to make sure other people have access to food, homes, and education was a bad thing.”
Clint Smith (writer) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nov 6, 2019 on Twitter
“Many of the wealth holders... aim to translate their economic power into political power... [A]nother measure is the cost of winning ...has been growing also, showing a greater demand for these positions and greater willingness to spend money...”
Peter Turchin (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“FACTI discovered that $1.6 trillion, which is 2.7% global Gross Domestic Product, was lost in money laundering by criminals; $500-600 billion lost to tax havens by corporations and PEPS while $20-40 billion was lost to bribes to public officials in developing countries, and $7 trillion private wealth hidden by banking secrecy in advanced countries”
Irene Ovonji-Odida (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don’t come from wealth, I don’t have that to fall back on. So I am going to have to raise money, and fortunately, I’ve had experience doing that as the Speaker and the Pro Tem to protect my caucuses.”
Toni Atkins (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I gave birth with the right person. That’s why I delayed getting a man. I really respect a father who is standing with the children. It is not about money, it is not about wealth. It is taking responsibility,”
Sheebah Karungi (born 1989) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sheebah Heaps Praise on Responsible Fathers How We Uganda (September 15, 2026)
“Once you’ve finally determined your net worth peak, you must start spending down, or decumulating. This means you will be spending more in your real golden years, when you are in reasonably good shape in both health and wealth—between 45 and 60—than people usually do, because most people who save money for the future save for too late in life.”
Bill Perkins (businessman) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The idea that everybody wants money is propaganda circulated by wealth addicts to make themselves feel better about their addiction.”
Philip Slater (1927–2013) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wealth Addiction (1980). New York: Dutton. p. 25.
“Most of our long-held beliefs about money, wealth, productivity and efficiency, and our notions of progress are rooted in immature, often infantile states of mind—easily manipulated by politicians and advertisers...Luckily, individuals learn faster than institutions and many people may already be ahead of their leaders.”
Hazel Henderson (1933–2022) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Women Pioneers For The Environment (2016). p. 198.
“She’s a lady,” I says, “for all she’s a Portygee, and you’re no more a gentleman than that monkey in your mango tree. Money don’t make such as us into gentlemen, Henry Lee. All it does, it makes us rich monkeys. You know that, same as me.”
Peter S. Beagle (born 1939) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Salt Wine (2006), reprinted in Rich Horton (ed.) Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2007, p. 114
“Political conservatives have focused on tax reduction as an economic growth strategy for three reasons. First it is self-serving; it saves rich people lots of money. Second, it comports with their ideological allegiance to laissez-faire economics. And third, tax incentives are less intrusive to business-as-usual than any other form of government planning.”
Robert Kuttner (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The man who has graduated from the flogging block at Eton to the bench from which he sentences the garrotter to be flogged is the same social product as the garrotter who has been kicked by his father and cuffed by his mother until he has grown strong enough to throttle and rob the rich citizen whose money he desires.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even the death of Friends will inspire us as much as their lives. They will leave consolation to the mourners, as the rich leave money to defray the expenses of their funerals, and their memories will be incrusted over with sublime and pleasing thoughts, as monuments of other men are overgrown with moss; for our Friends have no place in the graveyard.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) said by 1862 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“England, unlike in 1914, will not allow herself to blunder into a war lasting for years... Such is the fate of rich countries... Not even England has the money nowadays to fight a world war. What should England fight for? You don't get yourself killed for an ally.”
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 14 August 1939, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
“Money makes people rich; it is a fallacy to think it makes them better, or even that it makes them worse. People are what they do, and what they leave behind.”
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing is more common than energy in money-making, quite independent of any higher object than its accumulation. A man who devotes himself to this pursuit, body and soul, can scarcely fail to become rich. Very little brains will do; spend less than you earn; add guinea to guinea; scrape and save; and the pile of gold will gradually rise.”
Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Does not the whole history of socialism, particularly of French socialism, which is so rich in revolutionary striving, show us that when the working people themselves take power in their hands the ruling classes resort to unheard-of crimes and shootings if it is a matter of protecting their money-bags.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Report on the Activities of the Council of People’s Commissars" (24 January 1918); Collected Works, Vol. 26, pp. 459-61.
“Oprah is rich, Bill Gates is wealthy. If Bill Gates woke up tomorrow with Oprah's money, he'd jump out a fuckin' window and slit his throat on the way down saying, "I can't even put gas in my plane!”
Chris Rock (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE. THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Posted on Truth Social following the announcement of his worldwide tariffs policy and the resulting sharp sell-off in the stock market a day later as reported in Trump insists he won’t back down from global trade war as…
“People are agitating for the overthrow of the old order and a new deal for America. For there is a palpable sense that the game is rigged against Middle America and for the benefit of insiders who grow rich and fat not by making things or building things, but by manipulating money.”
Pat Buchanan (born 1938) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Anti-Politician" Chronicles (June 19, 2015).
“Nothing is more portable than rich people and their money”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We're not prophets. We're not here to inform the rich people of the world on how to make more money, or to inform governments on how to direct themselves. We are here to allow you to dream your dreams and make them happen, and have your nightmares a little in advance so you can prevent them from happening.”
Greg Bear (1951–2022) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On science fiction writers, Guest of Honor speech at the Millennium Philcon 59th World Science Fiction Convention (2001), from Women in Deep Time (2002), p.224, ed. ibooks
“I don't think Mr. Harriman is very rich. He has not as much money as I have. I have all I want and Mr. Harriman has not.”
John Muir (1838–1914) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: memorial volume Edward Henry Harriman (1911)
“..the art of becoming 'rich', in the common sense, is not absolutely nor finally the art of accumulating much money for ourselves, but also of contriving that our neighbour shall have less. In accurate terms, it is 'the art of establishing the maximum inequality in your own favour'.”
John Ruskin (1819–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[The rich] are indeed rather possessed by their money than possessors.”
Robert Burton (1577–1640) said by 1640 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, there's one thing to be said for money. It can make you rich.”
Tom Robbins (1932–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is Marxism. It's leveling everything by decimating what works ... It's that vindictive 'We've suffered, and now we're going to take money from your kid and watch you squirm'... There's a minority which is an open target in this country which no one protects, and that's rich people.”
John Irving (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Money, you've got lots of friends Crowding round the door When you're gone, spending ends They don't come no more Rich relations give Crust of bread and such You can help yourself But don't take too much.”
Billie Holiday (1915–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“New ideas require new facts. You explain things by way of ideas. Why do we have a government that is run by rich trash? Because they've used their money to buy the presidency. Bush is a tool for the people who don't want an inheritance tax.”
James D. Watson (1928–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Money is the source of the greatest vice, & that Nation which is most rich, is most wicked.”
Frances Burney (1752–1840) first seen 1768 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney, vol. 1, p. 48, journal entry, November 17, 1768.
“All over the world, the nation, in a dream Of money and love and sport, hangs at the paps Of well-being, and so Goes fattening, mellowing, dozing, rotting down Into a rich deliquium of decay.”
William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) said by 1903 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A certain kind of rich man afflicted with the symptoms of moral dandyism sooner or later comes to the conclusion that it isn't enough merely to make money. He feels obliged to hold views, to espouse causes and elect Presidents, to explain to a trembling world how and why the world went wrong.”
Lewis H. Lapham (1935–2024) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wordsmith.org, 2016.01.08
“I think it’s a good reality check to grow up in New York, because every day you’re exposed to people from all parts of the world, people that don’t have any money, people who live on the street, rich people — especially if you’re not sheltered.”
Paz de la Huerta (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As we get rich, the basics of life--food, clothing and shelter--become a very small part of total expenditure. And people have enough money to purchase things that enhance them spiritually and I mean the word spiritual not necessarily in a religious sense but in the sense that it adds to your feeling of well-being.”
Robert Fogel (1926–2013) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Robert Fogel in: "Early Retirees Turn to Volunteer Work," at npr.org. October 23, 2005.
“I wake up in the morning, all I think is flip Count a couple hundreds, flip a couple bricks Time to hit the plug now, need another flip Counting all this money, got me filthy rich”
“Of course, the day may come when we’ll reject the money of the rich as tainted, but it hadn’t come when I left Tammany Hall at 11:25 A.M. today. p. 73”
George Washington Plunkitt (1842–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Almost everyone in private confessed their desire for buckets of money, but they usually swore the opposite in public. They bad-mouthed the rich as low-life scumbags. I could never understand why people despised something they wanted to be.”
L. K. Samuels (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People don’t want to be rich. They want to be able to choose. The richer you are, the more choices you have. That is the freedom of money.”
Trevor Noah (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Never get involved in a venture with a man who inherited his money and didn’t earn any himself. He’ll assume he’s smarter than you are, just because he’s rich and you’re not, and he’ll expect you to bow down to his greatness because for all his life people have.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“…I’m very rich because I’m loved by all my people, it’s a very beautiful thing. No money could surpass that. The love that my people feel for me is just so tremendous. It’s a lovely feeling.”
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On being accepted by her people as a spokesperson in “‘Recording the Cries of the People’: AN INTERVIEW WITH OODGEROO (KATH WALKER)” in Kunapipi (1988)
“People in the penthouse are giving too much to charity? Awesome! But they're also shaping society without our consent. Not awesome! And as long as there are people with so much money in so much power, we'll have no say. The only real solution here is making sure that they're not that rich in the first place.”
Hasan Minhaj (born 1985) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God, money is so wasted on the rich.”
Ben Aaronovitch (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A work of art wastes away and becomes lustreless in surroundings where it has a price but not a value. It radiates only when surrounded by love. It is bound to wilt in a world where the rich have no time and the cultivated no money. But it never harmonizes with borrowed greatness.”
Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Slavery is the most disgusting reality in the history of Puerto Rico. From slavery, from the riches of free labor for centuries by African men and women, comes the money of what is left of the old rich families of Puerto Rico.”
Juan González (journalist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Others would say ‘He is a good man & though you don’t care about him now, will soon learn to love him.’ That, I believe, I never could do. I know that the generality of people would say he is rich & your marrying him would at once make you independent, and I say ‘Am I to barter my peace of mind for money?’ No – never!”
Sarah Forbes Bonetta (1843–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source