Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,745 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“What is wealth?" the king would say, "Even this shall pass away".”
Theodore Tilton (1835–1907) said by 1907 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: All Things shall pass away, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
“I focus on spiritual wealth now, and I'm busier, more enthusiastic, and more joyful than I have ever been.”
John Templeton (1912–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s not as if there’s infinite wealth. There are thousands of new luxury units coming on the market, and the question is, who will buy them? If people start losing jobs, who can afford to pay 2, 3, 4, 5 million dollars? Do you know 10,000 new investment bankers on Wall Street?”
Nouriel Roubini (born 1958) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in S. Jhoanna Robledo, "The Descent," New York Magazine (2006-09-24).
“Virtue cannot dwell with wealth either in a city or in a house.”
Diogenes of Sinope (400–323 BC) said by 323 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wealth is the sinews of success.”
Bion of Borysthenes (born 325 BC) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The best wealth is the one by which the honour of man is protected.”
Ali al-Rida (770–818) said by 818 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I marvel’d how Man, by his GOD-sent wit, Thus tam’d the salamander Element And loos’d the Metal in the mountain pent To make us Saws, and Shears, and useful Plows, Swords for our hands, and Helmets for our brows, The surgeon’s Scalpel, vehicle of Health, And all our humble Tools for gaining wealth . . . ”De Arte Munificente,” Seventeenth century”
John Brunner (1934–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No: by the names inscribed in History's page, Names that are England's noblest heritage, Names that shall live for yet unnumbered years Shrined in our hearts with Cressy and Poictiers; Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die, But leave us still our old nobility.”
John Manners, 7th Duke of Rutland (1818–1906) said by 1906 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: England's Trust, part iii, line 227, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
“[Increasing] politicization means the [economic] expansion is slowing up and you are no longer attempting to achieve increased output per capita, or increased wealth, or increased satisfactions... but you are doing so by mobilizing power. We have seen this going on for almost a century. ...increased militarization.”
Carroll Quigley (1910–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Architecture has its political Use; public Buildings being the Ornament of a Country; it establishes a Nation, draws People and Commerce; makes the People love their native Country, which Passion is the Original of all great Actions in a Common-wealth…. Architecture aims at Eternity.”
Christopher Wren (1632–1723) said by 1723 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Of Architecture", Parentalia; or Memoirs of the Family of the Wrens, comp. by his son Christopher (1750, reprinted 1965), Appendix, p. 351.
“Thus every Part was full of Vice, Yet the whole Mass a Paradise; Flatter'd in Peace, and fear'd in Wars, They were th' Esteem of Foreigners, And lavish of their Wealth and Lives, The Balance of all other Hives.”
Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733) said by 1733 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The neoliberal strategy is a new Dark Age of enclosures and privatization that will bury the Enlightenment's drive to free economies from rentier privilege.... In this war the financial powers and other rentiers fight... precisely because they realize there is no moral justification for income and wealth obtained by extractive means instead of earned productivity.”
Michael Hudson (economist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who obtain or inherit predatory wealth and privilege realize the ultimate means of imposing austerity and demolishing the power of democracies is deception, junk economics....”
Michael Hudson (economist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give a man a horse he can ride, Give a man a boat he can sail; And his rank and wealth, his strength and health, On sea nor shore shall fail.”
James Thomson (poet, born 1834) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The exact measure of the progress of civilization is the degree in which the intelligence of the common mind has prevailed over wealth and brute force.”
George Bancroft (1800–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character — not wealth or power or position — is of supreme worth.”
John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My conscience is my crown, Contented thoughts my rest; My heart is happy in itself, My bliss is in my breast. Enough I reckon wealth; A mean the surest lot, That lies too high for base contempt, Too low for envy's shot.”
Robert Southwell (priest) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel no care of coin, Well-doing is my wealth; My mind to me an empire is, While grace affordeth health.”
Robert Southwell (priest) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It can be argued that the U.S. brokerage and investment banking industry has transformed the modern American stock market into nothing more than a mechanism for transferring wealth from shareholders to management.”
Peter Schiff (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When we inherit stolen wealth in a will, we would live under a stolen future – thereby mortgaging our future. Remember, what comes from God goes to Him. What comes from truth goes to truth. What comes from stealing goes to stealing. What comes from destruction goes to destruction.”
T. B. Joshua (1963–2021) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On leaders who store up wealth illegally - "Choose The Path Of A Champion" Ghana Web (December 25 2010)
“Whenever you can, act as a liberator. Freedom, dignity, wealth — these three together constitute the greatest happiness of humanity. If you bequeath all three to your people, their love for you will never die.”
Cyrus the Great (600–530 BC) said by 530 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War (2006) p. 116, also quoted in "9 Timeless Leadership Lessons from Cyrus the Great" at Forbes.com (19 April 2012)
“For a space he faltered, when Goltan fell with a spear through him. “Now I am one friend poorer,” he said, “and that is a wealth not gained back.”
Poul Anderson (1926–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have not drawn a very rosy picture of the magician. I did not intend to do so. To the novice entering the life and promising himself ease, indolence, and wealth, I should say, "Don't!”
Alexander Herrmann (1844–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A balanced-budget requirement implies is that government has the constitutional right to spend as much as it takes in; that government is permitted to waste however much revenue it can extract from wealth producers, and that the bums must merely bring into balance what was stolen (taxes) with what is squandered (spending).”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rand Paul: Action Hero, Or Political Performance Artist?” WorldNetDaily.com, March 1, 2013.
“Mrs. Clinton’s riches are not capitalism’s reward for hard work. Hillary has accrued wealth by using the predatory political process to wield power over others.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Paltrow of politics (minus looks & ethics),” Praag.org, June 14, 2014.
“Jews like presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders have forgotten that riches are a reward for work well done. In the Jewish faith's infinite wisdom, wealth justly acquired is a sign of God's blessing.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Burn-the-Wealth Bernie & His Partial Enslavement System,"The Quarterly Review, October 16, 2015
“Be it Hillary Clinton or burn-the-wealth Bernie Sanders — both agree that it is up to them, the all-knowing central planners, to determine how much of your life ought to be theirs to squander.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Burn-the-Wealth Bernie & His Partial Enslavement System,"The Quarterly Review, October 16, 2015
“Every physicist (naturally, this equally applies to other specialities, but I restrict myself to physicists for definitiveness) should simultaneously know, apart from theoretical physics, a wealth of facts from different branches of physics and be familiar with the newest notable accomplishments.”
Vitaly Ginzburg (1916–2009) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in his Nobel lecture, December 8, 2003, at Aula Magna, Stockholm University.
“The basic confrontation which seemed to be colonialism versus anticolonialism, indeed capitalism versus socialism, is already losing its importance. What matters today, the issue which blocks the horizon, is the need for a redistribution of wealth. Humanity will have to address this question, no matter how devastating the consequences may be.”
Frantz Fanon (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have already expressed my opinion on this subject in treating of rent, and have now only further to add, that rent is a creation of value, as I understand that word, but not a creation of wealth.”
David Ricardo (1772–1823) said by 1823 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The close relationship between politics and economics is neither neutral nor coincidental. Large governments evolve through history in order to protect large accumulations of property and wealth.”
Michael Parenti (1933–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who control the wealth of this society have an influence over political life far in excess of their number.”
Michael Parenti (1933–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Throughout history, in the name of “liberty,” owning classes have opposed political leaders who have sought a more equitable distribution and use of wealth. And in the name of “stability” and “public safety,” they have repeatedly surrendered some of their own power to autocratic leaders dedicated to preserving the privileged socioeconomic order.”
Michael Parenti (1933–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The secret to wealth usually is not to work hard, but to have others work hard for you.”
Michael Parenti (1933–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think what I learned is that wealth comes not just from taking risk but from constantly taking risks.”
Andy Kessler (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sharing the code just seems like The Right Thing to Do, it costs us rather little, but it benefits a lot of people in sometimes very significant ways. There are many university research projects, proof of concept publisher demos, and new platform test beds that have leveraged the code. Free software that people value adds wealth to the world.”
John D. Carmack (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wealth is a virtue which has to be practised, really learnt, if it is to be of any real use to its owner, turned to good account, giving him confidence, freedom, power and independence - not enervating him, making him dependent, stingy, soft and vain.”
Ida Friederike Görres (1901–1971) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Broken Lights Diaries 1957-59.
“Man has wants deeper than can be supplied by wealth or nature or domestic affections. His great relations are to his God and to eternity.”
Mark Hopkins (educator) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Wealth of Nations may not be an original book, but it is unquestionably a masterpiece.”
Robert Heilbroner (1919–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The distribution of wealth, therefore, depends on the laws and customs of society.”
Robert Heilbroner (1919–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the most important of all is the spiritual patrimony, because it alone bears the seal of eternity, it alone transcends all times. The ancient Greeks are with us today not because of their physiques, no matter how athletic--those are only ashes now--nor because of their material wealth, if they had such, but because of their culture.”
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (1899–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who wish to be inspired by the glory of the British Empire would do well to avoid reading Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations ... (pg. 164)”
Amartya Sen (born 1933) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Two forms of government are favorable to the prevalence of falsehood and deceit. Under a Despotism, men are false, treacherous, and deceitful through fear, like slaves dreading the lash. Under a Democracy they are so as a means of attaining popularity and office, and because of the greed for wealth.”
Albert Pike (1809–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Adam Smith himself was under no allusion about the desire of individuals, particularly business men, to create privileged positions for themselves. While historically wealth was limited to title and impassable to peasantry.”
Eric Roll, Baron Roll of Ipsden (1907–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wherefore it is impossible to succeed in comparing wealth of different eras or different nations. This, in political economy, like squaring the circle in mathematics, is impracticable, for want of a common mean or measure to go by.”
Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The command of a large sum is a dangerous temptation to a national administration. Though accumulated at their expense, the people rarely, if ever profit by it: yet in point of fact, all value, and consequently, all wealth, originates with the people.”
Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A state's potential power is based on the size of its population and the level of its wealth.”
John Mearsheimer (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“States care about relative wealth, because economic might is the foundation of military might.”
John Mearsheimer (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To all my friends without distinction I am ready to display my opulence: come one, come all; and whosoever likes to take a share is welcome to the wealth that lies within my soul.”
Antisthenes (445–365 BC) said by 365 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a kind, I might almost say, of artistic satisfaction, when we are able to survey the enormous wealth of Nature as a regularly ordered whole — a kosmos, an image of the logical thought of our own mind.”
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Conservation of Force" (1862), p. 279