Wealth
‹ 1 · Outline · 3 ›
2.The love of money and the vices of avarice
2a.Avarice as the root of evil and worship of Mammon
See also: Hypocrisy 5c
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 13–14The chase of gain is rich in hate.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 27Coins hidden in the idol; greed for luck and gold.read · scan
- p. 33The countryman grows rich from the golden eggs, but greed makes him kill the goose and lose all.read · scan
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 120–121Job denies making gold his hope or rejoicing in great wealth, or seizing land unjustly.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 215–216Warns not to trust in oppression or robbery nor set the heart on increasing riches.read · scan
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 260Creon says love of gain lures men to death.read · scan
- p. 260Creon denounces money as the worst human evil: it destroys cities, corrupts good minds and teaches impiety.read · scan
Plato, The Apology of SocratesVol. 2
- p. 17Men wrongly seek money, honor and reputation before wisdom and truth.read · scan
Plato, PhaedoVol. 2
- p. 56–57A man who fears death is likely a lover of money or power, and of the body.read · scan
- p. 74–75Lovers of money fear poverty; philosophers do not.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On FriendshipVol. 9
- p. 30Money matters, small or large, reveal a man's untrustworthiness and whether he prefers gain to friendship.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 395–396Steward wasting goods; warning that no one can serve God and mammon; faithfulness in unrighteous riches tests trust with true riches.read · scan
Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44
- p. 458The slave girl's masters seize Paul when the hope of their gain from soothsaying is gone.read · scan
- p. 465Demetrius the silversmith rouses craftsmen because Paul's teaching threatens their trade and wealth from shrines of Diana.read · scan
Plutarch, CiceroVol. 12
- p. 237–238Cicero jests at Crassus's covetousness and the Stoic doctrine that all things belong to the wise.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 192Mankind is governed by a passion to accumulate wealth; dwelling on his bounty taught Pliny a habitual contempt of money.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 75Love of filthy lucre and temporal things draws the base from God.read · scan
- p. 91–92He wonders at those who prefer gold to honesty and resists covetousness in even small matters.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 283–284He laments voyaging for gain when he already had abundance beyond spending.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 78Dante denounces papal avarice: gold and silver made a god, no better than idolatry but a hundredfold worse.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 228–229Crassus is mocked with a shout to declare the flavour of his gold.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 260–261Men toil shamefully for a piece of money yet shrink from toiling for the unchangeable good.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 192–194Utopians marvel that worthless gold is prized above man, and a fool with a heap of it commands wise men.read · scan
- p. 236Money is the source of evil; abolishing it removes fraud, theft, murder and poverty, while plenty is hoarded by the rich.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 147The Corsican is driven by avarice, hoping to gain the reward without risk.read · scan
- p. 175A pun on Felice Guadagni (Gain) distinguishes gaining for oneself from gaining for others.read · scan
- p. 202–203Avarice drives the Pope and his bastard son to seize on the false claim that Cellini is worth eighty thousand ducats.read · scan
- p. 203The Pope's son covets the large sum supposedly stolen, making the accusation a matter of seizing money.read · scan
- p. 272–273Cellini calls the Ferrarese avaricious and greedy of their neighbours' money by any means.read · scan
- p. 351He insists he pocketed nothing, acted without avarice, and is still owed seven hundred crowns in salary.read · scan
- p. 422–423Sbietta courts Cellini after the farm sale, hiding his aim of profiting from Cellini's early death.read · scan
- p. 423–424The life-annuity farm was sold on the bet that the buyer would die within a year.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 382Greedy grabbers covet college lands after the Abbey lands, having spent their own means.read · scan
- p. 382If college lands go, bishops, farmers, merchants and nobility will be assailed by spendthrifts coveting others' labour.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 417–418French pirates strip the captives of possessions, their avarice never satisfied; desires extend only to gain of money.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33
- p. 335Native kings decree no gold trade with Christians, since love of gold means conquest.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of MacbethVol. 46
- p. 373Avarice would lead Malcolm to destroy the good nobles for their lands and jewels.read · scan
John Donne, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 310–311The busied man is unfit for love, business making a wrong like a married man wooing.read · scan
Ben Jonson, The AlchemistVol. 47
- p. 563–564Mammon proclaims 'BE RICH' and imagines Peru's golden mines reached through the stone.read · scan
- p. 564Mammon promises riches will end gambling and dependence, converting all base metals to gold and buying whole counties.read · scan
- p. 567Mammon repeats 'BE RICH', and plans to strip church roofs for metal to transmute.read · scan
- p. 580–582Mammon's greed for the philosopher's stone, promising an empress and King of Bantam; Face fleeces him of money and goods.read · scan
- p. 593–594Subtle lures the Puritans with power to buy kings' realms, pay armies and turn pewter into plate through the stone.read · scan
- p. 611–613Mammon imagines transmuting stuff to gold and showering the supposed lady with it.read · scan
- p. 613Mammon promises floods of gold and a diamond to win Dol, as lord of the philosopher's stone.read · scan
- p. 613–618Mammon dreams of luxurious feasts and jewels; Dol notes the stone is wealth unfit for a private subject.read · scan
- p. 633–634Mammon mourns lost gold and hopes; Face notes he hoped for gold in his blood.read · scan
- p. 658–661Mammon laments money lost to cheats and dreams of golden cities; greed and gullibility exposed.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 888–890Overreach and Marrall scheme to prey on Wellborn and are astonished that the rich Lady Allworth favors him.read · scan
- p. 892–895Overreach's ill-got gold and lands are called Mammon that add power to Margaret's attractions.read · scan
- p. 905–908Overreach reasons that if the widow marries Wellborn, all that is hers will become his.read · scan
- p. 908–910Overreach offers money and redeems Wellborn's clothes to steer him to a rich marriage, hoping to gain the lady's estate.read · scan
- p. 911Overreach prepares to offer his fortune rather than a mere portion.read · scan
- p. 911Overreach promises all his lands, leases and coin with his daughter and offers to seize neighbors' estates for Lovell.read · scan
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3
- p. 329Avarice is madness worse than any delusion; he is an atheist to the earth's god of gold; charity possible without riches.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 90Mammon, admiring the gold of Heaven's pavement, leads spirits to mine gold; men learned ransacking earth from him.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 103–104Hold-the-world, Money-love and Save-all trained in the town of Love-gain in the county of Coveting.read · scan
- p. 105–106They argue that keeping and getting worldly goods is wise and blessed, citing Abraham, Solomon and Job.read · scan
- p. 106–107Seeking greater benefice, rich wife and customers is defended as lawful and good.read · scan
- p. 107–108Making religion a means to get the world is condemned.read · scan
- p. 111–112Demas and By-ends share in lucre and go no further than this world.read · scan
- p. 203–204'Give me not riches' is scarcely prayed by one in ten thousand; most seek straws, sticks and dust.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 331Money is thought to cure all defects of children; covetousness, root of all evil, makes a man die to save charges.read · scan
- p. 331–332The money-monger is never satisfied and fears losing; he is slave to his servant gold, his god.read · scan
- p. 342Money is put before virtue in what parents care to leave.read · scan
- p. 348Men seek wealth rather than subsistence.read · scan
- p. 364–365Men venture souls where they won't venture money.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 160–161Addison refuses to remit his fees for friends, reasoning that his loss outweighs any friend's gain.read · scan
Thomas Gray, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 462–463Moral that not all that glisters is gold; gold tempts heedless hearts.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 180Woolman observes that increased wealth increases desire for wealth; he chooses a simple trade over profitable business.read · scan
- p. 252Desire of gain supporting customs opposes truth; grasping wealth contrary to God's wisdom brings oppression and strife.read · scan
- p. 290–291Men seek riches and estates for children to live by worldly customs and honors, becoming oppressors.read · scan
- p. 294–295The desire of outward gain prevails and leads to neglect of duty.read · scan
- p. 297–298Love of money and prospects of gain entangle the mind and obstruct divine light; gain must be given up.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 528–529Bonds of wealth and law replace natural ties; avarice levels merit.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 66–68Mammon cursed for inciting daring deeds or steeping the soul in pleasure.read · scan
- p. 169–171Mephistopheles shows how Mammon glows in the mountain, illuminating his palace like a feast.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 46–48Worldly men chase riches and cannot enjoy them; the lad cares only for his love, not warl's gear.read · scan
- p. 58–60Sage asks whether thirst of wealth or pleasure drives the wanderer.read · scan
- p. 82–84Scorns the worldly race chasing money at the cost of love and friendship.read · scan
- p. 85–87Burns scorns purse-proud city men and lords; sordid sons of Mammon are dark as night beside the honest poor.read · scan
- p. 87–89The worldly race drudges and strives over treasure while the poet takes pleasure elsewhere.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 676–678Complains England is corrupted by rapine, avarice and getting and spending; the wealthiest are deemed best, men trade swords for ledgers.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 105–106Gold is the reward of service, and the mother covets the wealth for her own daughter.read · scan
- p. 124Strangers want to buy the boy to exhibit for money; the father first says no money can buy him, then sells.read · scan
- p. 154The King's greed grows with each room of straw spun into gold; he values the miller's daughter as a rich wife.read · scan
- p. 155–156The King marries the girl because no wife could be richer, as her gold spinning is inexhaustible.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 298–300Giacomo laments highborn necessities and avarice; a nobleman's heir has wide wants and narrow powers.read · scan
- p. 318–320Cenci plans to burn his gold and treasures in a bonfire, leaving his children only his name.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, A Defence of PoetryVol. 27
- p. 353Self, incarnate in money, is Mammon, opposed to poetry as God of the world.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 420–421Scott's Ballantyne printing and bookselling venture: hard cash and station in society as his avowed object, 'Put money in thy purse'.read · scan
- p. 438Scott writes furiously for money to buy upholstery and joined moorlands, a petty imitation of conquerors.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American ScholarVol. 5
- p. 18–19Men seek money and power, the 'spoils of office', as a false good.read · scan
- p. 22Public and private avarice thickens the air and turns promising young men into drudges.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Man the ReformerVol. 5
- p. 44Even the money-catcher trembles before the new ideas.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, NatureVol. 5
- p. 232–233The pursuit of wealth loses its ends: removing friction became the end, and rich governments make the masses men who would be rich.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, WorshipVol. 5
- p. 276–277People have faith in wealth, machinery and meat and wine but not in divine causes.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 377The English apply the pecuniary argument as final, as in the £100 box challenge to the rappers.read · scan
- p. 428–429English prayer asks for wealth, and Providence is thought to care about money; Jews' naturalization resisted on commercial grounds.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 981–982Curses gold that gilds the fool.read · scan
- p. 1054–1055He denounces a Britain whose sole God is the millionaire and where commerce is all in all.read · scan
- p. 1056–1057The nation has lost for a little her lust of gold and her love of an unjust peace.read · scan
Robert Browning, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1075–1078He obsesses over costly tomb materials, basalt and jasper, and covets luxuries, villas and possessions, while dying.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 196The captain risks men's effort to save a few hides because of their Boston price and his two percent commission.read · scan
- p. 196–197The remark that he was a fool to risk his life for a few hides sets life against commercial gain.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Twenty-Four Years AfterVol. 23
- p. 391–392Gold-digging, the lust for gold, and the fires' sixteen million dollar losses; a Chinaman's patient industry earns a few dollars a day.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 114Attacks a nation's love of money, profit-making from opium and poverty, and indifference to poor lives.read · scan
- p. 114–116A nation ruled by love of money, avarice making it incapable of thought, mocking a revelation that calls it the root of evil.read · scan
- p. 125National energy is poured into money-making, a false business.read · scan
- p. 154Doubling income by digging a coal-shaft in children's lawn would be wrong; industrial gain despoils the country.read · scan
Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39
- p. 403Condemns lives spent in money-making, deceits and shameless stuffing while others starve, as a life without elevation.read · scan
2b.The miser and the hoarder
See also: Charity 2d · Virtue and Vice 8c
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 179–180He anxiously counts his treasure, fearing spoil by others.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 36A miser hoards gold he never uses; a neighbour notes the hole serves as well as the gold.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 675A miserly treasurer dies with ten million gold pieces, property forfeited to the king; wealth is unenjoyed.read · scan
Ecclesiastes; or, The PreacherVol. 44
- p. 339–340The solitary man's eyes are never satisfied with riches; toil without purpose.read · scan
- p. 340–341Love of silver is never satisfied; hoarded riches perish and man leaves with nothing.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 210Misers who brood on gold and refuse poor kin or friends are punished.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 387–388Beware covetousness; the rich fool's hoarded goods are useless when his soul is required; treasure in heaven.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 964Niggardliness with God's gifts is worse for the stingy; mocking claim that God is poor and they are rich.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 53The greedy man hoards rings while his successor divides treasure without remembering him.read · scan
- p. 88–91Gold buried in the barrow lies useless to men as of old.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 171The blind men count, hoard and bury over ten thousand pieces of silver gained by deceit, each taking a surplus share.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 25–28Argument announces prodigal and avaricious tormented rolling weights, and the vanity of goods under Fortune.read · scan
- p. 28Misers and spendthrifts, clerics among them, roll weights against each other, having made no right use of wealth.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 234Statius explains he was prodigal rather than covetous, and both hoarding and squandering gold are sins.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 22The physician loves gold, saved what he won in pestilence; the Wife of Bath's fine, heavy dress shows cloth-making prosperity.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 196Hoarding treasure unused, or hiding it, is madness since its loss by theft makes no difference to the owner.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 270The treasurer's trickery over the ring's value shows meanness with money in rewarding an artist.read · scan
- p. 270–271The miserly treasurer finds a stone barely above sixty crowns and claims it is worth over two hundred.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 21Covetous rich men take pride in having no children, as children count as a charge against riches.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor FaustusVol. 19
- p. 227–228Covetousness wishes everyone turned to gold so he can lock it in his chest.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 911He takes more delight in acquiring wealth by crooked ways than others in spending it.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 327The miser treats riches as righteousness and censures the distressed to excuse his purse; lend within ability.read · scan
- p. 331Portrait of the miser who hoards, affects poverty, and gains no benefit from what he has.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 389–390Covetousness for superfluous riches perverts providence; old men grow greediest and enjoy nothing they do not use.read · scan
Alexander Pope, Solitude; On a Certain Lady at Court; Essay on ManVol. 40
- p. 430Wealth is ill-fated, never sanctified from shame, as the misers Gripus and his wife show.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 549–550In violent times gentlemen and sovereigns hoarded money, since trade was disgraceful and interest was usury; sovereigns lacking luxuries accumulated treasure.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 363Parents hoard possessions for a tardy enjoyment, yet acre on acre does not make one happy.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 178–179Joseph denies Sir Oliver's generosity, calling avarice the vice of age, though he received twelve thousand pounds.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 30–32Mary's smiles make the miser's treasure poor; he would endure slavery for her.read · scan
- p. 323–325Miser widow noosing a bursting purse, laden with curses.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 215The bear guards treasures from thieving dwarfs who hoard them in caves.read · scan
- p. 216The dwarf hoards a bag of gold and carries it off greedily.read · scan
- p. 216–217The dwarf hoards sacks of pearls and gold.read · scan
- p. 217–218Dwarf gloats over precious stones and offers treasure for his life.read · scan
- p. 218The dwarf's hoarded treasure is divided between the couples.read · scan
Henry David Thoreau, WalkingVol. 28
- p. 399–400A miser with a surveyor hunts his bounds in paradise, blind to heaven around him.read · scan
- p. 412–413A man will not part with his swamp for its mud, holding property that nearly drowns him.read · scan
2c.Cursed gold and treasure that destroys its owners
See also: Desire 9a
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 131The men suppose Odysseus is bringing home treasure from Aeolus while they have empty hands.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 58Rhampsinitos amasses unequalled silver and builds a stone treasury to store it safely.read · scan
- p. 58Repeated thefts diminish the king's hoard, prompting traps.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 80–85Cursed gold and desire for wealth cause the murder; Dido escapes with the treasure.read · scan
- p. 128The Thracian king murdered Polydore for his gold; Aeneas cries out against the sacred hunger for gold that breaks every bond.read · scan
Plutarch, AristidesVol. 12
- p. 82Treasure at Marathon tempts Callias to greed and murder, while Aristides is untouched.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 65–66Dragon guards a hoard; a thief steals a cup; the last survivor's hidden treasure is useless to the dead.read · scan
- p. 67Plundered cup and hoard provoke the dragon's wrath and greed for its stolen treasure.read · scan
- p. 80Wiglaf sees the dragon's hoard, and gold is said to burden with pride; Beowulf looks at it and thanks God he won it for his people.read · scan
- p. 86–87The hoard is to burn with the king and no earl or maiden shall wear its jewels; Eofor and Wulf were rewarded with land and rings.read · scan
- p. 88The hoard was cursed for whoever robbed it; Wiglaf says it was grievously gotten and cost the king's life.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 100–101A mercantile voyage; the abandoned wealth of the stone city tempts them.read · scan
- p. 182He plunders the house's chests and stuffs, but the damsel tricks him and carries off the purses.read · scan
- p. 321Emir declines to take the dead queen's jewels; Talib's covetousness leads to his death, while the Emir judges the treasure sufficient.read · scan
- p. 354The sorcerer seeks a vast treasure and the Lamp that would make its owner richer than any king.read · scan
- p. 425–426Ali Baba takes heaps of gold and riches from the cave; his wife is dazzled and wants to count it.read · scan
- p. 426–427Gold measured rather than counted reveals great riches, provoking the rich brother's resentment.read · scan
- p. 427–428Kasim is so consumed by riches that he disregards them, and dies for them.read · scan
Songs from the Elder EddaVol. 49
- p. 407–409Gunnar compares his seven halls of swords and gold with the treasure Atli offers, finding his own greater.read · scan
- p. 409–412Offered life for gold, Gunnar refuses to buy his life with treasure.read · scan
- p. 412–414Gunnar alone knows where the Niblung hoard lies and sinks it in the Rhine rather than yield it to Atli.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 260–262Siggeir offers thrice the sword's weight in gold, which Sigmund refuses.read · scan
- p. 283–284Regin probes Sigurd about his father's wealth and who guards it, sowing discontent.read · scan
- p. 284Regin tempts Sigurd with Fafnir's vast gold hoard, promising treasure beyond any king's desire.read · scan
- p. 284–286The tale of Andvari's gold: ransom for Otter's death, and the treasure that brings ruin to its owners.read · scan
- p. 286–287Andvari's curse makes the gold the bane of every owner; Fafnir kills his father and broods on the hoard.read · scan
- p. 294–295Fafnir's hoard is foretold as Sigurd's bane.read · scan
- p. 295–296Sigurd insists on taking the cursed hoard, saying every brave man wants wealth until his last day, despite Fafnir's warning.read · scan
- p. 296–297The birds urge him to take the treasure and become lord of the gold.read · scan
- p. 298–299Sigurd takes Fafnir's vast treasure, loading it on Grani.read · scan
- p. 307–308Sigurd's treasure is carried in and admired: rings, helms and golden stoups.read · scan
- p. 325–326Gunnar and Hogni are tempted by Sigurd's gold and realm.read · scan
- p. 340–341Atli begins to covet Sigurd's gold held by Gunnar.read · scan
- p. 341–342Atli covets the Niblung hoard and plots to lure Gunnar and Hogni with offers of gold and lands.read · scan
- p. 346–347Atli demands the gold of Sigurd as his right.read · scan
- p. 349Gunnar hides the gold in the Rhine rather than let the Huns have it.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 227–228Greed for gold made Pygmalion traitor and murderer; Midas's wish was derided; Achan stole booty.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 128–130Necromancer proposes consecrating a book to call up fiends who reveal buried treasure and make them richest of men.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 109–110Lucre Hill's silver mine slays and maims those seeking treasure; Demas beckons pilgrims to it.read · scan
- p. 284–285Lucre's silver-mine lured Demas from pilgrimage and perhaps destroyed By-ends.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 470–471Inhabitants hide valuables and cattle, but soldiers find them and torture owners to reveal hidden treasure.read · scan
- p. 540–541The betrayers break open the trunk and divide the spoil of money and clothes.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 82–83The children take chests of pearls and jewels, which Hansel says are better than pebbles.read · scan
- p. 178A poor peasant gets land and finds a golden mortar, which leads to his trouble.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 348–349The Witch tempts the soldier with as much money as he likes.read · scan
- p. 349–350The Witch directs the soldier to chests of copper, silver and gold, each guarded by a bigger-eyed dog.read · scan
- p. 350–351The soldier discards copper for silver and silver for gold, filling every pocket with treasure.read · scan
2d.Greed, bribery and the purchase of men and offices
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 200Suitors devour Telemachus's substance and Eurymachus outbids with wooing gifts.read · scan
- p. 251–252The wooers bring rich gifts of robes, chains, earrings and necklets to win Penelope.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 72–74Aegisthus uses the dead king's treasure as the means to secure rule over the citizens.read · scan
Aeschylus, The FuriesVol. 8
- p. 151–152The council must be unsullied by the lust of gain.read · scan
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 260–266Creon accuses the guard of selling his soul for pay and says base profit destroys more than it prospers.read · scan
- p. 287Mutual charges of venality: seers and tyrants love gain; good counsel excels heaped-up wealth.read · scan
Plato, CritoVol. 2
- p. 32–33Crito fears being thought to prize money above his friend's life.read · scan
- p. 33Crito offers money from himself and friends to bribe informers and fund escape.read · scan
Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44
- p. 439–440Peter condemns the thought that the gift of God can be bought with money.read · scan
- p. 476–477Felix hopes Paul will give him money.read · scan
Plutarch, ThemistoclesVol. 12
- p. 10He bought off Epicydes, a slave to riches, to keep command from unfit hands; Persian gold corrupted Arthmius.read · scan
- p. 11He takes bribe money, passes it on, and uses a hidden talent of silver to buy off Architeles.read · scan
Plutarch, PericlesVol. 12
- p. 58–59Bribery: Cleandrides corrupted with money; covetousness called hereditary; Pericles's unexplained ten talents to Sparta to buy time.read · scan
Plutarch, AristidesVol. 12
- p. 87Athenians refuse Persian bribes, saying enemies wrongly think all things purchasable by wealth.read · scan
Plutarch, Comparison of Alcibiades with CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 186–188Alcibiades took bribes and squandered money in luxury; Coriolanus scorned money and trampled the poor out of pride.read · scan
Plutarch, DemosthenesVol. 12
- p. 210–211Harpalus's gift of a gold cup and twenty talents bribes Demosthenes, showing covetousness overcoming the orator's integrity.read · scan
Plutarch, CiceroVol. 12
- p. 241Bribery of judges secures the acquittal, as Catulus and Cicero remark.read · scan
Plutarch, Comparison of Demosthenes and CiceroVol. 12
- p. 262–263Demosthenes is accused of taking bribes and presents, while Cicero refused gifts from Sicilians, kings and friends.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 264Caesar buys his release from Sylla's captain with a bribe of two talents.read · scan
- p. 280Conquest wealth is used to buy Roman favor and support.read · scan
- p. 280–282Caesar's money corrupts elections and buys the senate's grant of further funds to himself.read · scan
- p. 288Candidates openly bribe the people with money.read · scan
- p. 289–290Caesar uses Gallic riches to win public men.read · scan
Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12
- p. 323Gabinius is tempted by Ptolemy's promised ten thousand talents to restore him to his kingdom.read · scan
- p. 387A friend buys the preservation of Cleopatra's statues from Caesar for two thousand talents.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 277Lawyers' fees banned beforehand, gratuity of ten thousand sesterces allowed after decision.read · scan
- p. 327Legacy-hunters court a rich man hoping to be heirs; estates pass by adoption and inheritance.read · scan
- p. 327The sick old man could only contemplate his riches; the marriage was thought a match for his wealth.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 180Five hundred gold pieces make him suddenly rich and become bait.read · scan
- p. 348–350He promises the boy riches greater than all kings combined, a treasure reserved in his name.read · scan
- p. 351The Moor promises the boy will be the richest man in the world while forbidding him to touch the gold jars.read · scan
- p. 431–432Gold pieces bribe Baba Mustafa into revealing the house.read · scan
- p. 432Baba Mustafa is bribed with gold to lead the robber to the house.read · scan
- p. 433The second robber corrupts Baba Mustafa with gold.read · scan
Songs from the Elder EddaVol. 49
- p. 374–377Gunnar is tempted to betray Sigurd for the Rhine gold and a peaceful life of great wealthread · scan
- p. 397–400Gifts offered, gold used to gladden her, but she trusts noneread · scan
- p. 400–403Grimhild offers gold, rings, halls and riches of Budli to buy Gudrun's consentread · scan
- p. 403–406Grimhild offers lands and many men to persuade Gudrun to accept Atliread · scan
- p. 414–417Gudrun scatters gold and treasure to the house carls, buying their support.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 96–98Gold, silver and land offered as bribes to the envoys and as tokens to Karl.read · scan
- p. 98–99Marsil's offered gifts of animals, mules, silver and gold to pay Karl's soldiers.read · scan
- p. 110–112Marsil offers costly sables to buy Ganelon's favor.read · scan
- p. 112–114Marsil and Valdabrun reward Ganelon with treasure and a jeweled sword for Roland's fall.read · scan
- p. 114–115Climorin, Bramimonde and Marsil heap helm, jewels and gold on Ganelon to secure Roland's ruin.read · scan
- p. 121–122Ganelon has been bought with heathen gifts of gold, silver, raiment and horses.read · scan
- p. 187–189Karl charges that Roland was betrayed for gold.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 314–315Grimhild urges giving Sigurd Gudrun with plenteous wealth and rule so he will stay.read · scan
- p. 322–323Gudrun proposes to smother Brynhild's anger with gold.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 73Venedico confesses he sold Ghisola to the Marquis' will.read · scan
- p. 73Venedico says Bologna's people are known for craving gold, which explains the throng of panderers.read · scan
- p. 85Barterers sell justice and office for lucre; a 'no' is turned into 'ay' for money.read · scan
- p. 89Friar Gomita took money and released his master's enemies, playing barterer to the height.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 84–85She bribes her father's men with gold; Bicham promises lands and cities to maintain her.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 215Gold buys treason: gifts and rewards move men to any act.read · scan
- p. 215Mercenaries' covetousness drives them to sell loyalty for a halfpenny, then squander pay.read · scan
William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36
- p. 103Though not rich, he is offered a large sum by the clergy.read · scan
- p. 114Gifts of a gilt cup and gold in gloves are refused as bribes.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 136–137Bargaining over the diamond's price and the courtesan mother's demands for money and gowns.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 15–16Victim offers a purse of gold for treatment; the priest seizes his purse and clothes.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 267–269Bribery and gifts govern fellowships, scholarships, pensions and almshouse places; even Homer would be turned away empty-handedread · scan
- p. 374Colleges founded for the poor are taken over by the rich through influence and bribes.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 248Fernando's riches blinded Lucinda's affection, Cardenio says.read · scan
- p. 322Anselmo offers gold and jewels as bait, believing women love finery.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 47–48Edward gives Spencer crowns to outbid the Mortimers for land.read · scan
- p. 54–56Spencer sends gold to bribe the French lords against Isabella like Jove's golden showers to Danae.read · scan
Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's HolidayVol. 47
- p. 517–518Firk bargains for gold and silver pieces before revealing where Hans is, deceiving the mayor.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 684–687Galatea mocks Pharamond's assumption that gifts and money can buy her, contrasting her plain unpainted state.read · scan
- p. 687–688Pharamond tries to win Galatea with gold; she mockingly declines, deflating his assumption that money buys favour.read · scan
- p. 688–690Pharamond offers his purse to seal her conditions and supply whatever she may want.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 762Gold buys Bosola's service; bounty and place function as bribes.read · scan
- p. 785–786Delio offers Julia gold; she scorns it as smell-less and less lovely than a bird or lute-string.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 890–892Overreach sets his daughter to be trimmed up to catch the lord, paying a servant for beating him.read · scan
- p. 925–928Overreach offers a purse of gold and sums to smooth the match and plots to seize Wellborn's lands.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 261–263Orgon makes a deed of gift of all his property to Tartuffe.read · scan
- p. 263–264Tartuffe professes indifference to worldly goods while accepting the estate.read · scan
- p. 275–277Tartuffe boasts he has fooled Orgon completely.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 354Officers making private market of bribes over salary.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 375His cause is ever money; he chooses the worst side for the best bribe.read · scan
Alexander Pope, Solitude; On a Certain Lady at Court; Essay on ManVol. 40
- p. 430Riches give no repute or trust except to the good; senates have been bought with gold.read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34
- p. 73–74Quakers resisted Cromwell's bribes; the only religion to resist the charms of gold.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 301–302Landlord gave the room to a wealthy new guest; commerce motivates the eviction.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 121–124Faust demands more jewels to win Margaret; the priest kept the first casket; gifts used as bait.read · scan
- p. 159–161Treasure casket of coins and pearls sought as a gift to win the girl.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 192–194Snake's testimony is bought: paid liberally for a lie, offered double for truth.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 302–304Young woman refuses an old man whose gold and goods cannot buy her.read · scan
- p. 310–311Votes bought by lords and lairds with money and entertainment.read · scan
- p. 419–421English gold bought what force could notread · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 394–395The mason rebukes Bertha's gold, said to be the universal charm that cannot compensate for misery.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 45Doctor says money will get Renzo off clear.read · scan
- p. 319–320Don Rodrigo buys the goodwill of the Unnamed's bravoes with coins as he ascends to the castle.read · scan
- p. 539–540Rodrigo offers bribes to the surgeon to conceal his illness; the servants and monatti plunder his goods.read · scan
- p. 558A guard lets Renzo pass for a half-ducat, fearing plague less than he loves money.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 133Money bribes the king's servants into betraying his secret.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 281Cenci yields a third of his property to the Pope to buy impunity, and money corrupts the Church's response to crime.read · scan
- p. 301Gold, the palace-walking devil, whispers silence to the Pope.read · scan
- p. 310Murder is marketable in Rome; the outlaws sell what the conspirators want.read · scan
- p. 326–328Marzio treats an old man's murder as a good market price of a thousand crowns.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Inaugural Address at EdinburghVol. 25
- p. 372Peerages came to be bought with money by gentlemen, debasing the rank.read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27
- p. 373Superfluous money in commercial societies is used to hire soldiers.read · scan
- p. 375The mercenary sold his services in the market for the highest wages.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 231–232The swineherd names his price in kisses instead of money, bargaining for his wares.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 172–173Election expenses corrupt public trust and shut out those who cannot afford them.read · scan
- p. 184Bribery and corrupt electoral practices spread more widely than before after the reform failed.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 982–983Every door barred with gold; the guinea eases wounded honour.read · scan
Robert Browning, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1067–1069Poet lured by a handful of silver.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 171The Kanaka swims out for a handful of silver; officials hoped to extort money from the owner.read · scan
- p. 265Money and clothes buy a substitute; Harry Bluff goes for pity and the prospect of cruising money.read · scan
Fugitive Slave ActVol. 43
- p. 310Fee schedule paid by claimants; commissioner gets ten dollars if the fugitive is surrendered, five if not.read · scan
2e.The fraud and selfishness of trade
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 102–103Euryalus insults Odysseus as a merchant sailor mindful of cargo and greedy gains, not an athlete.read · scan
- p. 210Greedy Phoenician merchants come with trinkets, trading by trickery.read · scan
- p. 211–212Phoenician traders amass wealth and lure the household with a gold amber chain.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 404–405Sellers in the temple driven out as robbers.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 17–18The Friar's begging profit exceeds his income, and the Merchant's bargains and exchange dealings hide that he is in debt.read · scan
- p. 29He gets more money in a day than the parson in two months.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 41Salamanca, rich yet hard to please, mocks the artist by threatening to delay payment as long as the work took.read · scan
- p. 352Brokers scheme over the sale of a flawed diamond to the Duke, with the price and commission at stake.read · scan
- p. 353The Duke paid 25,000 crowns for a stone offered at 17,000.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 226–228Goods made at costly home trades could be imported cheaper; artisans defraud buyers by hurry to turn the penny.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor FaustusVol. 19
- p. 239–240The horse-courser is cheated of forty dollars by Faustus's trick of the vanishing horse.read · scan
- p. 241–242The horse-courser complains of paying forty dollars for a bottle of hay and is cheated by Faustus's trick.read · scan
Ben Jonson, The AlchemistVol. 47
- p. 553Dapper is lured by fairy queen's riches and promised winnings of thousands.read · scan
- p. 553–559Drugger wants to thrive in his new shop and is promised riches as a merchant.read · scan
- p. 559Face extracts Drugger's gold with promises of fortune; the cheats' alchemy expenses and trade in gullibility.read · scan
- p. 571–573Face and Subtle keep drawing money from Mammon for supposed materials.read · scan
- p. 585–589Brethren have spent a hundred and twenty pounds and demand projection before paying more; orphans' goods are to be cheaply bought.read · scan
- p. 594–598Subtle promises orphans' goods will multiply into millions while demanding more coals and money.read · scan
- p. 598–599Con men plan to melt pewter into counterfeit coin and tally their takings from dupes.read · scan
- p. 600–602Schemes to extract money from a Spanish don and other dupes.read · scan
- p. 602–603Kastril boasts of his fifteen hundred a year; gulls are lured by promises of gain.read · scan
- p. 604–607Dapper hands over his coins for the fairy aunt ruse.read · scan
- p. 608–609He is made to throw away all his money and worldly pelf.read · scan
- p. 609–610Dapper's remaining coins and trinkets are stripped from him.read · scan
- p. 621–623The rogues plan to cozen, empty and milk the rich disguised Spaniard of his coin.read · scan
- p. 623–624Face fears the Spaniard will not pay half as well if delayed; profit drives their scheming.read · scan
- p. 625–626Subtle plans to fleece the Spaniard; Face flatters the widow with the prestige of a Spanish countess.read · scan
- p. 640–641Subtle and Face scheme over the widow and gold-making profits, exploiting the credulous for money.read · scan
- p. 641–642Face orders the con-men to pack up the plunder of their swindles and share it before the master's return.read · scan
- p. 651–652The fake Fairy Queen promises Dapper treasure and gaming winnings while Subtle makes him give away his income.read · scan
- p. 653–655Subtle and Dol plot to cozen the widow of her jewels and to flee with the stock.read · scan
- p. 655–657The confederates tally money, rings and goods swindled from dupes before Face abandons them to officers.read · scan
- p. 661–662Brethren squabble over cellar goods bought with silver pence, claiming them against Mammon.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 737–738Satire on tradesmen's greed, debts and bonds in Dion's cursesread · scan
John Milton, AreopagiticaVol. 3
- p. 217–218Religion depicted as a traffic and trade the rich man delegates to a factor.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 214–216Hypocrites make trade and merchandise of godliness, seeking fortunes on the road to heaven.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 387–388Few dealers are faultless; trade tempts men to conceal faults and impose on buyers for unjust profit.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 256–257Traders sell rum to Indians for gain and cheat them of furs, which he condemns.read · scan
- p. 260–261Traders for gain induce natives to waste their furs on liquor that ruins families.read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsVol. 32
- p. 309The tradesman's fixed price serves his own advantage, not honesty.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 217–218Travellers must pay everywhere; inns fleece guests, and a great house ruined by housekeeping ends as an inn.read · scan
William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28
- p. 315–317Excessive competition in trade turns commerce into gambling and mad speculation, endangering public and private interests.read · scan
John Henry Newman, The Idea of a UniversityVol. 28
- p. 41–42Contrasts a commercial agent's inventory of produce with the unvalued beauty of the country.read · scan
- p. 42The commercial mind values nothing in the scene beyond profit.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Man the ReformerVol. 5
- p. 44Commerce is riddled with fraud and abuse, so that we consume perjury and fraud in daily commodities.read · scan
- p. 44Trade is a system of selfishness and advantage-taking, not reciprocity, love or heroism.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, New England ReformersVol. 5
- p. 255Emerson questions trade as creating false relations between men and the unequal pay of professional and manual labor.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 399Commerce's competitive underselling causes adulteration of food and fabrics; the tyranny of trade.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 294The difficulty arises when the instigator profits from advising, as with keepers of gambling-houses or procurers, whose living opposes the public weal.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 33Self-interest, not compassion, governs the owner's dealings; the sale is driven by lawsuit and profit.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1015–1016Speculation ruined the father; lust of gain, swindling and cheating trade condemned as the vice of the ageread · scan
- p. 1016–1017Denounces adulterated food, poison and Mammon-worship where greed sells chalk and alum to the poorread · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 187–188Sabbath sailing is gain to the owners.read · scan
- p. 298Temperance ships multiplied because dropping grog saves owners' expenses.read · scan
- p. 351Owners and harbor sharks in Boston await a rich prize, a ship with a crew to be paid two years' wages.read · scan
- p. 354–356Boarding-house runners and dealers swarm the returned sailor, eager to profit from his pay.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 119Art is pursued for the sake of the shop and rivalry in selling.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 407–408Civilians scavenge relics from the field out of love of gain; soldiers were charged a dollar for linen to bind wounds.read · scan
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