Wealth
‹ 6 · Outline · 8 ›
7.The simple life and the renunciation of riches
7a.Contempt of wealth in philosophy and religion
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 21–22He would not chase riches with no sure road; he follows the path he loves.read · scan
- p. 63–64A gentleman will not follow a trade for interest lest it clog the mind.read · scan
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 113Gold, silver and jewels cannot equal wisdom in value.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 298–299The law is better than thousands of gold and silver.read · scan
Plato, The Apology of SocratesVol. 2
- p. 28–30Sons should be reproved if they value riches above virtue.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 581The monk avoids storing treasure and grain and oppressive levies of precious metals.read · scan
- p. 615–616Sujata cares no more for a dish worth a hundred thousand pieces than for a dead leaf.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On FriendshipVol. 9
- p. 37–38Many disdain riches and office as trivial, unlike friendship, which all value alike.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Old AgeVol. 9
- p. 64–65Curius refused gold, preferring to rule those who possess it; frugality and rich farm abundance.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 377–378Disciples told to take no money, bread, staff or second coat, relying on hospitality.read · scan
- p. 378Worldly gain is set as worthless against losing one's own self.read · scan
- p. 401–402Rich ruler told to sell all and give to the poor; harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than a camel through a needle's eye.read · scan
Plutarch, PericlesVol. 12
- p. 52Superiority to all considerations of money underlay his authority.read · scan
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 155Not needing money is nobler than using it well, and using it well surpasses using arms.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 233Falernian is only grape juice, a purple robe dyed wool; luxuries are worthless.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 192Riches, if desired, may be cast aside to prove whether the soul despises them.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 942–943Traffic and merchandise must yield to prayer; what is with God is better than merchandise.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 352–354The boy declines the gold jars even when permitted to take them.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 336She offers her gold to any who will take it, scorning its worth.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 336–338Dominic seeks no papal favors or fortune, obeying Christ's counsel to sell all and give to the poorread · scan
- p. 358–359Can Grande's scorn of gold and labors; rich and poor exchange fortunesread · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 211–212Do not boast in riches or flatter the rich.read · scan
- p. 234Contempt of riches outweighs all the treasure of the world.read · scan
- p. 291Money and riches should be despised and rooted out of the heart.read · scan
- p. 324–325Nature rejoices in earthly gain and flatters the rich; Grace is content with little and favours the poor.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 167Bors refuses the lady's offer of great riches as reward.read · scan
Amerigo Vespucci, Amerigo Vespucci's Account of His First VoyageVol. 43
- p. 28They neither trade, buy nor sell, prize plumes and stones, and hold European gold and jewels as nothing, content with what nature gives.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 140–141Raphael desires neither riches nor power; More reveres him for it.read · scan
- p. 191Utopians make chamber pots and bondmen's fetters of gold and silver, so losing them would cost nothing.read · scan
- p. 192Gold and silks are scorned in Utopia as marks of bondage and infamy.read · scan
William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36
- p. 103More refuses the clergy's gift of thousands of pounds for himself or his family, preferring it thrown into the Thames.read · scan
- p. 125More scorns his fine house and possessions, which would soon forget their master.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 402–404He declines Sicily's rich terms, saying he could have stayed in France earning four thousand crowns a year if he sought lucre.read · scan
George Wither, I Loved a Lass; The Lover's ResolutionVol. 40
- p. 331–333Her high fortune should not make him despair; noble minds regard riches lightly.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 410–411Having inherited an estate, he scorns the world's vanities and spends his wealth on devotion and charity.read · scan
Abraham Cowley, Of AgricultureVol. 27
- p. 61Virgil was rich yet desired to be no richer.read · scan
- p. 67–68Evander's humble court illustrates contempt of riches.read · scan
- p. 68–69Evander bids the guest contemn wealth and imitate a god; Horace refuses Augustus' offer of greatness for his farm.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 250–251The rich left their wealth.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 15–16Worldly comforts are held not worth comparing with the heavenly inheritance.read · scan
- p. 92–93Pilgrims set light by all the wares and refuse to buy vanity.read · scan
- p. 188Her husband is where he would not leave for all the Spanish gold.read · scan
- p. 202–203Worldly goods are figured as straws, sticks and dust raked by the carnal mind.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 46Cleopatra says she refused the gift of kingdoms Egypt and Syria offered by Octavius.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 226Friends exhorted to keep minds redeemed from the love of wealth and free of temporal entanglements.read · scan
- p. 276–278God draws people from the desire of wealth toward a humble, lowly way of living that breaks the yoke of oppression.read · scan
- p. 298–299Those engaged in business for gain must give up outward possessions and means of getting treasures.read · scan
- p. 299Desire of gain subjected; honest diligent employment, separation of spirit from desire of riches.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 168–170Wealth, titles and roasts are left to others; he asks not for riches.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 645–647The mother despises worldly grandeur and fortune's gifts and lies.read · scan
James Hogg, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 763–766Coronets, canopies of state and velvet couches are held lesser than a shepherd's love.read · scan
Sir Walter Scott, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 738–740She prefers the outlaw's greenwood life to a queen's rank.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 60He gives up a large fortune to the widow and children.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CompensationVol. 5
- p. 100External goods bring their tax and new responsibility; he declines unearned treasure, possessions, honors and power.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, New England ReformersVol. 5
- p. 264–265A man should dispossess himself of acquired goods that no longer suit his higher self.read · scan
- p. 265–266We cling fearfully to little properties though our being does not flow through them.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1241–1243Renounces upstart Wealth's averted eye and the grandeur of office and court.read · scan
- p. 1253–1254Scorns the money-loving herd; palace life spends all and gold and diamonds are to be rejected.read · scan
Robert Browning, A Blot in the 'ScutcheonVol. 18
- p. 363Mertoun says wealth and rank are Tresham's to keep or part with; he asks for the lady only, landless and unnamed.read · scan
Emily Brontë, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1110–1111Riches held in light esteem, alongside love and fame.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 127Seeking more horses, footmen and fortune is a living death.read · scan
Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39
- p. 393–395Precepts to despise riches, give alms and devote income and labor to others.read · scan
7b.Simple living against luxury and superfluities
See also: Desire 1d
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 11–12Kuan Chung's luxury is not thrift.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 41–43Agamemnon is reluctant to waste costly garments by trampling them.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 764–765Enormous jeweled parure and gifts displayed; the cost of feeding the retinue is questioned.read · scan
- p. 774–775Costly parure deemed unseemly for the monastery.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 151Ridicules Vedius's extravagant retinue of chariots and baboon as the conduct of a fool.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 363Ala-ed-Din and his mother become well-to-do yet live moderately.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 233The poor cottage will be commended above the gilded palace.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 179Utopians wear plain, uniform, durable clothing, avoiding the costly excess of other nations, since more garments give no more warmth or comeliness.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 331Luther attacks extravagant dress, spices, commerce and especially usury as draining Germany of gold and bringing poverty.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 388–389Pearls priced at six thousand crowns, argued to be mere fishes' bones unlike lasting gems; he refuses a commission.read · scan
- p. 389–390The Duke refuses to throw money out of the window on a poor necklace.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 273Lavish table with foreign cooks and delicacies displays noble wealthread · scan
- p. 274Leftovers relieve servants and poor at gates; silver and Venice glass vesselsread · scan
- p. 274Fashion for glass enriches merchants; all classes buy it; spending on breakable glass called wastefulread · scan
- p. 275Merchants' feasts rival the nobility with costly delicacies, sugar confections and imported foodsread · scan
- p. 276–277Vast wine imports of many kinds; costly dishes mark rankread · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 258Even the basest beggars are superfluous in the poorest thing; the daughter's gorgeous dress exceeds need.read · scan
Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's HolidayVol. 47
- p. 528–530Eyre scorns penny-pinching fathers who hoard wealth and lavishly feasts the prentices.read · scan
Ben Jonson, The AlchemistVol. 47
- p. 567Dishes of gold and gems display wealth's excess.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 895–896Overreach orders lavish gold plate and perfumed linen to impress the lord, staking all his labored ends on the feast.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4
- p. 62Comus argues that nature's riches of ore and gems would be unthanked if left unused.read · scan
Abraham Cowley, Of AgricultureVol. 27
- p. 62Farming yields less lucre than merchandise now, yet there is no possibility of being poor with industry; superfluities are needless.read · scan
- p. 66–67Half is more than the whole: the wholesome luxury of roots and herbs outweighs a great estate.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 199–201She criticizes Elmire's extravagance and fineries.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 329–330Vain trimming of apparel would clothe the naked world.read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34
- p. 65After thirty years of trade he set limits to his fortune and lives simply.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 91–92Discouraging useless expense on foreign superfluities was thought to increase money plenty in Pennsylvania.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 194–195He grows uneasy at his expanding shop, content with plain living and avoiding trade in vanities.read · scan
- p. 196–197Luxury is linked with evil; stewards of great estates and merchants must avoid superfluities and seeking great things.read · scan
- p. 246–247Nantucket depends on the whale fishery; plain living lessens need for risky gain.read · scan
- p. 247–248Grasping for income to support outward show contrasted with contentment in a plain life.read · scan
- p. 271He objects to spending money to support such showmen.read · scan
- p. 272–273Costly living and entertainment expenses of some Friends hinder freeing slaves and burden others.read · scan
- p. 289–290Objects that cabin fare pays for superfluous carved work meant to please worldly conformity.read · scan
- p. 301Trade in merchandise and luxurious living condemned; learn contentment with a little.read · scan
- p. 305–306Hopes for examples of self-denial in trade and plain frugal living, with wages paid more liberally.read · scan
- p. 306–307Silver vessels at tables seen as stained with worldly glory; he declines to use them.read · scan
- p. 307–308Superfluities in living are against Friends' principles; poor bear cost of a costly ministry.read · scan
- p. 309–310Cost and damage of dyeing would be better spent keeping things clean.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 356The doctor laments that a slender purse and high costs keep the townsman from acquiring improvements and modish furnishings.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 129–130Contrast between her modest country origins and her costly fashionable tastes, coach and footmen, now funded by his money.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Man the ReformerVol. 5
- p. 51Our expenses go to conformity and trifles; why need any man be rich? Simple living makes one rich to great purposes.read · scan
- p. 52–53True economy is a sacrament, the prudence of simple tastes practised for freedom, love or devotion; better to go without.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 369Rich and middle-class alike spend on house and plate, gifts saved from better times.read · scan
- p. 375They love real wealth, land, durable building and plain rich finish, avoiding show and counterfeit ornament.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 326–327The Shadow flaunts having dressed his shadow into a man as an expensive luxury.read · scan
Oliver Wendell Holmes, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1367–1369Humorous list of modest wants, mock-modest, actually large; scorn for gold and show.read · scan
- p. 1369–1370Satirically modest wishes; scorns wasteful show, pomp and Midas' gold, but asks for pictures, books and a Stradivarius.read · scan
Robert Browning, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1074–1075Bishop obsessed with marble, lapis lazuli and villas for his tomb.read · scan
7c.Luxury as a cause of corruption and decay
Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12
- p. 340Magnificent display of gilded barge and purple sails shows the wealth of the Egyptian court.read · scan
Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33
- p. 118Amber lay neglected until Roman luxury gave it value; the gatherers wonder at the price.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 55–56Luxurious purchases and a house of ebony and gold show opulence.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 67Sudden gains and excess are blamed for Florence's corruption.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 179Where money rules, vain and superfluous occupations multiply for riotous luxury; the idle rich consume others' labour.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 406Her pearls, gold bracelets and her father's ducats display the riches of Algiers.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 90Pandaemonium's splendor compared with Babylon and Egypt's wealth and luxury.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 391Poor should be employed in cultivation and useful manufactures, not luxury trade; excise pride.read · scan
- p. 394Luxury in maintaining trains of attendants is reprovable in religion and government.read · scan
- p. 394–395Luxury sets ill examples and robs the needy.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 76Growing wealth brings plate and china; luxury enters families despite principle.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 304–305Hurry to do business and gain wealth causes suffering; trade in superfluities corrupts Friends.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 549In a rude society without commerce, a large revenue can only feed many people; hospitality rarely ruins, while luxury and ostentation do, so ancestors saved and hoarded.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 509Trade and unwieldy wealth dispossess the swain; luxury replaces contented poverty and simple riches of ignorance.read · scan
- p. 509Luxury is denounced as a poison that swells kingdoms to sickly greatness and ruin, driving the rural peasantry into exile.read · scan
- p. 523–524Italy's lost commerce and riches left only decay; former strength was plethoric ill, leaving towns unmanned.read · scan
- p. 530–531Opulence depopulates villages, useful sons exchanged for useless ore; wealth sways the mind.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 128–129Sir Peter objects to Lady Teazle's luxurious spending, such as winter flowers, while she defends fashionable expense.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 139–141Prayer that rustic sons be spared luxury's contagion.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 211Utility is the idol of the time, to which all powers are subservient.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 436–437Scott had ample income yet manufactured books for more money, building costly furnishings until the pile collapsed on him.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 234–235The Emperor squanders all his money on clothes, and the rogues pocket costly silk and gold.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 117Nation spends lavishly on horses, wine and luxuries but grudges books.read · scan
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