wealth

What did they seek from him? What were they after? He had never asked anything of them; it was they who wished to hold him, they who pressed a claim on him - and they seemed to have the form of affection, but it was a form which he found harder to endure than any sort of hatred. He despised causeless affection, just as he despised unearned wealth. They professed to love him for some unknown reason and they ignored all the things for which he could wish to be loved. He wondered what response they could hope to obtain from him in such manner - if his response was what they wanted. And it was, he thought; else why those constant complaints, those unceasing accusations about his indifference? Why that chronic air of suspicion, as if they were waiting to be hurt? He had never had a desire to hurt them, but he had always felt their defensive, reproachful expectation; they seemed wounded by anything he said, it was not a matter of his words or actions, it was almost . . . almost as if they were wounded by the mere fact of his being. Don't start imagining the insane - he told himself severely, struggling to face the riddle with the strictest of his ruthless sense of justice. He could not condemn them without understanding; and he could not understand.

God shows his contempt for wealth by the kind of person he selects to receive it.

It is less important to redistribute wealth than it is to redistribute opportunity.

Centuries earlier, Job suffered immeasurable losses. His wealth was stripped from him; his family destroyed. Finally, after all else was gone, he was stricken with boils and failing health. Every day and every hour he suffered physical, emotional, and spiritual pain. His friends mocked him, but Job remained faithful. He emphatically declared, For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19: 25-26.)

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.

The old thought that one cannot be rich except at the expense of his neighbor, must pass away. True prosperity adds to the richness of the whole world, such as that of the man who makes two trees grow where only one grew before. The parasitical belief in prosperity as coming by the sacrifices of others has no place in the mind that thinks true. "My benefit is your benefit, your success is my success," should be the basis of all our wealth.

Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.

PLUNDER, v. To take the property of another without observing the decent and customary reticences of theft. To wrest the wealth of A from B and leave C lamenting a vanishing opportunity.

IMPUNITY, n. Wealth.

EULOGY, n. Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration to be dead.