They say “a fool and his money soon go separate ways”. Or at least the band ELO does in their song Evil Woman. Actually, the original saying was from Dr. John Bridges’ “Defence of the Government of the Church of England, 1587″, in which he said “If they pay a penie or two pence more for the reddinesse of them..let them looke to that, a foole and his money is soone parted”. I think the pop song version works a bit better. But what do I know. Like my pop always used to say to me: “If you’re so smart why ain’t you rich?” A lot of quotes about wealth have spiritual underpinnings, but I sometimes suspect that this is a trick of the wealthy, to keep the rest of us happy with our lot in life.

Both Thoreau and Gandhi were pretty spiritual, but I don’t recall either of them ever riding around in limos:

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.
-Henry David Thoreau

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.
-Mohandas Gandhi

The less spiritual quotes are a lot easier to swallow, even if they give you a little indigestion:

This is an impressive crowd: the Have’s and Have-more’s. Some people call you the elites. I call you my base.
-George W. Bush

It’s talk like that that inspired talk like this:

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.
-G. K. Chesterton

And then there’s the realist. But wait! Napoleon Hill told me I could Think and Grow Rich!

All wealth is the product of labor.
-John Locke

Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service.
-Henry Ford