118 Wealth Quotes

In a world where financial success often feels like the ultimate goal, wisdom from those who have achieved wealth can serve as a powerful source of inspiration and guidance. Whether you're an entrepreneur striving to build your empire, an investor seeking to grow your portfolio, or simply someone interested in the principles of prosperity, understanding the mindset behind wealth creation can be invaluable. Here, we present a curated collection of the top 118 wealth quotes, each offering unique insights into the nature of wealth, success, and the journey to financial freedom. Let these words of wisdom motivate and guide you on your path to achieving your financial dreams.

1. “In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly—only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!” - Karl Marx

2. “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

3. “Anywhere you have extreme poverty and no national health insurance, no promise of health care regardless of social standing, that's where you see the sharp limitations of market-based health care. ” - Paul Farmer

4. “The Seven Social Sins are: Wealth without work. Pleasure without conscience. Knowledge without character. Commerce without morality. Science without humanity. Worship without sacrifice. Politics without principle.From a sermon given by Frederick Lewis Donaldson in Westminster Abbey, London, on March 20, 1925.” - Frederick Lewis Donaldson

5. “One man to live in pleasure and wealth, whiles all other weap and smart for it, that is the part not of a king, but of a jailor.” - Sir Thomas More

6. “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” - Epictetus

7. “When you are able to shift your inner awareness to how you can serve others, and when you make this the central focus of your life, you will then be in a position to know true miracles in your progress toward prosperity.” - Wayne W. Dyer

8. “You've learned the lessons well. You first learned to live on less than you earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who are competent. Lastly, you've learned to make gold work for you.” - George S. Clason

9. “The world doesn’t need more people playing small. It’s time to stop hiding out and start stepping out. It’s time to stop needing and start leading. It’s time to start sharing your gifts instead of hoarding them or pretending they don’t exist. It’s time you started playing the game of life in a “big” way.” - T. Harv Eker

10. “If this man had not twelve thousand a year, he would be a very stupid fellow.” - Jane Austen

11. “I am grateful for the blessings of wealth, but it hasn't changed who I am. My feet are still on the ground. I'm just wearing better shoes.” - Oprah Winfrey

12. “And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human.” - William Gibson

13. “Am I right in suggesting that ordinary life is a mean between these extremes, that the noble man devotes his material wealth to lofty ends, the advancement of science, or art, or some such true ideal; and that the base man does the opposite by concentrating all his abilities on the amassing of wealth?'Exactly; that is the real distinction between the artist and the bourgeois, or, if you prefer it, between the gentleman and the cad. Money, and the things money can buy, have no value, for there is no question of creation, but only of exchange. Houses, lands, gold, jewels, even existing works of art, may be tossed about from one hand to another; they are so, constantly. But neither you nor I can write a sonnet; and what we have, our appreciation of art, we did not buy. We inherited the germ of it, and we developed it by the sweat of our brows. The possession of money helped us, but only by giving us time and opportunity and the means of travel. Anyhow, the principle is clear; one must sacrifice the lower to the higher, and, as the Greeks did with their oxen, one must fatten and bedeck the lower, so that it may be the worthier offering.” - Aleister Crowley

14. “Keep your best wishes, close to your heart and watch what happens” - Tony DeLiso

15. “Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.” - John Kenneth Galbraith

16. “Howard Hughes was able to afford the luxury of madness, like a man who not only thinks he is Napoleon but hires an army to prove it.” - Ted Morgan

17. “...Individualistic material progress and the desire to gain prestige by coming out on top have taken over from the sense of fellowship, compassion and community. Now people live more or less on their own in a small house, jealously guarding their goods and planning to acquire more, with a notice on the gate that says, 'Beware of the Dog.” - Jean Vanier

18. “A community that is growing rich and seeks only to defend its goods and its reputation is dying. It has ceased to grow in love. A community is alive when it is poor and its members feel they have to work together and remain united, if only to ensure that they can all eat tomorrow!” - Jean Vanier

19. “No wealth can ever make a bad man at peace with himself” - Plato

20. “Seek not greater wealth, but simpler pleasure; not higher fortune, but deeper felicity.” - Mahatma Ghandi

21. “Still another danger is represented by those who, paying lip service to democracy and the common welfare, in their insatiable greed for money and the power which money gives, do not hesitate surreptitiously to evade the laws designed to safeguard the public from monopolistic extortion.Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution.They are patriotic in time of war because it is to their interest to be so, but in time of peace they follow power and the dollar wherever they may lead.” - Henry Wallace

22. “Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool ” - seneca

23. “…The more enormous our wealth, the more extensive our fears, all our possessions are paled up with new edicts every day, and hung round with gibbets to scare every invader.” - Oliver Goldsmith

24. “[Very rich people] with brains make a great effort to hold on to every penny they have while preaching to the general population that freedom and dignity and patriotism are possible only under their protection; in this way they elicit the support of the very people they hold in subjection.” - James A. Michener

25. “I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money.” - Pablo Picasso

26. “Money can't buy happiness but it can buy a huge yacht that sails right next to it.” - David Lee Roth

27. “And, conversely, she went on to herself, sneering at the Grand Duke's palace, poverty is wasted on the poor, who never know how to make the best of things, are only the rich without money, are just as useless at looking after themselves, can't handle their cash just like the rich can't, always squandering it on bright, pretty, useless things in just the same way.” - Angela Carter

28. “Your goodness must have some edge to it -- else it is none.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

29. “It was at this time that backgammon was invented and began to be popular. It is a kind of paradigm of how wealth is acquired, which in this world is not the reward of intelligence or ability, just as luck is not a product of skill... If luck favours the player, he gets what he wants; if it doesn't, a skilled and prudent man cannot win that which fortune only bestows on whom it likes. It is thus that the good things of this world are apportioned by chance.” - Al Masudi

30. “I would rather be able to appreciate things I cannot have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.” - Elbert Hubbard

31. “No, my son, do not aspire for wealth and labor not only to be rich. Strive instead for happiness, to be loved and to love, and most important to acquire peace of mind and serenity.” - Og Mandino

32. “The wealth of a soul is measured by how much it can feel... its poverty by how little.” - Sherrilyn Kenyon

33. “What a peculiar civilisation this was: inordinately rich, yet inclined to accrue its wealth through the sale of some astonishingly small and only distantly meaningful things, a civilisation torn and unable sensibly to adjudicate between the worthwhile ends to which money might be put and the often morally trivial and destructive mechanisms of its generation.” - Alain De Botton

34. “I will tell you one thing that will make you rich for life. There are two struggles: an Inner-world struggle and an Outer-world struggle...you must make an intentional contact between these two worlds; then you can crystallize data for the Third World, the World of the Soul.” - G.I. Gurdjieff

35. “It is the law of wealth that such people only profit from the money that is taken from them.” - E.L. Doctorow

36. “Burning fevers flee no swifter from your body if you toss under figured counterpanes and coverlets of crimson than if you must lie in rude homespun.” - Lucretius

37. “Always have an air of expectancy.” - Stephen Richards

38. “Your dreams will come true, but do not be overly demanding. Be logical – there are not enough mansions for everyone in the world, are there?” - Stephen Richards

39. “There is nothing to prove to anyone, just concentrate on your own needs.” - Stephen Richards

40. “I have my own theory: ignorance is bliss. The less you know, the more confident you can be in tackling things.” - Stephen Richards

41. “A thought is a Cosmic Order waiting to happen.” - Stephen Richards

42. “Knowing that the brain is predisposed to religion and spirituality, then might it be that God is a creation of the brain?” - Stephen Richards

43. “There are no prizes for defying yourself.” - Stephen Richards

44. “Inaction creates nothing. Action creates success.” - Stephen Richards

45. “Stand out from the crowd, be yourself.” - Stephen Richards

46. “The first rule when you are in a hole is to ask for a hand out!” - Stephen Richards

47. “When others walk away from a lost cause, then that is the time you can step in and seize success.” - Stephen Richards

48. “The first rule about the low hanging fruit principle is to always watch out for low hanging branches, they’re the ones to take it away from you.” - Stephen Richards

49. “If you can't quite make it as a high flier then join a trampoline club.” - Stephen Richards

50. “When you stop blaming others for where you are in life, that is when you can start to manifest your dream life!” - Stephen Richards

51. “The first place where self-esteem begins its journey is within us.” - Stephen Richards

52. “If we can acquire an attitude of self-belief, then we will surely determine our future actions and our future life opportunities.” - Stephen Richards

53. “Now he was nothing to her, just a lesson in time, a wicked boy-man, incapable of wealth or prestige.” - Jamie Weise

54. “The gratitude that you feel leads to faith in the abundance and with every resonance that radiates from your mind more strong feelings of faith start to reside in you.” - Stephen Richards

55. “If you take any step, no matter how small it is, towards achieving your dreams then you will surely find the right path and reach the abundance that lies in store for you.” - Stephen Richards

56. “The difference between being mediocre and achieving excellence is you.” - Stephen Richards

57. “Without desires and dreams, your thoughts do not matter and you can think whatever you want to.” - Stephen Richards

58. “In the spiritual world many forms of the physical universe that are potentially effective can be perceived but with regard to time, we can observe only one form.” - Stephen Richards

59. “On the other hand, if the future is not the one you chose then you may have to use your willpower to obtain the future of your liking.” - Stephen Richards

60. “According to the Law of Attraction, the physical reality that you experience at present is drawn towards the future probability you desired when it attains more power.” - Stephen Richards

61. “Thou shalt not forget that money is only money and not character or fame.” - Steven J. Lee

62. “The first rule in making money is not to lose it.” - Steven J. Lee

63. “Ultimate prosperity is one's value within. It takes a man of depth, morality, and charm to be envied yet without a sign of wealth or romance. A passion to prove such inner worth is his permission to achieve whatever he desires.” - Criss Jami

64. “When you begin to actively participate in the creation of your life, there is never an end, even in death, for physics tells us that nothing is ever created nor destroyed, merely transformed.” - Stephen Richards

65. “If you truly love someone, you should be more interested in keeping them happy than in being right.” - Stephen Richards

66. “Thought is power, as is desire, but neither is enough unless it is backed by faith, specificity, and the desire to see to it that it becomes.” - Stephen Richards

67. “If you align your vibrations and frequencies with those things you desire, you will acquire them.” - Stephen Richards

68. “Show respect to all. If you accept that all is undifferentiated oneness, and that all things are merely different aspects of that one thing (but vibrating at different frequencies), then you must respect yourself and everything and everyone around you.” - Stephen Richards

69. “Pierre had for the first time experienced that strange and fascinating feeling in the Slobodsky palace, when he suddenly felt that wealth and power and life, all that men build up and guard with such effort ,is only worth anything through the joy with which it can all be cast away.” - Leo Tolstoy

70. “I've never understood it,' continued Wilfred Carr, yawning. 'It's not in my line at all; I never had enough money for my own wants, let alone for two. Perhaps if I were as rich as you or Croesus I might regard it differently.' There was just sufficient meaning in the latter part of the remark for his cousin to forbear to reply to it. He continued to gaze out of the window and to smoke slowly. 'Not being as rich as Croesus - or you,' resumed Carr, regarding him from beneath lowered lids, 'I paddle my own canoe down the stream of Time, and, tying it to my friends' doorposts, go in to eat their dinners.' ("The Well")” - W.W. Jacobs

71. “Father is a school manqué ... He always wanted to write books. But he became rich instead, so is not allowed.” - Iain Pears

72. “... anyone can acquire wealth, the real art is giving it away.” - Daisy Goodwin

73. “Wealth, if not a mere flash in the pan, compels the wealthy to become wealthier.” - Sylvia Townsend Warner

74. “The businessman is only tolerable so long as his gains can be held to bear some relation to what, roughly and in some sense, his activities have contributed to society.” - John Maynard Keynes

75. “The two main criminals are France and the United States. They owe Haiti enormous reparations because of actions going back hundreds of years. If we could ever get to the stage where somebody could say, 'We're sorry we did it,' that would be nice. But if that just assuages guilt, it's just another crime. To become minimally civilized, we would have to say, 'We carried out and benefited from vicious crimes. A large part of the wealth of France comes from the crimes we committed against Haiti, and the United States gained as well. Therefore we are going to pay reparations to the Haitian people.' Then you will see the beginnings of civilization.” - Noam Chomsky

76. “The rich control our politics to a huge extend. In return they get tax cuts and deregulation. It's been and is an amazing ride for the rich.” - Jeffrey D. Sachs

77. “The great fault of modern democracy -- a fault that is common to the capitalist and the socialist -- is that it accepts economic wealth as the end of society and the standard of personal happiness....The great curse of our modern society is not so much lack of money as the fact that the lack of money condemns a man to a squalid and incomplete existence. But even if he has money, and a great deal of it, he is still in danger of leading an incomplete and cramped life, because our whole social order is directed to economic instead of spiritual ends. The economic view of life regards money as equivalent to satisfaction. Get money, and if you get enough of it you will get everything else that is worth having. The Christian view of life, on the other hand, puts economic things in second place. First seek the kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you. And this is not so absurd as it sounds, for we have only to think for a moment to realise that the ills of modern society do not spring from poverty in fact, society today is probably richer in material wealth than any society that has ever existed. What we are suffering from is lack of social adjustment and the failure to subordinate material and economic goods to human and spiritual ones.” - Christopher Henry Dawson

78. “The rich run a global system that allows them to accumulate capital and pay the lowest possible price for labour. The freedom that results applies only to them. The many simply have to work harder, in conditions that grow ever more insecure, to enrich the few. Democratic politics, which purports to enrich the many, is actually in the pocket of those bankers, media barons and other moguls who run and own everything.” - Charles Moore

79. “People become wealthy when they become specific... when they know what that means to them, not only in terms of the objects and amounts involved - ... but also in terms of how they want this wealth to make them feel.” - Kiki Theo

80. “Dare to be different. Represent your maker well and you will forever abide in the beautiful embrace of his loving arms.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

81. “Thirty thousand a year was all right, but dyspepsia and inability to be humanly happy robbed such princely income of all its value.” - Jack London

82. “I bargained with Life for a penny, and Life would pay no more, However I begged at eveningWhen I counted my scanty store;Life is a just employer. He gives you what you ask,But once you have set the wages,Why, you must bear the task.I worked for a menial's hire,Only to learn, dismayed,That any wage I had asked of Life,Life would have willingly paid” - Jessie B. Rittenhouse

83. “We are tiny flames, Helikaon, and we flicker alone in the great dark for no more than a heartbeat. When we strive for wealth, glory and fame, it is meaningless. The nations we fight for will one day cease to be. Even the mountains we gaze upon will crumble to dust. To truly live we must yearn for that which does not die.” - David Gemmell

84. “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of production and trade...” - Ayn Rand

85. “Though I may accumulate a great deal of riches in this world, it is only my wealth of knowledge, talents, and emotional bonds that I keep when I leave.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

86. “How arrogant you areTo think your wretched Self so singular!The disappointments of this world will dieIn less time than the blinking of an eye,And as the earth must pass, pass by the earth Don't even glance at it, know what it's worth;What empty foolishness it is to careFor what must one day be dispersed to air!” - Farid ud-Din Attar

87. “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society, for modernity, and for prosperity. The wealthy pay more because they have benefitted more. Taxes, well laid and well spent, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare. Taxes protect property and the environment; taxes make business possible. Taxes pay for roads and schools and bridges and police and teachers. Taxes pay for doctors and nursing homes and medicine. During an emergency, like an earthquake or a hurricane, taxes pay for rescue workers, shelters, and services. For people whose lives are devastated by other kinds of disaster, like the disaster of poverty, taxes pay, even, for food.” - Jill Lepore

88. “What gets me most about these people, Daddy, isn't how ignorant they are, or how much they drink. It's the way they have of thinking that everything nice in the world is a gift to the poor people from them or their ancestors. The first afternoon I was here, Mrs. Buntline made me come out on the back porch and look at the sunset. So I did, and I said I liked it very much, but she kept waiting for me to say something else. I couldn't think of what I was supposed to say, so I said what seemed like a dumb thing. "Thank you very much," I said. That is exactly what she was waiting for. "You're entirely welcome," she said. I have since thanked her for the ocean, the moon, the stars in the sky, and the United States Constitution.” - Kurt Vonnegut

89. “Already he knew something of the history of the intervening years. He had heard now of the moral decay that had followed the collapse of supernatural religion in the minds of ignoble man, the decline of public honour, the ascendency of wealth. For men who had lost their belief in God had still kept their faith in property, and wealth ruled a venial world.” - H.G. Wells

90. “Does not the Old Testament promise that God will prosper His people? Indeed! God increases our yield so that by giving we can prove that our yield is not our god. God does not prosper a man’s business so he can move from a Ford to a Cadillac. God prospers a business so that thousands of unreached peoples can be reached with the gospel.” - John Piper

91. “I am too rich already, for my eyes mint gold.- Coloured Money” - Mervyn Peake

92. “No one described him better than he did when someone accused him of being rich. “No, not rich,” he said. “I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing.” - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

93. “The most impoverished peasant can be delighted by the opening of the first spring flower, and the most wealthy aristocrat can curse the day he was born because of some petty offense to his sensibilities. She is a very wise woman. To achieve serenity we have to view life not as it is measured by the world around us but as we ourselves measure it. We must accept that the scales are not at all equal.” - Emma Wildes

94. “Jews highly value having an abundance of money for the sake of caring for their families and for helping the needy.” - H.W. Charles

95. “The Talmud says that “blessed is He who has created all these to serve me.” German politician Julius Streicher said, “It is an open secret that Jews do not work, but rather let others work for them.” - H.W. Charles

96. “Jews believe that people are creators, not consumers. The role of humans is to improve and perfect God's creations through work, creation, and innovation.” - H.W. Charles

97. “Many people have got caught up in the belief known as the “Law of Attraction.” They believe that by their thoughts, affirmations, and other “attraction” exercises they will become wealthy. However, the Tanakh wisely says, “In all work there is profit, but mere talk produces only poverty.” (CJB, Proverbs 14:23). Only through work it is possible to produce results that create wealth and simply talking about wealth will not produce any results. The idea that wealth can come through thoughts or affirmations is a fantasy. “A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty” (CJB, Proverbs 28:19).” - H.W. Charles

98. “Wealth is a planned result that requires productive work and dedication. The Tanakh says, “The plans of the diligent lead only to abundance; but all who rush in arrive only at want” (CJB, Proverbs 21:5).” - H.W. Charles

99. “Rags-to-riches story? I've heard that gospel before, no thanks. I find no greater inspiration than the riches-to-rags story of redemption, the story of God leaving His golden throne to pursue a wretch like me.” - T. William Watts

100. “What an ironic tragedy that an affluent, “Christian” minority in the world continues to hoard its wealth while hundreds of millions of people hover on the edge of starvation!” - Ronald J. Sider

101. “[W]hat I like best is staying home and reading. Being rich is not about how many homes you own. It’s the freedom to pick up any book you want without looking at the price and wondering whether you can afford it.” - John Waters

102. “Blessed with riches and possibilities far beyond anything imagined by ancestors who tilled the unpredictable soil of medieval Europe, modern populations have nonetheless shown a remarkable capacity to feel that neither who they are nor what they have is quite enough.” - Alain De Botton

103. “Kuwa tajiri si kazi rahisi. Ukipata milioni ya kwanza utataka nyingine kulinda hiyo ya kwanza. Ukipata ya pili utataka mbili zingine kulinda hizo mbili za kwanza, n.k. Si kazi rahisi. Si kama unavyofikiria. Utajiri haujanipa furaha. Umenipa uhuru. Ndugu zangu ni maskini wa kutupwa. Ningependa kuishi kama maskini mwenye pesa nyingi.” - Enock Maregesi

104. “I came running down the stairs that morning, like it was Christmas. My parents were already up. In my family, presents never waited; they were there upon waking. Our family has a problem with what they called delayed gratification. We want what we want when we want it, and we always want it now.” - Neal Shusterman

105. “We're all made the same but then born to change. Which then don't make us the same.” - Jonathan Anthony Burkett

106. “To wait at Monte Cristo for the purpose of watching like a dragon over the almost incalculable richs that had thus fallen into his possession satisfied not the cravings of his heart, which yearned to return to dwell among mankind, and to assume the rank, power, and influence which are always accorded to wealth — that first and greatest of all the forces within the grasp of man.” - Alexandre Dumas

107. “Expensive pleasures will soon bring the richest person down.” - Stephen Richards

108. “Yes, there's sense in that. But the suddenly rich are on a level with any of us nowadays. Money buys position at once. I don't say that it isn't all right. The world generally knows what it's about, and knows how to drive a bargain. I dare say that it makes the new rich pay too much. But there's no doubt but money is to the fore now. It is the romance, the poetry of our age. It's the thing that chiefly strikes the imagination. The Englishmen who come here are more curious about the great new millionaires than about anyone else, and they respect them more. It's all very well. I don't complain of it.” - William Dean Howells

109. “Be positive at all times! Leave out the negatives.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

110. “Ride higher in life unto the higher life.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

111. “It turns out horrendous when you choose the wrong options.” - Agu Jaachynma N E

112. “Sow good seeds for a good yield.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

113. “Avoid conflicts, Embrace cordiality.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

114. “Relish what is good and expedient.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

115. “Light is life and always wins.” - Jaachynma N.E. Agu

116. “Real poverty is when hunger pangs force from my mind all thoughts but those of food. Real poverty is when the children are not dressed warmly enough for winter. Real poverty is when the housing we can afford is not adequate to the needs of our families. On the other hand, real poverty is - equally - when I have eaten so much that I am uncomfortable, and again, my thoughts center on food. Or when I have so many clothes that I have to spend a lot of mental energy making choices among them or finding ways to store them. Or when, regardless of my living conditions, I am discontent and brooding about how to have more. Real poverty is when material things are uppermost and pressing - whether because we have too few or too many of them. It is poverty, because the human mind and spirit are made for higher things, worthier pursuits.” - Maxine Hancock

117. “One of the advantages of real worth is that menial tasks can always be left to someone else.” - Jeffrey Archer

118. “On the second and the third night there was again a ball -- this time in mid-ocean, during a furious storm sweeping over the ocean, which roared like a funeral mass and rolled up mountainous seas fringed with mourning silvery foam. The Devil, who from the rocks of Gibraltar, the stony gateway of two worlds, watched the ship vanish into night and storm, could hardly distinguish from behind the snow the innumerable fiery eyes of the ship. The Devil was as huge as a cliff, but the ship was even bigger, a many-storied, many-stacked giant, created by the arrogance of the New Man with his ancient heart.” - Ivan Bunin