Money Quotes (part 1)
“Money doesn’t change men, it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish or arrogant or greedy, the money brings that out, that’s all.” [Henry Ford (1863 - 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production.]
“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.” [Frederick Lewis Donaldson (1860-1953) was a Church of England clergyman and Christian socialist]
“Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” [Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist.]
“While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.” [Groucho Marx (1890 -1977) was an American comedian and film and television star.]
“What money “can” buy:
A bed but not sleep;
A computer but not a brain;
Food but not appetite;
Finer but not beauty;
A house but not a home;
Medicine but not health;
Luxuries but not culture;
Amusements but not happiness;
Acquaintance but not friends;
Obedience but not faithfulness;
Sex but not love.” [Unknown]
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” [Epictetus (AD 55 – 135) was a Greek-speaking Stoic philosopher who was born a slave.]
“Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure-footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life. ” [Ann Landers (1918 - 2002) was an American advice columnist and eventually a nationwide media celebrity.]
“Don't think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money.” [Voltaire (1694 - 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher.]
“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.” [Harry Truman (1884 - 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States, an American politician of the Democratic Party.]
“Everyday is a bank account, and time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor, we've got 24 hours each.” [Christopher Rice (1978 - ) is an American bestselling fiction author.]
“Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.” [Attributed variously]
“Money is a great servant but a bad master.” [Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, and author. He served both as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England.]
“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?” [John Wesley (1703 – 1791) was an Anglican minister and theologian who, with his brother Charles and fellow cleric George Whitefield, is credited with the foundation of the evangelical movement known as Methodism.]
“I love money. I love everything about it. I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric dog polisher. A gasoline powered turtleneck sweater. And, of course, I bought some dumb stuff, too.” [Steve Martin (1945 - ) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician.]
“A man wants to earn money in order to be happy, and his whole effort and the best of a life are devoted to the earning of that money. Happiness is forgotten; the means are taken for the end.” [Albert Camus (1913- 1960) was a French-Algerian philosopher, author, and journalist who’s views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism.]
“When someone steals another's clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.” [Basil the Great (circa 329 – 379), was the Greek bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed later made a saint by the Catholic church.]
“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.” [Unknown]
“For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.” [Arne Garborg (1851-1924) was a Norwegian writer.]
“Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow.” [Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes—for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and for the two plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth.]
“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket.’ [Will Rogers (1879 - 1935) was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, newspaper columnist, social commentator, and stage and motion picture actor.]
“Get to know two things about a man. How he earns his money and how he spends it. You will then have the clue to his character. You will have a searchlight that shows up the inmost recesses of his soul. You know all you need to know about his standards, his motives, his driving desires, his real religion.” [Robert J. McCracken was a Scottish-born American Professor of Systematic Theology.]
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
money, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not money, I am nothing. And though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned, and have not money, it profiteth me nothing. Money
suffereth long, and is kind; money envieth not; money vaunteth not
itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. . . . And now
abideth faith, hope, money, these three; but the greatest of these
is money. — I Corinthians 13 (adapted) ” [George Orwell (1903- 1950) was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic.]
“For after all, what is there behind, except money? Money for the right kind of education, money for influential friends, money for leisure and peace of mind, money for trips to Italy. Money writes books, money sells them. Give me not righteousness, O lord, give me money, only money.” [George Orwell [George Orwell (1903- 1950) was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic.]
“We no longer live life. We consume it.” [Unknown]
“When you need to borrow money the Mob seems like a better deal I think. 'You don't pay me back I break both your legs.' Is that all? You won't take my house or wreck my credit rating? Fine where do I sign. Legs? Fine. You don't even have to sign anything.” [Craig Ferguson (1962 - ) is a Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, producer and voice artist.]
Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don’t want..to impress people that they don’t like. [Will Rogers (1879 - 1935) was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, newspaper columnist, social commentator, and stage and motion picture actor.]
Money often costs too much. [Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.]
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. –Thomas Edison
A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore. [Yogi Berra (1925 - 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball, all but the last for the New York Yankees, who was known for he’s humorous “Yogisms.”]
Many of the above quotes contain their own points of application. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Illustration Exchange or its staff of editors. Nor do they necessarily reflect the position of orthodox Christianity.
Money Quotes (part 2)
"The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money." [Unknown]
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." [Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics.]
"Money poisons you when you've got it, and starves you when you haven't." [D. H. LAWRENCE (1885 - 1930) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter.]
"Money ... is like a beautiful thoroughbred horse--very powerful & always in action, but unless this horse is trained when very young, it will be an out-of-control & dangerous animal when it grows to maturity." [DAVE RAMSEY (1960 - ) is an American financial author, radio host, television personality, and motivational speaker. His show and writings strongly focus on encouraging people to get out of debt.
"The person who doesn’t know where his next dollar is coming from usually doesn’t know where his last dollar went." [Unknown]
“They say money can’t buy happiness, but everyone still wants to prove it for themselves.” [Unknown]
“Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy, so they know the ‘value’ of things, not the price.” [Unknown]
“If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell the things you do need.” [Warren Buffet (1930 - ) is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist, considered by many to be the most successful investor in the world.]
“The only exercise I’ve done this month is running out of money.” [Unknown]
“If you have a gun, you can rob a bank, but if you have a bank, you can rob everyone.” [Bill Maher (1956 - ) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, media critic, and television host.]
“No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” [Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet.]
“Money often costs too much.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.]
“Business is the art of extracting money from another man’s pocket without resorting to violence.” [Unknown]
“A man is usually more careful o this money than he is of his principles.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.
Many of the above quotes offer their own points of application. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Illustration Exchange or its staff of editors. Nor do they necessarily reflect the position of orthodox Christianity.
The God Substitute
There is a special place in the cells of your body where oxygen is supposed to sit. It’s like a little slot that, chemically speaking, is shaped just perfectly to hold that atom of oxygen. The problem is that carbon monoxide is shaped almost identically to oxygen, so that it also fits perfectly in that slot where only oxygen should go. And when it starts to go there in mass quantities your body starts to suffocate.
However, you don’t realize this is happening. You think that you are fine. After all, you are breathing, your lungs are still expanding and contracting, you feel air coming in and going out. Your body is going through all the motions it should be going through. All systems are normal, right? Wrong. You are actually being asphyxiated. You are suffocating even though you don’t know it.
Spiritually speaking, that is what money can do when it takes the wrong place in our hearts, the place reserved only for God. Money seems to fit in this slot so easily because it can be so tempting to trust it in the same way we should trust God. It sometimes feels like a perfect fit. And this is because there are a number of ways that money functions as a God substitute:
a. God is sovereign: He is in control. We can trust him to keep us alive until we’ve lived here as long as he wants, until we’ve fulfilled our number of days. He is sovereign. He is in control. But money promises to give us control. We believe that if we have enough of it then we will be secure. We look to money to have a false sense of sovereignty.
b. God is satisfying: Real satisfaction does not come from pleasure, it comes from meaning. And nothing is more meaningful than knowing a God who is infinitely glorious, glorious beyond comprehension. But money promises to satisfy us because of what it can buy us. Just think of how often we buy stuff in the store or at the mall and we come away feeling like our lives are going to somehow be happier as a result. But they're not. Gadgets can't give us meaning. God alone can do that.
c. God is gracious: The cross shows that God accepts us and approves of us completely apart from our own works. He does so on the basis of Christ. But money promises us that we will be justified in the eyes of the world. We will have status. We will be accepted. Money promises that we will prove that we are worthwhile in this world, that we mean something, that we measure up. When you let money slip into this God-shaped slot in your heart, you won’t know that anything is wrong. You will probably think everything is fine. You will be going through the motions. But you won’t know why you feel like you are suffocating spiritually.
So, how do we “clear the air” of this carbon monoxide?
a. You have to take action. If you have a real carbon monoxide threat at home, you know that you can’t just neglect it. You have to investigate it. You have to find the source of it. And then you have to implement a system of devices that will detect it whenever it comes back.
b. What happens if you do nothing? Is that an option? No. Not at all. If you do nothing you die.
c. By the same token, if you do nothing to make sure you are not duped by the deceitfulness of wealth, you will die spiritually. And the more money you have, the more prone you will be to trust in money for your security and satisfaction.
d. Beside this, we are all constantly inundated with attitudes of materialism, attitudes of loving money and things. It is the air we breathe. And what happens to us spiritually if we do not take any action? We die.
There is a certain practice that God says we should engage in that reminds our hearts of the truth, that remind us of our real source of security and satisfaction: worshipping God with our money.
Deuteronomy 14:22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. . . so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.