Money Topics

It’s not money that brings happiness, it’s lots of money.
—Russian saying, trans. by Vladimir Ivanovich Shlyakov (1993)

John Robie: And jewelry—you never wear any.
Frances Stevens: I don’t like cold things touching my skin.
John Robie: Why don’t you invent some hot diamonds?
Frances Stevens: I’d rather spend my money on more tangible excitement.
John Robie: Tell me, what do you get a thrill out of most?
Frances Stevens: I’m still looking for that one.
He has ... a very good opinion of himself, which can by no means be considered a failing, for if a man does not esteem himself, he would certainly be very silly to expect the esteem of others. And although he is also well convinced of the importance of self-esteem, there is, perhaps, no one who more heartily detests open flattery than he does, and yet, strange to say, it sometimes sounds very pleasant to his ears; it puts him in such good humor with himself, and of course, with all about him, that he seems like quite another being while under its agreeable influence.... Now, I do not mean that he entertains an exalted opinion of his talents or acquirements, but merely that he thinks himself possessed of a good share of common sense, by which is meant a sound practical judgment of what is correct in the common affairs of life.
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

Americans will listen, but they do not care to read. War and Peace must wait for the leisure of retirement, which never really comes: meanwhile it helps to furnish the living room. Blockbusting fiction is bought as furniture. Unread, it maintains its value. Read, it looks like money wasted. Cunningly, Americans know that books contain a person, and they want the person, not the book.
—Anthony Burgess (b. 1917)