30 Quotes on the Value and Danger of Money

3 min. read

Updated February 14, 2025

Ask a dozen people what they think about money and wealth, and you’ll likely get a dozen different answers: It makes the world go around, it’s the root of all evil, countless opinions in between.

Sure, wealth isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. But at the same time, who doesn’t want a few extra dollars in their pocket?

We’ve gathered 30 quotes from some of the world’s most famous authors, speakers, philosophers, comedians, and leaders; and no, they don’t all agree about the role of money in life.

Still, there’s wisdom to be gained, and you may find your own thoughts about money being challenged in the process.

Quotes about money and wealth

1.“There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich.” — Marlene Dietrich
2.“Money can’t buy happiness, but it will certainly get you a better class of memories.” —Ronald Reagan
3.“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything but the value of nothing.” —Phillip Fisher
4.“When you understand that your self-worth is not determined by your net worth, then you’ll have financial freedom.” —Suze Orman
5.“If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right!” ― William Shatner
6.“If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage.” — Brigham Young
7.“Money is a tool. Used properly it makes something beautiful; used wrong, it makes a mess!” — Bradley Vinson
8.“Making money is certainly the one addiction I cannot shake.” — Felix Dennis.
9.“Balancing your money is the key to having enough.” — Elizabeth Warren
10.“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.” — Zig Ziglar
11.“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” — Epictetus
12.“If you’ve got a dollar and you spend 29 cents on a loaf of bread, you’ve got 71 cents left. But if you’ve got seventeen grand and you spend 29 cents on a loaf of bread, you’ve still got seventeen grand. There’s a math lesson for you.” — Steven Martin
13.“Fortune sides with him who dares.” — Virgil
14.“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
15.“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” — Ayn Rand
16.“Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool.” — Seneca
17.“Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.” — Benjamin Franklin
18.“Hold material goods and wealth on a flat palm and not in a clenched fist.” — Alistair Begg
19.“Wealth, my son, should never be your goal in life. Your words are eloquent but they are mere words. True wealth is of the heart, not of the purse.” — Og Mandino
20.“While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.” — Groucho Marx
21.“You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.” — Tennessee Williams
22.“Wealth is not about having a lot of money; it’s about having a lot of options.” — Chris Rock
23.“If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.” — George Monbiot
24.“Don’t think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money.” — Voltaire
25.“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.” — Harry S. Truman
26.“Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly ever does.” — Jane Austen
27.“Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1” — Warren Buffett
28.“I think you will find when your death takes its toll all the money you made will never buy back your soul” — Bob Dylan
29.“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket.” — Will Rogers
30.“A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart.” — Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Michael

Jonathan is an Engagement Marketing Manager for Palo Alto Software, and has spent the last 9 years developing and implementing digital marketing strategies. During that time, he has learned that empathy and authenticity are strengths by which companies can effectively engage with individuals at every point throughout the customer journey.