And all you men, whom greatness does so please, — Wealth

"Repente dives nemo factus est bonus."

"The rich live the same all over the world."

"Through lifes dark road his sordid way he wends, An incarnation of fat dividends."

"O what a world of vile ill-favourd faults Looks handsome in three hundred pounds a year!"

"Conquest was how wealth was acquired Not through entrepreneurship, invention or business Historically, every culture has despised entrepreneurs and merchants In India, we have the caste system Whos at the top? The Brahmin or priest The entrepreneur is one step from the bottom The Islamic historian Ibn Khaldun says that looting is morally preferable to entrepreneurship or trade Why? Because looting is more manly In looting, you have to beat the guy in open combat to take his stuff America is based on a different idea The idea of acquiring wealth not by taking it from someone else Instead, wealth can be created through innovation, entrepreneurship and trade Lets take a look at Manhattan Reportedly in 1626, Native Americans sold Manhattan to the Dutch for $700 in todays money Theres land all over the world now that you can buy for $700 But when the Dutch bought Manhattan, there was no Manhattan Prices are astronomical today because of whats been built over the past 300 years Manhattan is the creation of the people who built it, not the original inhabitants who sold it Manhattan represents the new American ethic of wealth creation An alternative to conquest"

"Base wealth preferring to eternal praise."