I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine
The Tuesday scowls, the Wednesday growls, the Thursday curses, the Friday howls, the Saturday snores, the Sunday yawns, the Monday morns, the Monday morns. The whacks, the moans, the cracks, the groans, the welts, the squeaks, the belts, the shrieks, the pricks, the prayers, the kicks, the tears, the skelps, and the yelps.
Samuel Beckett
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So you think that money is the root of all evil?" said Francisco d'Anconia. "Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?... More Here
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I hate to be the Ayn Rand kill joy, but, the whole (rather lovely) speech is rather diminished by d'Anconia's misquoting.
ReplyDeleteThe orginal quote is "the LOVE OF money is the root of all evil." I haven't checked the greek, but I suspect it's the "eros" or "lust of money" in the original.
Puts a slightly different complexion on it all. But, his point is good...we can't eat cash and coin. It's only a convenient form of exchange, with a great deal of faith that the exchange will occur.
Perhaps it's because of that faith, the money bears the phrase "In God We Trust."
But, I digress....
It is correct. The Love of money is the root of all evil. Reading further...
ReplyDeleteOr did you say it's the LOVE of money that's the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is the loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money—and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it."
Just took the time to look it up; the orginal phrase "love of money" translates to "avarice" and "covetous." The more positive flavors of love (philos, agape, storge) I think match the idea of "knowing and loving it's nature." The original "philagyros" in fact has in it's roots "philos" - brotherly love." But, was that a quote, Mr Fish? I don't agree that 'money is the creation of the best power within you,' - I think it's a secondary result. For instance, it's almost axiomatic that a great artist will starve and suffer in obscurity, and is fortunate if his (or her, included by inference) work is appreciated in his lifetime. They served the work (Art), not the fact they could create money, which some did not do in their lifetimes. Most craftsman, however, are rewarded more immediately, and therefore create the appearance of a closer link twixt work and money than I think truly exists.
ReplyDeleteMy $0.02 is now duly contributed.
BTW, I just noticed that I also missed the correct quote. There's an interesting addition of "the root of all KINDS OF evil" in the original quote. Adding "love of money" and "all kinds of evil" makes filthy lucre a little less filthy, methinks....