Solon Quotes

No, I have no desire for riches. Honest poverty and a conscience, torpid through virtuous inaction, are more to me than corner lots and praise.

The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil.

If Heaven had looked upon riches to be a valuable thing, it would not have given them to such a scoundrel.

The glory that goes with wealth is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal.

Virtue cannot dwell with wealth either in a city or in a house.

A rich man is an honest man--no thanks to him; for he would be a double knave, to cheat mankind when he had no need of it: he has no occasion to press upon his integrity, nor so much as to touch upon the borders of dishonesty.

Let no man be sorry he has done good, because others have done evil.

The thief steals from himself. The swindler swindles himself. For the real price is knowledge and virtue, whereof wealth and credit are signs. These signs, like paper money, may be counterfeited or stolen, but that which they represent, namely, knowledge and virtue, cannot be counterfeited or stolen.

No just person ever became quickly rich.

All the gold upon the earth and all the gold beneath it, does not compensate for lack of virtue.

All this [wealth] excludes but one evil, poverty.

Be thou good thyself, and let people speak evil of thee; it is better than to be wicked, and that they should consider thee as good.

It is not enough simply to try to resist evil or empty our lives of sin. We must also fill our lives with righteousness

Remember our words, then, and whatever is your aim let virtue be the condition of the attainment of your aim, and know that without this all possessions and pursuits are dishonourable and evil.

Justice shines in very smoky homes, and honors the righteous; but the gold-spangled mansions where the hands are unclean she leaves with eyes averted.

Poverty hath slain a thousand, but riches have slain ten thousand. They are very uncertain, they promise that which they cannot perform, neither can they afford a contented mind.

Wealth I desire to have; but wrongfully to get it, I do not wish.

Fie on possession, But if a man be vertuous withal.

I seek no values by means of evil, nor do I surrender my values to evil.

No people ever yet benefited by riches if their prosperity corrupted their virtue.

Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you.

The great man does not think beforehand of his words that they may be sincere, nor of his actions that they may be resolute- he simply speaks and does what is right.

Virtue and integrity are necessary for genuine happiness. Guard your integrity with care.

The poor have the same basic pleasures as the rich, and the rich will always resent it.