#reed

I know not why any one but a schoolboy in his declamation should whine over the Commonwealth of Rome, which grew great only by the misery of the rest of mankind. The Romans, like others, as soon as they grew rich, grew corrupt; and in their corruption sold the lives and freedoms of themselves, and of one another. ↗

— Samuel Johnson

#boswell #corrupt #corruption #freedom #johnson

Duty to country extends far beyond active engagement in our armed forces. Duty should be in the hearts and minds of every American who believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Without duty, there is no freedom. Without freedom, there is no hope. Without hope, all else is lost. Together, we have the strength to sustain the freedoms we hold dearly. ↗

— Gregory E. Sapp

#duty #hope #war #war-on-terror #freedom

You can't find your life, or your peace, in the middle of a bezillion eyes staring at you. ↗

— Carol Plum-Ucci

#life

The crowd began to murmur, but then a firm voice stilled it. Giovanni Auditore was speaking.'It is you who is the traitor, Uberto. You, one of my closest associates and friends, in whom I entrusted my life! And I am a fool. I did not see that you are one of them!' Here he raised his voice to a great cry of anguish and of rage.'You may take our lives today, but mark this - we will have yours in return!' -Giovanni Auditore, Before his execution ↗

— Oliver Bowden

#giovanni-auditore #uberto #life

The platinum Omega watch he gave me at breakfast on our first morning in London obscures the red line. The inscription still makes me swoon. Anastasia You are My More My Love, My Life Christian ↗

— E.L. James

#christian-grey #e-l-james #fifty-shades #fifty-shades-freed #fifty-shades-of-grey

There was somewhere, if you knew where to find it, some place where money could be made like drawing water from a well, some Big Rock Candy Mountain where life was effortless and rich and unrestricted and full of adventure and action, where something could be had for nothing. ↗

— Wallace Stegner

#greed #illusion #life

I was simultaneously elated and depressed, a common enough state of mind these days when people are offered a great deal of money to do something repugnant. ↗

— James Hamilton-Paterson

#money

I can’t do that,” he said, exhaling sharply and staring out the glass into the street. “Why not?” His face softened. “I need his money.” Spencer looked at me and I couldn’t help but stare back. We were all in the same boat, prisoners to GREED. ↗

— Fisher Amelie

#sophie #spencer #vain #money

Now there was great rejoicing at the rumor of Alderic's quest, for all folk knew that he was a cautious man, and they deemed that he would succeed and enrich the world, and they rubbed their hands in the cities at the thought of largesse; and there was joy among all men in Alderic's country, except perchance among the lenders of money, who feared they would soon be paid. And there was rejoicing also because men hoped that when the Gibbelins were robbed of their hoard, they would shatter their high-built bridge and break the golden chains that bound them to the world, and drift back, they and their tower, to the moon, from which they had come and to which they rightly belonged. There was little love for the Gibbelins, though all men envied their hoard. ("The Hoard Of The Gibbelins") ↗

— Lord Dunsany

#fantasy #greed #heroic-fantasy #loans #money-lender

The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. ↗

— Matt Taibbi

#greed #money #power #money