Many have been ruined by their fortunes, and many have escaped ruin by the want of fortune. To obtain it the great have become little, and the little great.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great.
Fortunes are made, and disappear, over the lifetime of a single generation. Today, a person in essence takes his wealth from society just for the duration of his or her lifetime. The next generation has to create it anew.
Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.
Wealth, beauty, and fame are transient. When those are gone, little is left except the need to be useful.
There is something about prosperity that brings out the worst in some people.
How fortune brings to earth the over-sure!
Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none.
Those who occupy their minds with small matters, generally become incapable of greatness.
The happiness of most people is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things.
A great mind becomes a great fortune.