“Society in large towns is babyish, and wealth is made a toy.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wealth (Primary source)
In Wealth, Emerson argues that true wealth is not merely material accumulation, but the ability to create and contribute. It stems from aligning oneself with natural laws and serving others, leading to a flourishing and abundant life beyond mere possessions.
“Society in large towns is babyish, and wealth is made a toy. The life of pleasure is so ostentatious, that a shallow observer must believe that this is the agreed best use of wealth, and, whatever is pretended, it ends in cosseting. But, if this were the main use of surplus capital, it would bring us to barricades, burned towns, and tomahawks, presently. Men of sense esteem wealth to be the assimilation of nature to themselves, the converting of the sap and juices of the planet to the incarnation and nutriment of their design. Power is what they want—not candy—power to execute their design, power to give legs and feet, form and actuality to their thought, which, to a clear-sighted man, appears the end for which the Universe exists, and all its resources might be well applied. ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source