--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am accounted by some people as a good…" description: "\"I am accounted by some people as a good man. How cheap that character is acquired! Pay your debts, don't borrow money, nor twist your kitten's neck off..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/charles-lamb-1144_borrow_i-am-accounted-by-some-people-as-a-good_304362.jpg" --- # I am accounted by some people as a good man. How cheap… ![“I am accounted by some people as a good man. How cheap that character is acquired! Pay your debts, don't borrow money, nor twist your kitten's neck off, nor disturb a congregation, etc., your business is done. I know things of myself, which would make every friend I have fly me as a plague patient.” quote by Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/charles-lamb-1144_borrow_i-am-accounted-by-some-people-as-a-good_304362.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/charles-lamb-1144_borrow_i-am-accounted-by-some-people-as-a-good_304362.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe4/charles-lamb-1144_borrow_i-am-accounted-by-some-people-as-a-good_304362.jpg) > “I am accounted by some people as a good man. How cheap that character is acquired! Pay your debts, don't borrow money, nor twist your kitten's neck off, nor disturb a congregation, etc., your business is done. I know things of myself, which would make every friend I have fly me as a plague patient.” [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer reflects on self‑knowledge, moral duty, and the burden of being judged, warning against debt, cruelty, and social disturbance. **In simple terms:** Self‑knowledge, moral duty, and avoiding harm are emphasized. Key Takeaway Live responsibly and avoid harming others. Themes morality self‑reflection social duty Mood contemplative ethical Type essay advice When to use this quote - personal conduct - financial responsibility - ethical behavior Key Concepts ethics personal accountability social harmony Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do we owe to ourselves and society? - How can we balance self‑interest with moral duty? A Different Perspective Moral advice can be idealistic and hard to practice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Congregation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/congregation/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Good man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-man/) [Kitten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitten/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Plague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plague/) ## Related quotes > [Strength of character may be acquired at work, but beauty of character is learned at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-drummond/strength-of-character-may-be-acquired-at-work-but-beauty-of-character/) [Henry Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-drummond/) > [When you need to borrow money the Mob seems like a better deal I think. 'You don't pay me back I break both yer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/when-you-need-to-borrow-money-the-mob-seems-like-a-better-deal-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [A banker who is allowed to borrow money at X and loan it out at X plus Y will just go crazy and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/a-banker-who-is-allowed-to-borrow-money-at-x-and-loan-it-out-at-x/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [All I know about what people think of my gear is what a couple of my friends tell me, and one of them always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banksy/all-i-know-about-what-people-think-of-my-gear-is-what-a-couple-of-my/) [Banksy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banksy/) > [Lots of fellows think a home is only good to borrow money on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kin-hubbard/lots-of-fellows-think-a-home-is-only-good-to-borrow-money-on/) [Kin Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kin-hubbard/) > [Every time somebody has thought of relief for the farmer it has been to make it so he could borrow more money. What he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/every-time-somebody-has-thought-of-relief-for-the-farmer-it-has-been/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [You can go to the bank and borrow money, but you can't go to the bank and borrow a Super Bowl ring. The ring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-greene/you-can-go-to-the-bank-and-borrow-money-but-you-can-t-go-to-the-bank/) [Joe Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-greene/) > [Don't borrow money from a neighbor or a friend, but of a stranger where, paying for it you shall hear of it no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cecil-1st-baron-burghley/don-t-borrow-money-from-a-neighbor-or-a-friend-but-of-a-stranger/) [William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cecil-1st-baron-burghley/) > [When you borrow money, you should always think how you're going to pay it back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-medvedev/when-you-borrow-money-you-should-always-think-how-you-re-going-to-pay/) [Dmitry Medvedev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-medvedev/) > [Always borrow money from a pessimist.he will never expect it back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ace-kid/always-borrow-money-from-a-pessimist-he-will-never-expect-it-back/) [Ace Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ace-kid/) > [“Let us all be happy and live within our means, Even if we have to borrow money to do it with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-us-all-be-happy-and-live-within-our-means-even-if-we-have-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Borrow money from a pessimist - they don't expect it back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/borrow-money-from-a-pessimist-they-don-t-expect-it-back/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How strange! When people borrow money, they bow to you and when you collect it, you have to bow to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-strange-when-people-borrow-money-they-bow-to-you-and-when-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scientists have odious manners, except when you prop up their theory; then you can borrow money of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/scientists-have-odious-manners-except-when-you-prop-up-their-theory/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) ## More by Charles Lamb > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [In the indications of female poverty there can be no disguise. No woman dresses below herself from caprice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/in-the-indications-of-female-poverty-there-can-be-no-disguise-no/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/to-sigh-yet-feel-no-pain-to-weep-yet-scarce-know-why-to-sport-an-hour/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“I love to lose myself in other men's minds. When I am not walking, I am reading.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds-when-i-am-not-walking-i-am/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [While childhood, and while dreams, producing childhood, shall be left, imagination shall not have spread her holy wings totally to fly the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/while-childhood-and-while-dreams-producing-childhood-shall-be-left/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Man, while he loves, is never quite depraved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/man-while-he-loves-is-never-quite-depraved/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/summer-as-my-friend-coleridge-waggishly-writes-has-set-in-with-its/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I counsel thee, shut not thy heart, nor thy library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-counsel-thee-shut-not-thy-heart-nor-thy-library/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/my-theory-is-to-enjoy-life-but-the-practice-is-against-it/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Those evening bells! those evening bells! How many a tale their music tells Of youth and home, and that sweet time When last I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/those-evening-bells-those-evening-bells-how-many-a-tale-their-music/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Beholding heaven, and feeling hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/beholding-heaven-and-feeling-hell/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Explore all 283 Charles Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More Borrow quotes > [Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/borrow-trouble-for-yourself-if-that-s-your-nature-but-don-t-lend-it/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [Do not borrow the productions of other men's brains and pens and recite them as a lesson; but make the most of the talents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/do-not-borrow-the-productions-of-other-men-s-brains-and-pens-and/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/our-originality-shows-itself-most-strikingly-not-in-what-we-wholly/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/a-poet-ought-not-to-pick-nature-s-pocket-let-him-borrow-and-so-borrow/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“Dreams are the kind of things you can—when you need to—borrow and lend out,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/dreams-are-the-kind-of-things-you-can-when-you-need-to-borrow-and/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Experience is the only good 'tis safer to borrow than to buy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-panin/experience-is-the-only-good-tis-safer-to-borrow-than-to-buy/) [Ivan Panin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-panin/) > [Scientists have odious manners, except when you prop up their theory; then you can borrow money of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/scientists-have-odious-manners-except-when-you-prop-up-their-theory/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [U turned ur bck oN tomorw,c0z u 4gt Yestrday.i gave u my love in borrow.. bt u jst throw it away..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xresh-atish/u-turned-ur-bck-on-tomorw-c0z-u-4gt-yestrday-i-gave-u-my-love-in/) [Xresh Atish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xresh-atish/) > [“You can always borrow ideas; but unless you improve them very significantly, never behave as if they are your own!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/you-can-always-borrow-ideas-but-unless-you-improve-them-very/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [How strange! When people borrow money, they bow to you and when you collect it, you have to bow to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-strange-when-people-borrow-money-they-bow-to-you-and-when-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To be successful, keep looking tanned, live in an elegant building (even if you're in the cellar), be seen in smart restaurants (even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-successful-keep-looking-tanned-live-in-an-elegant-building-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“acquaintance, n.: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/acquaintance-n-a-person-whom-we-know-well-enough-to-borrow-from-but/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Borrow my umbrellas, my clothes, my money, and I will likely not think of them again. But borrow my books and I will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/borrow-my-umbrellas-my-clothes-my-money-and-i-will-likely-not-think/) [Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/) > [The new American dream is one of responsibility. What is the bottom-line number that you're going to be able to pay back toward a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/the-new-american-dream-is-one-of-responsibility-what-is-the-bottom/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) Browse all 268 Borrow quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am accounted by some people as a good man. How cheap that character is acquired! Pay your debts, don't borrow money, nor twist your kitten's neck off, nor disturb a congregation, etc., your business is done. 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