--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Scratch any fortune and you'll find blood…" description: "\"Scratch any fortune and you'll find blood only a generation or two back...child labor in mines or mills...Slavery. Drugs. Stock swindles. Wasting natur..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/chuck-palahniuk-37_blood_scratch-any-fortune-and-you-ll-find-bloo_2504954.jpg" --- # Scratch any fortune and you'll find blood only a… ![“Scratch any fortune and you'll find blood only a generation or two back...child labor in mines or mills...Slavery. Drugs. Stock swindles. Wasting nature with clear-cuts, pollution, harvesting to extinction. Monopolies. Disease. War. Every fortune comes out of something unpleasant.” quote by Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/chuck-palahniuk-37_blood_scratch-any-fortune-and-you-ll-find-bloo_2504954.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/chuck-palahniuk-37_blood_scratch-any-fortune-and-you-ll-find-bloo_2504954.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/648/chuck-palahniuk-37_blood_scratch-any-fortune-and-you-ll-find-bloo_2504954.jpg) > “Scratch any fortune and you'll find blood only a generation or two back...child labor in mines or mills...Slavery. Drugs. Stock swindles. Wasting nature with clear-cuts, pollution, harvesting to extinction. Monopolies. Disease. War. Every fortune comes out of something unpleasant.” [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Every great wealth is built on exploitation, environmental harm, or moral compromise, exposing the dark cost behind prosperity. **In simple terms:** Fortune often hides suffering. Key Takeaway Question the true cost of wealth. Themes ethics economics environment history social justice Mood critical serious Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - investing - career advancement - consumer choices - policy making Key Concepts capitalism inequality exploitation environmental degradation Questions to Reflect On - What systems perpetuate harmful profit? - How can we create wealth responsibly? A Different Perspective Not all wealth is built on exploitation; some arise ethically. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Child labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-labor/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Monopoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monopoly/) [Pollution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pollution/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [Kids don't have a little brother working in the coal mine, they don't have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the looms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/kids-don-t-have-a-little-brother-working-in-the-coal-mine-they-don-t/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [“These kids don't have a little brother working in the coal mine, they don't have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/these-kids-don-t-have-a-little-brother-working-in-the-coal-mine-they/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [“I don't trust good fortune that comes so easily. There is always a price to be paid, Frannie. Always." He gave her a cocky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-heath/i-don-t-trust-good-fortune-that-comes-so-easily-there-is-always-a/) [Lorraine Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-heath/) > [“It's not enough just to laugh at good fortune and say, 'Enough already.' You have to really mean it -- that you have enough.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/it-s-not-enough-just-to-laugh-at-good-fortune-and-say-enough-already/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“I assure you, Alexandra Pavlovna,' said Pigasov slowly, 'nothing can be worse and more injurious than good-fortune that comes too late. It cannot give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/i-assure-you-alexandra-pavlovna-said-pigasov-slowly-nothing-can-be/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [When a fortune comes without calling, it's apt to leave without asking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-horace-lorimer/when-a-fortune-comes-without-calling-it-s-apt-to-leave-without-asking/) [George Horace Lorimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-horace-lorimer/) > [“Risk is what you control and fortune is really all about risk. Bottom Line: Fortune comes from big money bets on very low probability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/risk-is-what-you-control-and-fortune-is-really-all-about-risk-bottom/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [Fortune comes well to all that comes not late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/fortune-comes-well-to-all-that-comes-not-late/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“Day after day in the season of disaster, it can be hard to recognize a chance in fortune when it comes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/day-after-day-in-the-season-of-disaster-it-can-be-hard-to-recognize-a/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [“If you want to be happy, then you've gotta keep smiling. No matter how long it takes... fortune comes through the merry gate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiyo-fujiwara/if-you-want-to-be-happy-then-you-ve-gotta-keep-smiling-no-matter-how/) Kiyo Fujiwara > [“I should have begun to worry then, for as fortune comes to you, so does it slip away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/i-should-have-begun-to-worry-then-for-as-fortune-comes-to-you-so-does/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [England is a lucky country for me, and fortune comes only with hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oleksandr-usyk/england-is-a-lucky-country-for-me-and-fortune-comes-only-with-hard/) [Oleksandr Usyk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oleksandr-usyk/) > [“When fortune comes, do not enjoy all of it; when advantage comes, do not take all of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/when-fortune-comes-do-not-enjoy-all-of-it-when-advantage-comes-do-not/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [When Fortune comes, seize her in front with a sure hand, because behind she is bald.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/when-fortune-comes-seize-her-in-front-with-a-sure-hand-because-behind/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [From disaster good fortune comes, and in good fortune lurks disaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/from-disaster-good-fortune-comes-and-in-good-fortune-lurks-disaster/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Chuck Palahniuk > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [His saliva tasted like the wet dicks of ten thousand lonely truck drivers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/his-saliva-tasted-like-the-wet-dicks-of-ten-thousand-lonely-truck/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“shoulder. They weigh that much. 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Others use you up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/some-stories-you-use-up-others-use-you-up/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Verbs allow you to communicate a story in a much more converged or involuntary way for a reader. The verbs allow you to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/verbs-allow-you-to-communicate-a-story-in-a-much-more-converged-or/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Waiters will always pee in soup, people will always fall in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/waiters-will-always-pee-in-soup-people-will-always-fall-in-love/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Branch Bacardi, star of The Da Vinci Load, To Drill a Mockingbird, The Postman Always Cums Twice, Chitty Chitty Gang Bang, The Twilight Bone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/branch-bacardi-star-of-the-da-vinci-load-to-drill-a-mockingbird-the/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Every unkind remark or crude gesture by others is a blessing, an opportunity to exercise our own capacity to forgive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/every-unkind-remark-or-crude-gesture-by-others-is-a-blessing-an/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Nuestro deber es enseñar a esos hombres y mujeres la libertad a través de la esclavitud; y el coraje a través del miedo.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/nuestro-deber-es-ense-ar-a-esos-hombres-y-mujeres-la-libertad-a-trav/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) [Explore all 2,041 Chuck Palahniuk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## More Blood quotes > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Don't trust everyone, because one day you will shed tears of blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunshine/don-t-trust-everyone-because-one-day-you-will-shed-tears-of-blood/) [SunShine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunshine/) > [I have no intention of retiring. Even my blood sugar is better when I'm working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-stritch/i-have-no-intention-of-retiring-even-my-blood-sugar-is-better-when-i/) [Elaine Stritch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-stritch/) > [What about you three, where are you going?" Even before Halt answered, Will knew what he was going to say. But that didn't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/what-about-you-three-where-are-you-going-even-before-halt-answered/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [A day without blood is like a day without sunshine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-ermey/a-day-without-blood-is-like-a-day-without-sunshine/) [R. Lee Ermey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-ermey/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“...I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-wore-his-blood-for-clothing-on-my-legs-and-thighs-and-hands-a-dry/) [Ursula K. 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