--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it…" description: "\"Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty.\" — James Russell Lowell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-russell-lowell-561_anarchy_wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it_2029703.png" --- # Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and… ![“Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty.” quote by James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-russell-lowell-561_anarchy_wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it_2029703.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-russell-lowell-561_anarchy_wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it_2029703.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-russell-lowell-561_anarchy_wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it_2029703.png) > “Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty.” [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wealth brings power, leisure, and freedom, enabling broader possibilities. **In simple terms:** Wealth provides power, leisure, and freedom. Key Takeaway Use wealth responsibly to expand liberty. Themes wealth power freedom Mood thoughtful critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - business - public policy - philanthropy Key Concepts economic theory social philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How can wealth be used to benefit society? - What responsibilities accompany financial privilege? A Different Perspective Wealth can also create inequality and dependency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Leisure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leisure/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [As Western nations became more prosperous, leisure, which had been put off for several centuries in favor of the pursuit of property, the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/as-western-nations-became-more-prosperous-leisure-which-had-been-put/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Wealth--the most excellent of all gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/wealth-the-most-excellent-of-all-gods/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [To some men peace merely means the liberty to exploit other people without fear of retaliation or interference. To others peace means the freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-some-men-peace-merely-means-the-liberty-to-exploit-other-people/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If by the liberty of the press were understood merely the liberty of discussing the propriety of public measures and political opinions, let us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/if-by-the-liberty-of-the-press-were-understood-merely-the-liberty-of/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“According to the logic of that old, deluded world, freedom means being at liberty to come and go as we please. Such a definition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-strand/according-to-the-logic-of-that-old-deluded-world-freedom-means-being/) [Clark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-strand/) > [“The peace the world pretends to desire is really no peace at all. To some men, peace merely means the liberty to exploit other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-peace-the-world-pretends-to-desire-is-really-no-peace-at-all-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Liberty of thought means liberty to communicate one's thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-de-madariaga/liberty-of-thought-means-liberty-to-communicate-one-s-thought/) [Salvador de Madariaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-de-madariaga/) > [“Through the same plan of a conformity to nature in our artificial institutions, and by calling in the aid of her unerring and powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/through-the-same-plan-of-a-conformity-to-nature-in-our-artificial/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Limited government is not a means to liberty, it is an end. That is to say, there are always going to be a group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-d-baris/limited-government-is-not-a-means-to-liberty-it-is-an-end-that-is-to/) Richard D. Baris > [“To find your individuality means to find your liberty -something most are afraid of - therefore, there is no need to teach or preach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-fitchett/to-find-your-individuality-means-to-find-your-liberty-something-most/) [Garry Fitchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-fitchett/) > [Our flag means all that our fathers meant in the Revolutionary War. It means all that the Declaration of Independence meant. It means justice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-flag-means-all-that-our-fathers-meant-in-the-revolutionary-war-it/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [What we have to remember is that not everything is under our control. If people are free in any meaningful sense of the word,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-miller/what-we-have-to-remember-is-that-not-everything-is-under-our-control/) [Joel Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-miller/) > [If the individuals who compose the purest circles of aristocracy in Europe, the guarded blood of centuries, should pass in review,in such manner as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-the-individuals-who-compose-the-purest-circles-of-aristocracy-in/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Some Iraqi writers are more daring today and have excellent imaginations and their material is rich in human experience. But the Arab prizes, once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-blasim/some-iraqi-writers-are-more-daring-today-and-have-excellent/) [Hassan Blasim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-blasim/) > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) ## More by James Russell Lowell > [We kind o' thought Christ went agin war an' pillage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/we-kind-o-thought-christ-went-agin-war-an-pillage/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [He gives only the worthless gold who gives from a sense of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/he-gives-only-the-worthless-gold-who-gives-from-a-sense-of-duty/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [As life runs on, the road grows strange with faces new - and near the end. The milestones into headstones change, Neath every one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/as-life-runs-on-the-road-grows-strange-with-faces-new-and-near-the/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Where one person shapes their life by precept and example, there are a thousand who have shaped it by impulse and circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/where-one-person-shapes-their-life-by-precept-and-example-there-are-a/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Granting our wish is one of Fate's saddest jokes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/granting-our-wish-is-one-of-fate-s-saddest-jokes/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Most religion-mongers have bated their paradises with a bit of toasted cheese. They have tempted the body with large promises of possessions in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/most-religion-mongers-have-bated-their-paradises-with-a-bit-of/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [The thing we long for, that we are For one transcendent moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/the-thing-we-long-for-that-we-are-for-one-transcendent-moment/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [O reputation! dearer far than life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/o-reputation-dearer-far-than-life/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Keats longed for fame, but longed above all to deserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/keats-longed-for-fame-but-longed-above-all-to-deserve-it/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [It is beginning to be doubtful whether Parliament and Congress sit in Westminster and Washington, or in the editorial rooms of the leading journals,--so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/it-is-beginning-to-be-doubtful-whether-parliament-and-congress-sit-in/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [ \[B\]ut in literature, it should be remembered, a thing always becomes his at last who says it best, and thus makes it his own. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/b-ut-in-literature-it-should-be-remembered-a-thing-always-becomes-his/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [It may be glorious to write Thoughts that shall glad the two or three High souls, like those far stars that come in sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/it-may-be-glorious-to-write-thoughts-that-shall-glad-the-two-or-three/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [It is the vain endeavor to make ourselves what we are not that has strewn history with so many broken purposes and lives left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/it-is-the-vain-endeavor-to-make-ourselves-what-we-are-not-that-has/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Take winter as you find him, and he turns out to be a thoroughly honest fellow; with no nonsense in him, which is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/take-winter-as-you-find-him-and-he-turns-out-to-be-a-thoroughly/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [The intellect has only one failing, which, to be sure, is a very considerable one. It has no conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/the-intellect-has-only-one-failing-which-to-be-sure-is-a-very/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) [Explore all 471 James Russell Lowell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) ## More Anarchy quotes > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/) Mitch Pileggi > [“Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/anarchy-evolution-faith-science-and-bad-religion-in-a-world-without/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/perhaps-it-is-this-theory-of-all-work-and-no-play-that-has-made-the/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [I think that if you run a big company, you've got to, four or five times a year, just say, 'Hey team, look, here's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-immelt/i-think-that-if-you-run-a-big-company-you-ve-got-to-four-or-five/) [Jeffrey R. 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Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-b-meyer/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Would you like to do something good for the future of the human race; well, start killing some of its powerful members.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/would-you-like-to-do-something-good-for-the-future-of-the-human-race/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [“twenty-three years of RFRAs to produce anarchy,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corvino/twenty-three-years-of-rfras-to-produce-anarchy/) [John Corvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corvino/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 795 Anarchy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Russell Lowell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it-means-power-and-it-means/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anarchy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it-means-power-and-it-means/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-russell-lowell-561_anarchy_wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it_2029703.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-russell-lowell-561_anarchy_wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it_2029703.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/james-russell-lowell-561_anarchy_wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it_2029703.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty.” — James Russell Lowell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "James Russell Lowell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Wealth may be an excellent thing,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it-means-power-and-it-means/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/wealth-may-be-an-excellent-thing-for-it-means-power-and-it-means/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```