--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Paper money is like dram-drinking, it…" description: "\"Paper money is like dram-drinking, it relieves for a moment by deceitful sensation, but gradually diminishes the natural heat, and leaves the body wors..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/thomas-paine-267_body_paper-money-is-like-dram-drinking-it-rel_1879439.png" --- # Paper money is like dram-drinking, it relieves for a… ![“Paper money is like dram-drinking, it relieves for a moment by deceitful sensation, but gradually diminishes the natural heat, and leaves the body worse than it found it. Were not this the case, and could money be made of paper at pleasure, every sovereign in Europe would be as rich as he pleased…” quote by Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/thomas-paine-267_body_paper-money-is-like-dram-drinking-it-rel_1879439.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/thomas-paine-267_body_paper-money-is-like-dram-drinking-it-rel_1879439.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65d/thomas-paine-267_body_paper-money-is-like-dram-drinking-it-rel_1879439.png) > “Paper money is like dram-drinking, it relieves for a moment by deceitful sensation, but gradually diminishes the natural heat, and leaves the body worse than it found it. Were not this the case, and could money be made of paper at pleasure, every sovereign in Europe would be as rich as he pleased. But the truth is, that it is a bubble and the attempt vanity. Nature has provided the proper materials for money: gold and silver, and any attempt of ours to rival her is ridiculous.” [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues paper money is a deceptive, temporary fix that erodes true value, whereas gold and silver are natural, stable wealth. **In simple terms:** Paper money is a deceptive bubble; gold and silver are real wealth. Key Takeaway Prefer stable, tangible assets over fleeting paper. Themes economics materialism value Mood critical analytical Type philosophical economic When to use this quote - investment decisions - policy debates - personal finance Key Concepts monetary theory precious metals inflation financial stability Questions to Reflect On - Is a shift to precious metals feasible today? - What are the risks of relying on paper currency? A Different Perspective Paper money still dominates modern economies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Bubbles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bubbles/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Deceitful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceitful/) [Diminish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diminish/) [Drinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drinking/) [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Gold and silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold-and-silver/) [Heat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heat/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Materials Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials-money-2644903/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Money Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-gold-831514/) [Money Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-paper-1228191/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Paper money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper-money/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) [Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridiculous/) [Rivals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivals/) [Sensations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensations/) [Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silver/) [Sovereign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sovereign/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Truth is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-is/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [Not every paper is money, and not every money is a paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/care-root-nelao/not-every-paper-is-money-and-not-every-money-is-a-paper/) [Care-root Nelao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/care-root-nelao/) > [It's a huge thing when people realize across the culture that paper money is paper. 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The precariousness of its value and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-of-the-evils-of-paper-money-is-that-it-turns-the-whole-country/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [There are a set of men who go about making purchases upon credit, and buying estates they have not wherewithal to pay for; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/there-are-a-set-of-men-who-go-about-making-purchases-upon-credit-and/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [It is worthy of note that the Chinese and Japanese characters for money and gold are the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/it-is-worthy-of-note-that-the-chinese-and-japanese-characters-for/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [For more than two thousand years gold's natural qualities made it man's universal medium of exchange. In contrast to political money, gold is honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-f-sennholz/for-more-than-two-thousand-years-gold-s-natural-qualities-made-it-man/) [Hans F. Sennholz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-f-sennholz/) > [“Never trust money more than gold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/never-trust-money-more-than-gold/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Gold is a way of going long on fear, and it has been a pretty good way of going long on fear from time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/gold-is-a-way-of-going-long-on-fear-and-it-has-been-a-pretty-good-way/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [Under the gold standard gold is money and money is gold. 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Let him believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-more-does-man-want-to-know-than-that-the-hand-or-power-that-made/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) [Explore all 772 Thomas Paine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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