The lust of avarice as so totally seized upon mankind that their wealth seems rather to possess them than they possess their wealth.

Our forefathers regarded as a prodigy the passage of the Alps: first by Hannibal and, more recently, by the Cimbri; but at the present day, these very mountains are cut asunder to yield us a thousand different marbles; promontories are thrown open to the sea; and the face of Nature is being everywhere reduced to a level.

It is generally much more shameful to lose a good reputation than never to have acquired it.

The invention of money opened a new field to human avarice by giving rise to usury and the practice of lending money at interest while the owner passes a life of idleness.