Josh Billings on Moral Value of Finance
on Saturday, May 10, 2014Josh Billings Money Quotation saying having no other interests than money can suggest moral bankruptcy. Josh Billings said:
“The man whose only pleasure in life is making money, weighs less on the moral scale than an angleworm” — Josh Billings
This quote from Josh Billings suggests that a person whose sole source of pleasure and motivation in life is the pursuit and accumulation of wealth possesses less moral worth than even a lowly angleworm. The best interpretation is that according to Billings, an obsessive focus on amassing money as one’s only goal or pleasure makes them less virtuous and admirable than an insignificant creature like an angleworm.
Someone who prioritizes profit above all else, without regard for ethical values, relationships or higher purposes, weighs very lightly when measured against genuine moral standards. In Billings’ view, a life centered exclusively around making monetary gain without other meaningful priorities is a shallow and deficient existence that is of little positive consequence.
Birthday: April 21, 1818 – Death: October 14, 1885