Will Durant: Robbing the Rich
on Sunday, September 27, 2020Will Durant Money Quote saying the poor love money as much as the rich and the need to stop the one from attacking the other. Will Durant said:
“Forced to choose, the poor, like the rich, love money more than political liberty; and the only political freedom capable of enduring is one that is so pruned as to keep the rich from denuding the poor by ability or subtlety and the poor from robbing the rich by violence or votes” — Will Durant
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In this quote, Will Durant seems to be commenting on the complex relationship between wealth, poverty, freedom and stability within a society. By observing that both the poor and rich “love money more than political liberty”, Durant implies financial security is a higher priority for most than other rights, creating incentives for conflict.
His additional statement that the only enduring freedom is one that prevents the rich from “denuding the poor” through “ability or subtlety” while also stopping the poor from “robbing the rich” through “violence or votes” conveys Durant’s perspective that balance is needed to curb abuses of wealth or populism.
Overall, the quote portrays Durant’s view that political systems can only persist if they check both the disproportionate influence of money in politics as well as unrest caused by extreme inequality, as prioritizing either the rich or poor’s interests risks instability.
Birthday: November 5, 1885 – Death: November 7, 1981