Quote by Franklin Pierce Adams, So Shines

THERE was a man in our town, and he was wondrous rich; He gave away his millions to the colleges and sich; And people cried: The hypocrite! He ought to understand The ones who really need him are the children of this land. When Andrew Croesus built a home for children who were sick, The people said they rather thought he did it as a trick, And writers said: He thinks about the drooping girls and boys, But what about conditions with the men whom he employs? There was a man in our town who said that he would share His profits with his laborers, for that was only fair, And people said: Oh, isn't he the shrewd and foxy gent? It cost him next to nothing for that free advertisement. There was a man in our town who had the perfect plan To do away with poverty and other ills of man, But he feared the public jeering, and the folks who would defame him, So he never told the plan he had, and I can hardly blame him.


THERE was a man in our town, and he was wondrous rich; He ga

Summary

This quote highlights the cynicism and skepticism that can often be directed towards those who are wealthy and philanthropic. It illustrates the perception that individuals who donate to causes are often accused of having ulterior motives, being hypocritical, or seeking personal gain. It also emphasizes how some people may be hesitant to share their ideas or plans for fear of ridicule or negative judgment from the public. Ultimately, the quote suggests that societal judgment and mistrust can inhibit genuine acts of compassion and progress.

Topics

Wealth
By Franklin Pierce Adams, So Shines
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We wait for the day to come when men will turn as eagerly to the work of converting their material wealth into real life values as they are now devoting themselves to mere acquisition. When that time comes the successful business man will stop short in his impetuous career, and ask himself if it really pays to sacrifice life with all its varied, but fast-fleeting opportunities, to an aim so narrow and sordid. Then the multimillionaire will not seek to rid himself of a useless burden by indiscriminate giving, but will study with infinite pains to restore for the happiness and welfare of all mankind those vast riches that society itself has enabled him to accumulate. Then all forms of outward wealth will mean nothing but opportunity for inward growth and expansion. The search for truth, the love of beauty in nature and art, the enthusiasm for humanity, the passion for the ideal, the glow of hope and aspiration, all these, growing up within the soul of man will take up these modern material gifts, in themselves so inert and useless, and make them radiant with a value they do not now possess. Somehow or other this dead world of matter into which, in our western civilization, especially, we have buried too much of our life, must be made to render back the vital treasure of which it has despoiled us. Our world must be spiritualized or it will grow more and more stale and dull and unsatisfactory on our hands. Not to our captains of industry, not to our developers of material wealth must we look for life and life more abundant in the future; but ever to those men who, with some inward illumination, will

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