The common man, no matter how sharp and tough, actually enjoys having the wool pulled over his eyes, and makes it easier for the puller.
P. T. BarnumRead
Money is in some respects life's fire: it is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.
Interpretation
Money can be beneficial when controlled wisely, but it can also lead to chaos if it controls you.
P. T. Barnum's quote emphasizes the dual nature of money. It serves as a powerful tool that, if managed properly, can enhance our lives and fulfill our needs. However, if one allows money to dominate their decisions and priorities, it can lead to detrimental consequences, illustrating the importance of balance and self-control in the pursuit of wealth.
In practice
In a financial literacy class, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of managing personal finances.
The common man, no matter how sharp and tough, actually enjoys having the wool pulled over his eyes, and makes it easier for the puller.
No man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless he understands his business, and nobody can understand his business thoroughly unless he learns it by personal application and experience.
True economy consists in always making the income exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes a little longer if necessary; dispense with the new pair of gloves; mend the old dress: live on plainer food if need be; so that, under all circumstances, unless some unforeseen accident occurs, there will be a margin in favor of the income.
No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American public.
I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.
The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity.
I think that if you were to probe a lot of people's religious opinions, they would not be as religious as the numbers would suggest.
As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.
If the spiritual universe and the way to it were shown, No one would remain in this world for a single moment.
Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.
I live in the borderlands. The word ghost sounds like memory. The word therapy means exorcism. My visions echo and multiplymultiply. I don't know how to figure out what they mean. I can't tell where they start or if they will end. But I know this. If they shrink my head any more, or float me away on an ocean of pills, I will never return.
And I saw that truly nothing happens by accident or luck, but everything by God's wise providence. If it seems to be accident or luck from our point of view, our blindness and lack of foreknowledge is the cause; for matters that have been in God's foreseeing wisdom since before time began befall us suddenly, all unawares; and so in our blindness and ignorance we say that this is accident or luck, but to our Lord God it is not so.
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