“Referring to a wealthy miser he said, "He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him."”

As quoted by Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 50.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Referring to a wealthy miser he said, "He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him."" by Bion of Borysthenes?

Bion of Borysthenes14

ancient greek philosopher -325–-246 BC

Related quotes

“He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him.”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers

Bion, 50.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 4: The Academy

“Fortunate is he who has acquired a wealth of divine understanding, but wretched the one whose interest lies in shadowy conjectures about divinities.”

Empedocles (-490–-430 BC) ancient Greek philosopher

fr. 132 Variant translations: Blessed is he who has acquired a wealth of divine wisdom, but miserable is he in whom there rests a dim opinion concerning the gods. tr. Arthur Fairbanks Purifications Source: Fairbanks, Arthur. (1898). The First Philosophers of Greece https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029013162. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Ltd. p. 201.

“He had no knowledge and had no desire to acquire any; wherein he conformed to his genius whose engaging fragility he forbore to overload; his instinct fortunately telling him that it was better to understand little than to misunderstand a lot.”

Anatole France (1844–1924) French writer

Il ne savait rien, ne voulait rien savoir, en quoi il se conformait à son génie, dont il ne surchargeait point l’aimable petitesse, et son heureux instinct lui conseillait de comprendre peu plutôt que de comprendre mal. La Révolte des Anges http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/La_R%C3%A9volte_des_anges_-_1 [The Revolt of the Angels], (1914), ch. I