
“Whether a man is a criminal or a public servant is purely a matter of perspective.”
Source: Another Roadside Attraction (1971)
"The Brooklyn Divines." Brooklyn Union (Brooklyn, NY), 1883.
Context: If the rich man regarded the sermon as a means of grace, as a kind of rope thrown by the minister to a man just above the falls; if he regarded it as a lifeboat, or as a lighthouse, he would not allow his coachman to remain outside. If he really believed that the coachman had an immortal soul, capable of eternal joy, liable to everlasting pain, he would do his utmost to make the calling and election of the said coachman sure. As a matter of fact the rich man now cares but little for servants. They are not included in the scheme of salvation, except as a kind of job lot. The church has become a club. It is a social affair, and the rich do not care to associate in the week days with the poor they may happen to meet at church. As they expect to be in heaven together forever, they can afford to be separated here. There will certainly be time enough there to get acquainted.
“Whether a man is a criminal or a public servant is purely a matter of perspective.”
Source: Another Roadside Attraction (1971)
Part I: Ashfield, §III
An Autobiography (1977)
Letter to Morton Kelsey (1958) as quoted by Morton Kelsey, Myth, History & Faith: The Mysteries of Christian Myth & Imagination (1974) Ch.VIII
"What is Wrong with the 'Official History of Capitalism'?", in Edward Fullbrook (ed.), A Guide to What's Wrong with Economics (2004), p. 280
Source: They'd Rather Be Right (1954), p. 48.
Attributed in Swami Vivekananda: The Charm of His Personality and Message by Swami Atmashraddhananda https://books.google.ca/books?id=Pwk7CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT234&lpg=PT234&dq=shake+off+the+delusion+that+you+are+sheep+vivekananda&source=bl&ots=CTkWW7sBV8&sig=g_L6z3fwVO6qBDIvfqP1sq7pPFk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIvvTTqo_OAhXB1IMKHaErBP8Q6AEILDAD#v=onepage&q=shake%20off%20the%20delusion%20that%20you%20are%20sheep%20vivekananda&f=false
Disputed
Source: Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936), Ch. 1
Source: Why I Write
Context: Money, once again; all is money. All human relationships must be purchased with money. If you have no money, men won't care for you, women won't love you; won't, that is, care for you or love you the last little bit that matters. And how right they are, after all! For, moneyless, you are unlovable. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. But then, if I haven't money, I DON'T speak with the tongues of men and of angels.
“But if one should guide his life by true principles, man's greatest riches is to live on a little with contented mind; for a little is never lacking.”
Quod siquis vera vitam ratione gubernet,
divitiae grandes homini sunt vivere parvo
aequo animo; neque enim est umquam penuria parvi.
Quod siquis vera vitam ratione gubernet,
divitiae grandes homini sunt vivere parvo
aequo animo; neque enim est umquam penuria parvi.
Book V, lines 1117–1119 (tr. Rouse)
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)