Nothing so evil as money ever grew to be current among men. This lays cities low, this drives men from their… — Sophocles
Nothing so evil as money ever grew to be current among men. This lays cities low, this drives men from their homes, this trains and warps honest souls till they set themselves to works of shame; this still teaches folk to practise villainies, and to know every godless deed. But all the men who wrought this thing for hire have made it sure that, soon or late, they shall pay the price.
οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώποισιν οἷον ἄργυρος
κακὸν νόμισμ᾿ ἔβλαστε. τοῦτο καὶ πόλεις
πορθεῖ, τόδ᾿ ἄνδρας ἐξανίστησιν δόμων·
τόδ᾿ ἐκδιδάσκει καὶ παραλλάσσει φρένας
χρηστὰς πρὸς αἰσχρὰ πράγμαθ᾿ ἵστασθαι βροτῶν·
πανουργίας δ᾿ ἔδειξεν ἀνθρώποις ἔχειν
καὶ παντὸς ἔργου δυσσέβειαν εἰδέναι.
ὅσοι δὲ μισθαρνοῦντες ἤνυσαν τάδε,
χρόνῳ ποτ᾿ ἐξέπραξαν ὡς δοῦναι δίκην.
Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
More from this book
Show me the man who keeps his house in hand,
He's fit for public authority.
I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare — I have no use for him, either.
Ill-gotten gains work evil.
p. 478
