I read that book many years ago and was disgusted, for it seemed to imply that we should treat the accumulation of wealth with the same devotion as the pious do towards religion. I think it was then that I began to realize that if that’s what it takes to be rich, I don’t want it.

This isn’t a “sour grapes” rant, but a realization that (for me) sociopathy is too high a price to pay for wealth. What’s more, when one gains great wealth, there is a marked tendency to lose the gratitude that most of us feel for even the least of life’s little blessings…and as Cicero said, gratitude is the greatest of virtues, and the parent of all the others. Think on that for a moment: without the sincerity of gratitude, all other virtues are made equally insincere.

All too often, with the loss of gratitude, the other virtues are diminished or lost altogether.

Again, if that’s the price of great wealth, that price is too high for me.