Dorothy Parker? Martin Luther? Jonathan Swift? Alexander Pope? Anne Marsh-Caldwell? Matthew Poole? Richard Steele? Thomas Guthrie? Austin O’Malley? Maurice Baring?
Question for Quote Investigator: A scathing comment about wealthy people has been attributed to the U.S. writer Dorothy Parker:
If you would know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look at those to whom he gives it.
Similar comments have been credited to German theologian Martin Luther, Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, and English poet Alexander Pope. I do not know whether any of these attributions are correct because I am having difficulty finding solid citations. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: An interview with Dorothy Paker appeared in “The Paris Review” in 1956. Parker employed the quotation under examination; however, she credited the statement to the English man of letters Maurice Baring. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
I hate almost all rich people, but I think I’d be darling at it. At the moment, however, I like to think of Maurice Baring’s remark: “If you would know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look at those to whom he gives it.” I realize that’s not much help when the wolf comes scratching at the door, but it’s a comfort.
A version of the saying did appear in Maurice Baring’s 1927 novel “Tinker’s Leave”; however, the character who delivered the line credited Jonathan Swift:2
“Do you remember what Swift said?” asked Troumestre: “‘One has only to look at the people God has given money to, to see what He thinks of it.’”
This harsh criticism of affluent individuals has been expressed in numerous ways during the past five centuries. Below is an overview with attributions and dates:
1566: Our Lord God commonly giveth Riches to such gross Asses, to whom hee affordeth nothing else that is good (Martin Luther; Published in German in 1566; English in 1659)
1696: God commonly throws away Riches upon the basest of men (Matthew Poole)
1710: We may learn the little Value of Fortune by the Persons on whom Heaven is pleased to bestow it (Richard Steele)
1720: If heaven had looked upon riches to be a valuable thing, it would not have given them to such a scoundrel (Jonathan Swift)
1727: We may see the small value God has for Riches, by the People he gives them to (Alexander Pope)
1848: Our Lord God commonly gives riches to those from whom he withholds spiritual good (Martin Luther; Alternative English Translation)
1851: God would mark his contempt of mere material riches by the hands into which he suffers them to fall (Attributed to an old divine by Anne Marsh-Caldwell)
1860: We see what God Almighty thinks of riches by the people to whom he gives them (Attributed to Jonathan Swift)
1861: You may know how little God thinks of money by observing on what bad and contemptible characters he often bestows it (Thomas Guthrie)
1915: It was a poor man that said God shows His contempt for wealth by the kind of persons He selects to receive it (Austin O’Malley)
1927: One has only to look at the people God has given money to, to see what He thinks of it (Attributed to Jonathan Swift by a character in a novel by Maurice Baring)
1956: If you would know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look at those to whom he gives it (Attributed to Maurice Baring by Dorothy Parker)
Here are details for selected citations in chronological order.
A collection titled “Table Talk” by Martin Luther appeared in 1566. A translation from German into English by Henrie Bell appeared in 1659, and the following version of the saying was included:3
Wealth is the least gift of GOD
Riches (said Luther) is the smallest thing on earth, and the least gift that God hath bestowed on mankind … our Lord God commonly giveth Riches to such gross Asses, to whom hee affordeth nothing else that is good.
In 1696 “Annotations Upon the Holy Bible” by the Late Reverend and Learned Divine Matthew Poole was published in London. The following saying was included:4
… God commonly throws away Riches upon the basest of men …
In 1710 Irish essayist and playwright Richard Steele published commentary in the periodical “The Tatler” of London. Steele employed an instance of the saying:5
Wealth is a Distinction only in Traffick; but it must not be allowed as a Recommendation in any other Particular, but only just as it is applied. It was very prettily said, that we may learn the little Value of Fortune by the Persons on whom Heaven is pleased to bestow it. However, there is not a harder Part in Humane Life, than becoming Wealth and Greatness.
In 1720 Jonathan Swift wrote a letter which contained the following passage:6
I shall write to J. Barber next post, and desire him to be in no pain about his money. I will take not one word of notice of his riches, on purpose to vex him. If heaven had looked upon riches to be a valuable thing, it would not have given them to such a scoundrel.
In 1727 a book of “Thoughts on Various Subjects” contained the following remark from Alexander Pope:7
We may see the small value God has for Riches, by the People he gives them to.
In 1848 a different edition of Martin Luther’s “Table Talk” appeared. The translator William Hazlitt specified the following rendering of the saying:8
Wealth has in it neither material, formal, efficient, nor final cause, nor anything else that is good; therefore our Lord God commonly gives riches to those from whom he withholds spiritual good.
In 1851 the journal “Household Words” of London printed a story titled “The Spendthrift’s Daughter” by Anne Marsh-Caldwell, which contained the following instance of the saying:9
No one of the gifts of Providence appears to the casual observer to be bestowed with less regard to individual merit than wealth. It would almost seem, as an old divine has written, as if God would mark his contempt of mere material riches by the hands into which he suffers them to fall.
In 1860 a newspaper in Bangor, Maine attributed another version of the saying to Jonathan Swift. This phrasing differed from the statement written by Swift in 1720:10
“We see,” said Swift, in one of his most sarcastic modes “what God Almighty thinks of riches by the people to whom he gives them.”
In 1861 the Scottish religious figure Thomas Guthrie published an essay titled “The Race for Riches” which contained the following:11
God has no respect for persons; in his eyes wealth is not worth; and you may know how little God thinks of money by observing on what bad and contemptible characters he often bestows it.
In 1915 Professor of English Literature Austin O’Malley published a book of aphorisms titled “Keystones of Thought” which contained the following:12
It was a poor man that said God shows His contempt for wealth by the kind of persons He selects to receive it.
In 1927 Maurice Baring published the novel “Tinker’s Leave” as mentioned previously. One of Baring’s characters attributed the saying to Jonathan Swift:13
“Do you remember what Swift said?” asked Troumestre: “‘One has only to look at the people God has given money to, to see what He thinks of it.'”
In 1956 “The Paris Review” printed an interview with Dorothy Parker during which she attributed the saying to Maurice Baring:14
At the moment, however, I like to think of Maurice Baring’s remark: “If you would know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look at those to whom he gives it.” I realize that’s not much help when the wolf comes scratching at the door, but it’s a comfort.
In conclusion, this popular sentiment has been expressed by a wide variety of prominent people during the past 460 years. This family of sayings challenges the idea that wealthy people are favored by a divine power.
Image Notes: Illustration of a cascade of money from PublicDomainPictures at Pixabay. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Cole Brecheen whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also, thanks to previous researchers including Fred R. Shapiro, Barry Popik, and Nigel Rees.
- 1956 Summer, The Paris Review, Volume 4, Number 13, The Art of Fiction XIII, Interview with Dorothy Parker, Start Page 72, Quote Page 85, The Paris Review Inc., Paris, France. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1928 (1927 Copyright), Tinker’s Leave by Maurice Baring, Chapter 15, Quote Page 157, Doubleday, Doran & Company, Garden City, New Jersey. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1659, Dris Martini Lutheri Colloquia Mensalia: Or, Dr Martin Luther’s Divine Discourses at His Table &c, Collected first together by Dr Antonius Lauterbach, Translated out of the High Germane into English Tongue by Capt. Henrie Bell, Second Edition, Book: Colloquia or, the Familiar Discourses, Chapter 4: Of the Nature of the World, Section: Wealth is the least gift of GOD, Quote Page 90, Printed for William Throppe Bookseller, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1696, Annotations Upon the Holy Bible by the Late Reverend and Learned Divine Mr. Matthew Poole, Volume 1, Third Edition, Proverbs, Chapter 22, No Page Number, Printed for Thomas Parkhurst, Jonathan Robinson et al, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1711, The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff Esq, Volume 4, The Tatler, (Richard Steele), Number 203, Issue Date: July 25 to 27, 1710, Start Page 77, Quote Page 80, Printed by Charles Lillie, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1814, The Works of Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick’s, Dublin: Containing Additional Letters, Tracts, and Poems Not Hitherto Published, Volume 19, Section: Epistolary Correspondence, Letter from: Jonathan Swift, Letter to: Miss Vanhomrigh, Letter date: August 12 to 13, 1720, Start Page 434, Quote Page 436, Printed for Archibald Constable and Company, Edinburgh, Scotland. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1727, Miscellanies, Volume 2, Section: Thoughts on Various Subjects, (Quotation ascribed to Alexander Pope), Quote Page 355, Printed for Benjamin Motte, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1848, The Table Talk Or Familiar Discourse of Martin Luther, Translated by William Hazlitt Esq., Section: 167, Quote Page 67, David Bogue, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1851 October 11, Household Words: A Weekly Journal, Conducted by Charles Dickens, The Spendthrift’s Daughter by Anne Marsh-Caldwell, Chapter 1, Start Page 52, Quote Page 52, Office of Household Words, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1860 January 14, Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Various Items, Quote Page 2, Column 2, Bangor, Maine. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1861, Good Words for 1861, Edited by Norman Macleod, The Religion of Life by Thomas Guthrie, Chapter 7: The Race for Riches, Quote Page 419, Column 2, Alexander Strahan and Company, Edinburgh, Scotland. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1920 (1915 Copyright), Keystones of Thought by Austin O’Malley, Quote Page 174, The Devin-Adair Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1928 (1927 Copyright), Tinker’s Leave by Maurice Baring, Chapter 15, Quote Page 157, Doubleday, Doran & Company, Garden City, New Jersey. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1956 Summer, The Paris Review, Volume 4, Number 13, The Art of Fiction XIII, Interview with Dorothy Parker, Start Page 72, Quote Page 79 and 85, The Paris Review Inc., Paris, France. (Verified with scans) ↩︎