Pearls around the neck – stones upon the heart. – Hanan J. Ayalti, Yiddish Proverbs, 1949

Human prosperity never rests but always craves more, till blown up with pride it totters and falls. From the opulent mansions pointed at by all passers-by none warns it away, none cries, “Let no more riches enter!” – Aeschylus

Everything in the world may be endured except continual prosperity. – Goethe

Luxury… corrupts at once rich and poor, the rich by possession and the poor by covetousness. – Rousseau, The Social Contract, 1762