Careful Words

rich (n.)

rich (v.)

rich (adj.)

Rich and rare were the gems she wore,

And a bright gold ring on her wand she bore.

Thomas Moore (1779-1852): Rich and rare were the Gems she wore.

Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Tempest. Act i. Sc. 2.

  [The rich] are indeed rather possessed by their money than possessors.

Robert Burton (1576-1640): Anatomy of Melancholy. Part i. Sect. 2, Memb. 3, Subsect. 12.

  No good man ever grew rich all at once.

Publius Syrus (42 b c): Maxim 837.

  The potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784): Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. viii. Chap. ii.

  I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice.

Edward Moore (1712-1757): The Gamester. Act ii. Sc. 2.

From toil he wins his spirits light,

From busy day the peaceful night;

Rich, from the very want of wealth,

In heaven's best treasures, peace and health.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): Ode on the Pleasure arising from Vicissitude. Line 93.

Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act iii. Sc. 1.

  He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

Old Testament: Proverbs xxviii. 20.

Our fruitless labours mourn,

And only rich in barren fame return.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Odyssey of Homer. Book x. Line 46.

  Rich in good works.

New Testament: 1 Timothy vi. 18.

She is mine own,

And I as rich in having such a jewel

As twenty seas, if all their sand were pearl,

The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act ii. Sc. 4.

Rich in saving common-sense,

And, as the greatest only are,

In his simplicity sublime.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. Stanza 4.

To heal divisions, to relieve th' opprest;

In virtue rich; in blessing others, blest.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Odyssey of Homer. Book vii. Line 95.

  A mere madness, to live like a wretch and die rich.

Robert Burton (1576-1640): Anatomy of Melancholy. Part i. Sect. 2, Memb. 3, Subsect. 12.

  He preferred an honest man that wooed his daughter, before a rich man. "I would rather," said Themistocles, "have a man that wants money than money that wants a man."

Plutarch (46(?)-120(?) a d): Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Themistocles.

  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

New Testament: Matthew xix. 24.

Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): The Traveller. Line 386.

Pretty! in amber to observe the forms

Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms!

The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,

But wonder how the devil they got there.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. Prologue to the Satires. Line 169.

Beware

Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,

Bear 't that the opposed may beware of thee.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

For the apparel oft proclaims the man.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 3.

He that holds fast the golden mean,

And lives contentedly between

The little and the great,

Feels not the wants that pinch the poor,

Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door.

William Cowper (1731-1800): Translation of Horace. Book ii. Ode x.

Poor and content is rich and rich enough.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Othello. Act iii. Sc. 3.

  The chief-justice was rich, quiet, and infamous.

Thomas B Macaulay (1800-1859): On Warren Hastings. 1841.

  When you wander, as you often delight to do, you wander indeed, and give never such satisfaction as the curious time requires. This is not caused by any natural defect, but first for want of election, when you, having a large and fruitful mind, should not so much labour what to speak as to find what to leave unspoken. Rich soils are often to be weeded.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Letter of Expostulation to Coke.

Rich the treasure,

Sweet the pleasure,—

Sweet is pleasure after pain.

John Dryden (1631-1701): Alexander's Feast. Line 58.

Some have too much, yet still do crave;

I little have, and seek no more:

They are but poor, though much they have,

And I am rich with little store:

They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;

They lack, I have; they pine, I live.

Edward Dyer (Circa 1540-1607): MS. Rawl. 85, p. 17.

Rich windows that exclude the light,

And passages that lead to nothing.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): A Long Story.

A man he was to all the country dear,

And passing rich with forty pounds a year.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): The Deserted Village. Line 141.

Some have too much, yet still do crave;

I little have, and seek no more:

They are but poor, though much they have,

And I am rich with little store:

They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;

They lack, I have; they pine, I live.

Edward Dyer (Circa 1540-1607): MS. Rawl. 85, p. 17.

  Rich with the spoils of Nature.

Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682): Religio Medici. Part i. Sect. xiii.

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,

Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll;

Chill penury repress'd their noble rage,

And froze the genial current of the soul.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 13.

Give what thou canst, without Thee we are poor;

And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.

William Cowper (1731-1800): The Task. Book v. The Winter Morning Walk. Line 905.

A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book v. Line 16.