- “Don’t waste your time chasing butterflies. Mend your garden and the butterflies will come.”– Mario Quintana
- “Today I will do what others won’t so tomorrow I can do what others can’t” Jerry Rice
- “In every culture that I’ve encountered in China, Latin America, and Europe, for example- I run into the same proverb. In China, rice paddy to rice paddy; in Ireland, clogs to clogs. It appears that financial wealth is destined to disappear in three or four generations. The proverb means that the first generation makes the money, the second generation preserves it, the third generation spends it, and the fourth generation must re-create it. I prefer the rice paddy idiom; for example, imagine a poor couple in China wearing torn clothing. They pull rice every day and make a financial fortune. They don’t leave their home or change their way of life. The second generation moves to the city join the opera board and becomes significant members of society. The third generation, having no experience of work, spends the money, and the fourth generation goes back to working in the rice paddy.” Wealth in Families Third Edition (Charles W. Collier) Page 35-36
- “If you already have money without the necessity of working, it becomes easy not to develop the discipline and focus that lead to competency. Children who are raised in an impoverished environment are forced to become independent and competent because there is nobody providing for them. Whatever they desire must come through their own effort. What happens to a wealthy child surrounded by people who do things for the child: tutors, nannies, and strong parents-a whole world of people whose main function is to service the child? The critical issue is the lack of work experience. If you read autobiographies of great achievers, most of them struggled and had significant work experience. They sold newspapers, they worked on the docks, they worked in a store. They really worked hard, and this type of work is one of the important competency experiences. Contrast this to the world of wealthy children. If they’re not in school, they’re often in summer camp or traveling in Europe. Not only do they often miss the opportunity of working, but in families of generational wealth, they don’t even see the model of work in their families. The source of the family’s financial support is a trust fund. In these situations, how are they going to get an idea about what it means to work? Work is important because it is a method of validating oneself. Additionally, it gives the individual the opportunity to experience the “high” of achievement. When a child becomes addicted to the excitement of achievement, then money will not impair their productivity.” Wealth in Families Third Edition (Charles W. Collier) Page 44-45
- “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” Thomas Jefferson