"There is a serious defect in the thinking of someone who wants - more than anything else - to become rich. As long as they don't have the money, it'll seem like a worthwhile goal. Once they do, they'll understand how important other things are - and have always been"
About this Quote
The structure is doing quiet rhetorical work. First comes the seduction: “as long as they don’t have the money, it’ll seem like a worthwhile goal.” Want is elastic; it fills the whole mental room when it’s unmet. Then comes the reversal: “once they do” - the moment acquisition demotes the fantasy. Jowett implies a brutal asymmetry: you can’t reason someone out of this obsession while they’re still imagining wealth; experience is the only refutation, and by the time it arrives, time has been spent.
The sharpest subtext is in the final clause: “and have always been.” That’s not just consolation, it’s indictment. Other things - friendship, vocation, moral seriousness, attention, faith - weren’t discovered after riches. They were quietly important all along, ignored because money promised to reorganize life into clarity. Jowett is warning that wealth doesn’t corrupt so much as reveal: it exposes the thinness of the story you told yourself while chasing it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wealth |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jowett, Benjamin. (2026, January 18). There is a serious defect in the thinking of someone who wants - more than anything else - to become rich. As long as they don't have the money, it'll seem like a worthwhile goal. Once they do, they'll understand how important other things are - and have always been. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-a-serious-defect-in-the-thinking-of-21735/
Chicago Style
Jowett, Benjamin. "There is a serious defect in the thinking of someone who wants - more than anything else - to become rich. As long as they don't have the money, it'll seem like a worthwhile goal. Once they do, they'll understand how important other things are - and have always been." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-a-serious-defect-in-the-thinking-of-21735/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There is a serious defect in the thinking of someone who wants - more than anything else - to become rich. As long as they don't have the money, it'll seem like a worthwhile goal. Once they do, they'll understand how important other things are - and have always been." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-a-serious-defect-in-the-thinking-of-21735/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
