The Poor and the Wakeful

'I wonder, James, whether it is not too easy for a rich man to despise money - to mistake the real motives... To pay too much attention to mere words and -'

'Surely to God you would never call me rich?'

'I have ridden over your land.'

'It's three-quarters of it mountain, and one quarter bog; and even if they were to pay their rent for the rest it would only be a few hundred a year - barely a thousand.'

'My heart bleeds for you. I have never yet known a man admit that he was either rich or asleep: perhaps the poor man and the wakeful man have some great moral advantage. How does it arise?'

 ~Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian