“I am a poet, sir, and one, I like to think, of no ordinary talent."
"Then why are you so shabbily dressed?" I asked.
"Selfless devotion to the arts has never
yet made any man rich ... Those whose passion is acquiring wealth persecute the lovers of literature to demonstrate the superiority of businessmen and the makers of money."
From the Satyricon of Petronius
trans. William Arrowsmith
circa 60 A.D. (reign of Nero)
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