The heir to a great fortune will, in rare cases, develop a strikingly independent character. He can have all the splendor of wealth without making himself subservient to anyone. He can think, do, and say what he wishes, without regard for authority or convention.
Even more seldom, a man who is born destitute develops the same sort of independence. He finds it better to remain destitute than to make himself subservient.
These two sorts of independent character have many things in common. Among these is their shared contempt for the covetous, ambitious character.
When the independently wealthy character looks at the ambitious character, he thinks, “How silly he looks, sacrificing all his pride and independence, prostrating himself to others—all this, merely to attain what I have without effort.”
When the destitute character looks at the ambitious character, he thinks, “How silly he looks, sacrificing his pride, his independence, his dignity—all this, merely to attain something that is, in fact, quite possible to live without.”
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