In his philosophy, the purpose of living was
to get rich. Money, according to his belief,
was the all in all: whoever had the greatest
amount of money was necessarily the happiest
man, the greatest man, the strongest man, the
man to be most loved, feared, courted, and ad
mired.
So the Lydian king bethought him not of
just laws, honest administration, the welfare
of his subjects, and of future generations! He
neither was diligent in the seeking after
knowledge nor in the study of the problems
“What makes a state? What is true pros
perity? What is real strength? What is the
right road to happiness? What are the things
which a man should do all the days of his
life, with whatever might the gods have given
him, in order that when the evening is here
he may look with serene and fearless eyes
upon the shadows that come creeping on,
creeping on, to throw the 'shroud of eternal
night over him?”
No. Croesus gave no thought to> such things.
Far and wide he sought gold, silver, preci
ous stones. Day after day, year after year,
Croesus heaped up gold, silver; precious stones.
By fair means or foul, by straight ways and
crooked, by lawful methods and lawless,
Croesus added talent to talent until his treas
ury was almost choked with gold.
And it came to pass that the King of Lydia
prided himself upon his wealth more than
upon any other thing that he possessed.
