Sallust on Rome
Wealth began to count as honor; it led to glory and power and influence. It was then that excellence began to fade. Poverty was considered disgrace. Innocence was taken to be destructive resentment. So from affluence, the younger generation fell into extravagance and greed accompanied by arrogance. They stole, wasted, put little value on what they had, and coveted the goods of others.
(via superfluidity)
