The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the ruin of the poor is their poverty.
Read Chapter 10
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Riches themselves are not to be censured. “The ransom of a man’s life are his riches,” for one who gives to the poor ransoms his soul. Therefore, even in riches there is scope for virtue. You are like helmsmen on a great sea. If one steers his course well, he passes quickly over the sea to reach harbor. But one who does not know how to manage his property is drowned by his load. Thus it is written: “The wealth of the rich is a very strong city.”
