Of the numerous sayings concerning wealth and poverty we may mention some that bring before us the concrete picture of men rich and poor. Here is one that is eloquent of the bitterness of the contrast:
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city;
The poor man’s poverty is his undoing (Pr. 1015).
Even to-day, in a land where Justice is designed to be even-handed, but must needs be approached through the lawyer, who imagines that the rich and the poor stand on level terms? Even among the well-to-do the majority of men would think twice before engaging in legal warfare with a millionaire or a railway company.
Of the friendlessness of the poor there are these pathetic proverbs:
Wealth addeth many friends,
But the poor is separated even from the friend he hath (Pr. 194).
The poor is hated even of his own neighbour,
But the rich hath many friends (Pr. 1420).[51]
And this from Ben Sirach:
My son, deprive not the poor of his living,
And make not the needy eyes to wait long (E. 41).
Do not those eyes stare hungrily from the proverb, and seem to gaze after us as we hurry on?
A sterner note is heard in this almost ironical observation: