Fortunes of a certain size either remorselessly accumulate or else are given away.

There is a general disposition to justify the possession of many millions by the frequent instances among their owners of intelligent public benefaction, but such an argument is a confession that a justification is needed without constituting in itself a sufficient excuse.

If wealth, particularly when accumulated in large amounts, has a public function, and if its possession imposes a public duty, a society is foolish to leave such a duty to the accidental good intentions of individuals.

It should be assumed and should be efficiently performed by the state; and the necessity of that assumption is all the plainer when it is remembered that the greatest public gifts usually come from the first generation of millionaires.

Men who inherit great wealth and are brought up in extravagant habits nearly always spend their money on themselves.
That is one reason why the rich Englishman is so much less generous in his public gifts than the rich American.