Prosperity destroys fools and endangers the wise

Success breeds complacency. If you are not very wise you will tend to assume that riches and happiness are your right and entitlement. You might even assume that your good fortune is part of the natural order of things.

The wise person might not be so naive and have some awareness that good times can vanish but when things have been good for a long time even the knowledgeable can be lulled into a false sense of security. They know things can go wrong but not always when. As a result they can be caught napping.

Just as Caesar employed someone to stand behind him, as he received the adulation of the crowds, to remind him he was not a god, you might be wise to put a note of this saying somewhere as an aide memoire.

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Prosperity lets go the bridle

Prosperity lets go the bridle.

When learning to ride a horse you make sure to keep a firm grip of the reins and pay close attention to the actions of your mount. If you get over confident, let your attention wander and the horse gets spooked, you could be in for a hard landing.

People experiencing financial hardship learn the disciplines necessary for their survival. Money must be carefully budgeted, earnings must be maximized where possible, savings must be made whenever they can be, and waste eliminated. Your affairs must be constantly scrutinized to make sure you are making the most of what you have. If, after a time, your prudent management and hard work brings a measure of prosperity the tendency is to relax and enjoy. Soon relax becomes slack and then downright excess leading to debt and galloping expenses.

In the old mill towns of Industrial Age Britain they had a saying: "clogs to clogs in three generations". The first generation were poor and worked hard to get on. Their children knew poverty in childhood but witnessed their parents struggles and learned the habits of thrift and industry, and with the meager gains of mom and pop went on to do well and achieve such prosperity that their children never knew hardship. The unfortunate result was a squandered inheritance by the third generation and back to poverty - no more expensive leather shoes but a return to the cheap wooden clogs of their grandparents.

By all means enjoy success but never forget the hard lessons and keep a tight rein on spending.

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