Living Well but Not Successfully

In his book Revolution Now, Bill Bright gives an example of the art of living well but not successfully: In 1923 a very important meeting was held at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Attending this meeting were nine of the world’s most successful financiers: Charles Schwab, steel magnate; Samuel Insull, president of the largest utility company; Howard Hopson, president of the largest gas company; Arthur Cotton, the greatest wheat speculator; Richard Whitney, president of the New York stock exchange; Albert Fall, a member of the president’s Cabinet; Leon Fraser, president of the Bank of International Settlements; Jesse Livermore, the great “bear” on Wall Street; and Ivar Krueger, head of the most powerful monopoly.

Twenty-five years later, Charles Schwab had died in bankruptcy, having lived on borrowed money for five years before his death; Samuel Insull had died a fugitive from justice and penniless in a foreign land; Howard Hopson was insane; Arthur Cotton had died abroad, insolvent; Albert Fall had been pardoned so that he could die at home; Leon Fraser, Jesse Livermore, and Ivar Krueger had all died by suicide. All of these men had learned well the art of making a living, but none of them had learned how to live!

–1001 Great Stories & Quotes, R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1998), 284-285.