Quotes / Rags to Riches

Was I once like you, scratching a living in the gutter? Certainly. But the difference is, now I am not.

— Chartist Captain Elizabeth Meshinchells, Warhammer 40,000

"Well, next thing you know, ol' Jed's a millionaire."

—The Beverly Hillbillies

"I've been rich and I've been poor
Rich is better, so much better"

—Van Halen, "As Is"

Two cups, toast up with the gang
From food stamps to a whole 'nother domain
Out the bottom, I'm the livin' proof
Ain't compromising, half a million on the coupe

—Future, "Mask Off"

Ayy, I remember syrup sandwiches and crime allowances
Finesse a nigga with some counterfeits, but now I’m countin' this
Parmesan where my accountant lives; in fact, I'm downin’ this
D'USSÉ with my boo bae tastes like Kool-Aid for the analysts

—Kendrick Lamar, "HUMBLE."

"My start, my childhood was less than auspicious. But, when I was young, we didn't know we lacked anything because we had nothing to compare it to. And there's a freedom in that. I had a very hard-working mother and father, I think about them a great deal. I got my break, big break, when I was 5 years old, and it's taken me more than 70 years to realize it. You see, at 5, I learned to read. It's that simple and it's that profound. I left school at 13, I didn't have a formal education, and I do not believe I'd be standing here tonight without the books, the plays, the scripts. It's been a long journey from Fountainbridge to this evening with you. Though my feet are tired, my heart is not."

— Sean Connery, 2006 AFI Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech

"Yeah, I was a bartender. Now I own a boat."

—Mortgage Broker, The Big Short

I know I'd go from rags to riches
If you would only say you care
And though my pocket may be empty
I'd be a millionaire
My clothes may still be torn and tattered
But in my heart I'd be a king
Your love is all that ever mattered
It's everything
So open your arms and you'll open the door
To every treasure that I'm hopin' for
Hold me and kiss me and tell me you're mine ever more
Must I forever be a beggar
Whose golden dreams will not come true?
Or will I go from rags to riches?
My fate is up to you

—Tony Bennett, "Rags To Riches"

"When I came here, I had nothing but my name and my wits. A man in a place like this, surviving on those two things alone, he suffers indignities, slights, ridicule... But I overcame it. I used the wits to build the name."

—Jack Rackham, Black Sails

---