The Note-Books of Samuel Butler

You will sometimes find your elders laying their heads together and saying what a bad thing it is for young men to come into a little money—­that those always do best who have no expectancy, and the like.  They will then quote some drivel from one of the Kingsleys about the deadening effect an income of 300 pounds a year will have upon a man.  Avoid any one whom you may hear talk in this way.  The fault lies not with the legacy (which would certainly be better if there were more of it) but with those who have so mismanaged our education that we go in even greater danger of losing the money than other people are.