[7]
Wealth consists in abundance of money, ownership
of land and properties, and further of movables, cattle, and slaves, remarkable
for number, size, and beauty, if they are all secure, liberal, and useful.
Property that is productive is more useful, but that which has enjoyment for its
object is more liberal. By productive I mean that which is a source of income,
by enjoyable that which offers no advantage beyond the use of it—at
least, none worth mentioning. Security may be defined
as
possession of property in such places and on such conditions that the use of it
is in our own hands; and ownership as the right of alienation or not1, by which I mean giving the property away or
selling it. In a word, being wealthy consists rather in use than in possession;
for the actualization2 and use of
such things is wealth.
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Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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