Jefferson did not collect all he earned; in fact, he began public life well-to-do for a man of that period, and died poor--impoverished by visits of those who called to tell him how much they loved him and how much they appreciated his work. Lincoln did not collect the full amount; neither Jefferson nor Lincoln would have cared to collect five hundred million. What would either one have done with such a sum? Or, what is more important, what would five hundred million of dollars have done with Jefferson or Lincoln? In that wonderful parable of the sower, Christ speaks of the seeds that fell and of the thorns that sprang up and choked them, and He himself explained what he meant by this illustration, namely: That the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the truth. If the great benefactors of the race had been burdened with the care of big fortunes, they could not have devoted themselves to the nobler things that gave them a place in the affection of their people and in history. It seems, therefore, that while one can not rightfully collect more than he honestly earns, he may earn more than it would be wise for him to collect. And that brings us to the next question: How much should one desire to collect from society? I answer, that no matter how large a service he may render or how much he may earn, one should not desire to collect more than he can wisely spend. And how much can one wisely spend? Not as much as you might think, and not nearly as much as some have tried to spend. No matter how honestly money may be acquired, one is not free to spend it at will. We are hedged about by certain restrictions that we can neither remove nor ignore. God has written certain laws in our nature--laws that no legislature can repeal--laws that no court can declare unconstitutional, and these laws limit us in our expenditures. Let us consider some of the things for which we can properly spend money. We need food--we all need food, and we need about the same amount; not exactly, but the difference in quantity is not great. The range in expenditure is greater than the range in quantity, for expenditure covers kind and quality as well as quantity. But there is a limit even to expenditure. If a man eats too much he suffers for it. If he squanders his money on high-priced foods, he wears his stomach out. There is an old saying which we have all heard, that "The poor man is looking for food for his stomach, while the rich man is going from one watering place to another looking for a stomach for his food." This is only a witty way of expressing the sober truth, namely, that one is limited in the amount of money he can wisely spend for food.