The Price of Philosophy

From the Evening Star, February 28, 1915. By Philander Johnson.

A lot of wisdom was produced by Hezekiah Bings.
He wrote about the good and true and various other things,
But his very best production was a long typewritten page
Descriptive of the vices and the follies of the age.
He said a man should be above the cares of sordid pelf;
He ought to seek the birds and flowers and just enjoy himself;
The stuff that we call money is a superstitious sign
Which mystifies us as to what is yours and what is mine;
We should avoid its contact, for with evil it is fraught,
And happiness is something which with coin cannot be bought.
The men who crave not lucre, scribbled Hezekiah Bings,
Escape the cares which have undone philosophers and kings.
He copied it with care and then—oh, reader, do not laugh—
He sold those beauteous thoughts for seven dollars and a half.