溫故知新 Old wisdom, today’s insight — ONGO
What Does Choosing a Good Name Over Great Riches See as Lasting Longer?
If wealth rises and falls, but a name, once cracked, rarely returns — which should be guarded first?
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor with others is better than silver or gold.
This proverb, placing name above riches, became an ancient scale for measuring the value of honor and credit in Hebrew wisdom literature. The same structure appears in the East — the saying "the tiger dies and leaves its skin; a person dies and leaves their name" points to exactly the same place. Modern credit economies, interestingly, reconnect the two: as credit (one's name) comes to determine access to capital, name and wealth meet again in monetized form. Whether honor can be fully separated from wealth has grown more complicated again in a credit society.
In an age when online reputation and credit scores actually affect real assets, this ancient proverb — asking whether name and wealth are truly separate — feels more real than ever.
This proverb places wealth and name side by side on a scale, and raises the hand of name.
📝I, Too, Stand Before It
This proverb places wealth and name side by side on a scale, and raises the hand of name. I know that in youth I was consumed only with earning. But having lived a while, I find that how people remember me lasts far longer. Small, daily honesty and kept promises accumulate, in the end, into my name — a name that no silver or gold can buy back. I too check today whether I am guarding my name as carefully as I guard my wealth.
✍️Your Answer
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