Hazlitt On The Want Of Money Summary

In his essay, “On the Want of Money,” William Hazlitt explains his views on how money affects one’s life. The belief that money is the source of all happiness is a common one among many. This essay written during the nineteenth century still has value today. Hazlitt believes that money is the root of all happiness and writes a compelling essay to describe the things that one will miss without money, the meaningless jobs one can acquire, and life’s disappointments. Without money, one cannot have a happy life since life’s pleasures come with a monetary price. The use of alliteration in the phrase “one cannot get on well in the world without money” subjects that one will not live a good and full life if lacking riches. Hazlitt constructs his easy with confidence leaving no room for questioning. By proclaiming “rejected with contempt” and “neglected by friends” in such a confident tone, it appears as if these things the likely of which and not always true are going to occur constantly. This excerpt lends to the belief that money leads to pleasure and anything less than that will lead to unhappiness and misfortune. If one is poor, it is

This fact is emphasized with oversimplification. Hazlitt wrote that one is “undergoing constant distress of mind and fortune” this statement only shows one side to the story. Instead of focusing on bright moments of happiness in the dark void of life, he oversimplified the poor man’s life by implying that it is constantly terrible. Negative diction furthers his point by describing one’s outlook on life as “crabbed, morose, and querulous.” This statement enforces the idea that when lacking the pleasant pastimes of the rich, poor people become bitter seeing nothing of value in their lives. Life is like a plague for those who have nothing; a true disappointment that gives nothing of value and is impossible to