L. non olet, it [money] does not smell. Titus, son of the Roman emperor Vespasian, had
criticized a tax on public lavatories. Vespasian held a coin from the first payment to his son’s
nose and asked him whether the smell was offensive. Titus said no. Vespasian replied ‘And yet
it comes from urine’ (Suetonius Vespasian xxiii).
1914 ‘E. BRAMAH’ Max Carrados 45 The Romans, Parkinson, had a saying to the
effect that gold carries no smell. That is a pity sometimes. What jewellery did Miss
Hutchins wear? 1922 A. BENNETT Mr. Prohack iii. The associations of the wealth
scarcely affected him. He understood in the flesh the deep wisdom of that old proverb..
that money has no smell. 1940 R. CHANDLER Farewell, my Lovely xxxiv. He punched
the cash-register and dropped the bill into the drawer. They say money don’t stink. I
sometimes wonder. 2002 Times 20 Feb. 3 Mr Justice Jacob.. asked rhetorically: ‘Should
procurers, pimps, panders.. pay VAT? That is the question on this appeal.. In this case, as
the Latin poet [sic] said, pecunia non olet—money doesn’t smell. I allow the appeal.’
moneyMONEY isn’t everything1922 Vanity Fair Sept. 39 (heading) Money Isn’t Everything. 1927 E. O’NEILL
Marco Millions iii. Money isn’t everything, not always. a 1947 F. THOMPSON Still
glides Stream (1948) ii. He said quite angrily that money was not everything, there was
the satisfaction of knowing you’d turned out a good job. 1975 J. I. M. STEWART Young
Pattullo xv. If one owns property one can always have a little money follow one around.
But we all know that money isn’t everything. 2007 Times2 5 July 7 Ah yes, he said
glumly, but the hours are relentless, the people dismal and the work very dull. Besides..
money isn’t everything. moneyMONEY is powerA more worldly alternative to KNOWLEDGE is power.1741 N. AMES Almanack 4 Laws bear Name, but Money has the Power. 1789 F.
AMES Letter 16 May in Works (1854) I. 39 Money is power, a permanent revenue is
permanent power, and the credit which it would give was a safeguard to the government.
1818 M. EDGEWORTH Letter 13 Oct. (1971) 115 Now he had money ‘and money is
power’. 1930 MEANS & THACKER Strange Death of President Harding iv. One can do
nothing—be nothing, without money, not even in the White House. Money is power. 1980
J. O’FAOLAIN No Country for Young Men i. The lads would have to have.. money if they
were to get guns. .. Money was power. money; power