"...Mr. Kapuchitsky, do you now what money means in a poor country? Money in a poor country and money in a rich country are two different things. In a rich country, money is a piece of paper with which you buy goods on the market. You are only a costumer. Even a millionaire is a costumer. He may purchase more, but he remains a costumer, nothing more. And in a poor country? In a poor country money is a wonderful, thick hedge, dazzling and always blooming, which separates you from everything else. Though that hedge you do not see creeping poverty, you do not smell the stench of misery and you do no hear the voices of the human dregs. But at the same time you know that all that exists, and you feel proud because of your hedge. You have money: that means you have wings. You are the bird of paradise that everyone admires".

E. to Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Emperor