Many of the privates of Marion's brigade were men of character and honour; most of them lost their fortunes by the war, and many made them, or at least handsome competencies, after it; but it is believed that more, cast out of the ways of industry and economy, and losing their all, sunk under the pressure brought upon them.
"A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion"
William Dobein James
Railway contracting will never produce again a millionaire like Mr. Brassey, but it will continue to furnish the means of many moderate fortunes and competencies.
"Contemporary Socialism"
John Rae
The question then is where the people begins and where it ends, for each day competencies shift, ruin lowers one, and fortune raises another; roles change, he who was a bourgeois this morning is going to become again a proletarian this evening, and the proletarian of just now, may turn into a bourgeois in a day, if he finds a purse, or inherits from an uncle.
"The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters"
George Sand, Gustave Flaubert Translated by A.L. McKensie