About this quote

The price tag on status is never printed on the front. Reaching for wealth, power, or a bigger name tends to be paid in small betrayals and quiet compromises that accumulate long before anyone notices the bill. What looks like winning often costs the parts of a person hardest to buy back.

When to use it

• A rising executive realizes the promotion cost him every friendship he cut loose to climb.
• A politician trades one principle after another for donors until he can't recall what he ran to do.
• A family that chases a wealthier image sinks into debt and resentment keeping up the show.