Money and success don’t change people they merely amplify what is already there.

The line argues against the comforting idea that wealth or fame “corrupts” otherwise good people. Instead, it claims that money and status function like a megaphone: they increase a person’s capacity to act on existing traits—generosity or selfishness, discipline or indulgence—by removing constraints and increasing visibility. In this view, success reveals character more than it reshapes it, because resources expand choices and reduce the need for self-censorship. The quote also serves as a caution: pursuing success won’t automatically improve one’s inner life; cultivating virtues and self-knowledge must come first, since amplified flaws can become more damaging when paired with power and attention.