There is ... the story which told of Thales of Miletus [624-546 B.C.E.]. It is a story about a scheme for making money, which is fathered on Thales owing to his reputation for wisdom....He was reproached for his poverty, which was supposed to show the uselessness of philosophy. According to the story, observing from his knowledge of meteorology while it was yet winter that there would be a great harvest of olives in the coming year, he gave deposits for all the olive-presses in Miletus and Chios, which he hired at a low price because no one bid against him. When the harvest time came, and there was a sudden and simultaneous demand for the olive presses, he let out the stock he had collected at any rate he chose to fix; and making a considerable fortune, he succeeded in proving that it is easy for philosophers to become rich if they like, but that their ambition lies elsewhere.
--from Aristotle's Politics
