“‘Listen,’ I said softly, ‘I know it’s hard for you to make sense of all this craziness around here, but trust me, there’s a method to my madness, especially when it comes to spending. It’s important to keep these guys chasing the dream. And it’s even more important to keep them broke.’ I gestured over to the plate glass. ‘Look at them; as much money as they make, every last one of them is broke! They spend every dime they have, trying to keep up with my lifestyle. But they can’t, because they don’t make enough. So they end up living paycheck to paycheck on a million bucks a year. It’s hard to imagine, considering how you grew up, but, nevertheless, it is what it is.

‘Anyway, keeping them broke makes them easier to control. Think about it: Virtually every last one of them is leveraged to the hilt, with cars and homes and boats and all the rest of that crap, and if they miss even one paycheck they’re up [the] creek. It’s like having golden handcuffs on them. I mean, the truth is I could afford to pay them more than I do. But then they wouldn’t need me as much. But if I paid them too little, then they would hate me. So I pay them just enough so they love me nut still need me. And as long as they need me they’ll always fear me.” -From, “The Wolf Of Wall Street” By: Jordan Belfort