"Money talks, wealth whispers"

“Money talks” (meaning that money has influence) is an old financial saying, cited in print in various forms from before 1700. “Money talks” was printed in several American newspapers in 1868.

“Money talks, wealth whispers” is a modern variation that was explained by Dorothy Donegan, a veteran jazz pianist, in 1989:

“Money talks but wealth whispers . . . If you got a lot of money you don’t need to talk about it, it speaks quietly for itself. If you don’t have real money, you’re just talking loud and drawing a crowd.”

“Old money whispers, new money shouts” is a similar saying.

Google Books
Jet
Volume 76, Part 1
1989
Pg. 40:
Dorothy Donegan, veteran jazz pianist, giving her definition of real economic power: “Money talks but wealth whispers . . . If you got a lot of money you don’t need to talk about it, it speaks quietly for itself. If you don’t have real money, you’re just talking loud and drawing a crowd.”

Google Books
24 June 1989, The Economist, pg. 1:
A survey of private banking: money talks, wealth whispers
By Christopher Wood

OCLC WorldCat record
Why Money Talks and Wealth Whispers: Monetary Uncertainty and Mystique
Author: Eijffinger, S.C.W.; Hoeberichts, M.M.; Schaling, E.
Publisher: Macroeconomics 1997
Edition/Format: eBook : English
Publication: CentER Discussion Paper, (1997), pp.18
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
This paper analyzes the effect of monetary uncertainty on the inflationary bias and the variance of output and inflation.

Google News Archive
2 April 2000, Spartanburg (SC) Herald-Journal, “Switzerland’s watch fair oozes luxury, optimism” by Clare Hullis (AP), pg. A18, col. 2:
Money talks. Wealth whispers.

Google Books
Get Yours!:
How to Have Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More
By Amy Dubois Barnett
New York, NY: Broadway Books
2007
Pg. 152:
I have a friend who always says, “Money talks and wealth whispers.“That is something that has always stuck with me. Wealth is not an outward sign of success or financial security. It is the sense of security that you have inside that wealth gives you.”

OCLC WorldCat record
Money talks ... wealth whispers ... : feature: wealth management
Author: A Murdoch; J Demartini; Anon
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: BusinessBrief, v16 n1 (Feb/Mar 2011):50-56,58
Database: Index to South African Periodicals (ISAP)
Summary:
Maintains that building real wealth in times of a recession requires expert advice and careful planning, taking into account inflation and other risk factors.

Secret Entourage
January 3, 2013
Should Wealth Really Whisper?
(...)
“Money Talks, but Wealth Whispers”
is an old saying that lives on in a few of us today. Those with money are known to always talk of money. While those with true wealth often talk of other things that don’t involve the discussions of money or how much they have of it. Does that rule still apply today and should it still continue to apply?

Twitter
Invert always Invert
‏@invertalwaysinv
Good advice from senior trader
“Money talks, wealth whispers.
Do you really need validation & from whom?”
Equity curve talks more than words
9:25 AM - 20 Apr 2016