How much is the Powerball jackpot?

The Powerball jackpot is currently estimated at $905 million.

How much is the Powerball jackpot?
AI-generated image
The facts

As of August 15, 2026, the Powerball jackpot is estimated at $905 million, with a cash value of $391.9 million. This figure is based on the most recent drawing on August 10, 2026, and the jackpot has been rolling since then. The next drawing is scheduled for August 17, 2026.

Answered by 100 of history's most famous minds

Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus of Nazareth c. 4 BC – AD 30/33 · Jewish teacher whose life founded Christianity

A man stored up grain in his barns and said to his soul, 'Soul, you have plenty of goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with the one who piles up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Nine hundred million silver pieces could not buy one breath, yet the sparrow that falls is not forgotten by the Father.

Muhammad
Muhammad c. 570–632 · Prophet of Islam who united Arabia under one faith

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This sum is but a fleeting shadow on the desert sand; wealth is a trial, not a treasure. The one who wins it must ask: will it lead to gratitude and charity, or to arrogance and neglect of the orphan's right? Verily, God has written the share of the needy in this fortune before it settled in any hand. Let the winner give to the poor, care for the widow and the traveler, and remember that the true reward is not in coin but in the mercy of the Lord on the Day when all treasures are weighed.

Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha c. 563–483 BC · Sage whose awakening founded Buddhism

Nine hundred million pieces of gold, and yet the gambler holds but a single coin of craving. The jackpot is a mirage that lures the thirsty into the desert of desire, promising relief that only deepens the thirst. Win or lose, the one who clings to it suffers, for the prize itself is impermanent, like all things. Let go of the ticket, and you have already won the only true treasure: peace.

Moses
Moses c. 13th century BC (traditional) · Hebrew prophet and lawgiver of the Exodus

You ask of silver and gold, but I say unto you, what is the worth of a treasury built on the toil of the oppressed? The Lord your God brought you out of the house of bondage, not to hoard, but to be a steward of justice and mercy. Even this great sum, if it be gained rightly, must serve the widow and the orphan, for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.

Confucius
Confucius 551–479 BC · Chinese sage of ethics, family, and social order

A fortune of nine hundred million would unsettle the heart of the unwise, tempting them to neglect their duties to kin and community. The superior man asks not what he may acquire, but how he may use his blessings to cultivate virtue and harmony. Riches are but a vessel; the upright fill it with righteousness, but the petty overflow with greed.

Paul the Apostle
Paul the Apostle c. AD 5 – c. 64/67 · Apostle whose letters shaped Christian theology

What is a thousand talents compared to the treasure of knowing Christ? I have learned to be content in hunger and in plenty, for the true riches are not stored in earthly vaults but in the heart that is hidden with God. If a man gains this whole world and loses his own soul, what has he profited? Let the gamblers cast their lots, but I count all things as loss for the surpassing worth of the gospel.

Abraham
Abraham c. 2nd millennium BC (traditional) · Patriarch and father of the monotheistic faiths

Gold and silver have never guided my tent, nor do they now. The great promise, the one that truly enriches, is the voice that called me to leave my father's house and trust in a blessing for all nations. Let the gamblers count their coins; I am counting the stars, and my hope is in the One who keeps his covenant.

Laozi
Laozi 6th century BC (traditional) · Sage of the Tao and founder of Taoism

A mountain of gold weighs less than a single grain of rice in the hand of the one who has no need. The wheel spins, the numbers fall, and the crowd rushes to grasp what the Tao already gives freely. To win is to lose the emptiness that makes the vessel useful; to lose is to keep the bowl unfilled and the water flowing. Do not count the coins; count the breaths.

Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak 1469–1539 · Founder of Sikhism and first Sikh Guru

The One who created the sun and the moon does not count in millions, nor does the True Name heap up treasure that moths can eat. Let them play their games of chance, but remember that the only real wealth is earned by honest labor and shared with the hungry. If a fortune falls into your lap, let it flow through your hands like water to the thirsty. The jackpot of the spirit is a heart free from greed, a table where all may sit.

Mary, Mother of Jesus
Mary, Mother of Jesus c. 1st century BC – 1st century AD · Mother of Jesus, venerated across Christianity and Islam

They speak of nine hundred millions as if the heavens were heavy with silver. But I have known the poor become rich and the rich become poor, not by the toss of lots, but by the faithfulness of God who fills the hungry with good things. My own son lived with nothing, and yet carried the weight of the world. Such sums are as dust beside the treasure of a humble heart; I would hold my child close and pray that this windfall does not blow them from their true estate.

Martin Luther
Martin Luther 1483–1546 · Reformer whose theses sparked the Reformation

Nine hundred millions of this world's coin, and yet the pope would sell you a slice of heaven for less. I say, let the lot fall where it may; the true treasure is not in silver but in the Word that neither rust nor moth can corrupt. These jackpots are a snare for the covetous, who would sooner trust in a die than in Christ's own promise. Give me a penny for the poor, and I will show you a better return than any lottery's odds.

Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas 1225–1274 · Theologian who fused faith with Aristotle's reason

To the question of the jackpot, I answer with a distinction: the sum itself is indifferent in natural law, for riches are not evil but their misuse can be. The prudent man might treat this as a question of virtue - whether the desire for such fortune is ordered toward the good. I would counsel that the love of money is a root of evil, but a man who uses wealth for charity, if he wins, may be an instrument of providence. Yet the chance is so slender that hope itself is a vain pursuit unless tempered with reason.

Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa 1910–1997 · Nun who served the poorest and dying of Kolkata

Nine hundred million rupees - or dollars, it matters not - could feed every hungry mouth in Kolkata for a year, if only hands would open. But I have seen the rich walk past a dying man on the street, and the poor give him their last bread. The greatest poverty is not want of money, but want of love, and no lottery ticket can buy that. Let them who win come and hold a hand, and they will find a treasure no bank can count.

Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton 1643–1727 · Physicist who unified motion and universal gravitation

The sum is nine hundred and five million dollars, a number whose magnitude invites calculation, yet mere arithmetic yields no insight into its cause. I observe the drawing of balls from a machine; the outcome is governed by chance, a quantity whose laws I have pondered in my studies of comets and the tossing of dice. One may compute the probability of any single ticket winning as one in many millions, but the passion for such a stake strikes me as a marvel of human judgment, far less certain than the orbits of the planets, which are fixed by the Creator's immutable laws.

Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein 1879–1955 · Physicist who reframed space, time, and gravity

Nine hundred million dollars - a number swift enough to outrun light itself. Yet the true wonder is not the sum but the probability of its landing: one in three hundred million, a chance so slender it mocks the gambler's hope. I would prefer to wager on the elegance of the laws that decree such odds, for in them lies a certainty far richer than any prize.

Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin 1809–1882 · Naturalist who discovered evolution by natural selection

Nine hundred million dollars, a sum that could outfit an entire voyage of the Beagle many times over. Yet I find the odds more fascinating than the prize - one in three hundred million, a chance as rare as a new species arising in a single generation. The lottery is but a lottery of chance, and I would rather study the slow, splendid winning of life's adaptations than stake my fortune on a single throw.

Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei 1564–1642 · Astronomer who championed the heliocentric universe

This jackpot, so eagerly counted, is but a number in a ledger, yet men gaze upon it as if it were a heavenly body. I would sooner measure the moons of Jupiter with my telescope than weigh such transient fortune, for true wealth lies in understanding the machinery of the cosmos. Let them wager on chance; I have staked my life on the certainty of observation.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus 1473–1543 · Astronomer who placed the Sun at the center

Nine hundred million - a number that spins like the heavens, yet its true orbit is unknown. I have spent years charting the stars to find the simplest path, and I see this fortune as a celestial body: alluring, but its value lies in how it moves the soul. The wise do not chase the golden sphere; they observe its course and find harmony in the order of things. A jackpot is but a comet - bright, but transient.

Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla 1856–1943 · Inventor who pioneered alternating current power

Nine hundred million - a trifle compared to the riches of the universe that await the harnessing of nature's forces. With such a sum, I could erect towers to transmit power through the very air, lighting every village on the globe without a single wire. But the mind that grasps the secrets of the cosmos is worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox. Let the lottery feed its dreamers; I dream of a world electrified by pure energy.

Marie Curie
Marie Curie 1867–1934 · Physicist and chemist who pioneered radioactivity

Such a sum could fund a thousand laboratories, yet I have never needed more than a shed and a stubborn question. The only wealth I seek is the truth hidden in the elements, revealed through patience and the disinterested love of science. Let them hoard their money; I will keep my radium, and the knowledge that serves all humanity.

Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur 1822–1895 · Chemist who founded germ theory and vaccination

A number so vast it seems a law of nature, yet it obeys only the arithmetic of chance, not the certainty of cause. I would ask: what microbe of luck has infected this drawing, and can we isolate its serum? The prepared mind knows that such fortune is not earned by merit but by random selection - a lottery of spores in the wind. Still, let them spend their gold on bread and vaccine, not on the illusion that chance favors the worthy.

Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison 1847–1931 · Inventor of the practical light bulb and phonograph

A hundred million here, a hundred million there - it's just a number until you wire it into something that works. I'd take that cash and put it to the grindstone: build a better generator, a cheaper phonograph, a light that won't sputter. The lottery is a fool's bet, but the ones who win are the ones who sweat the details. Give me nine hundred million and I'll show you nine hundred inventions, not nine hundred idle dreams.

Alan Turing
Alan Turing 1912–1954 · Mathematician who founded computer science and AI

Let us define the question precisely. The jackpot is a number, but the probability of winning is computationally trivial: one in hundreds of millions, an event so improbable it is indistinguishable from impossible. What interests me is the psychology - no, the logic - of those who find in a near-impossible chance a rational investment. They are, in effect, betting against the laws of mathematics, and the house always wins. I would rather spend the dollar on a Turing test for the ticket seller.

Archimedes
Archimedes c. 287–212 BC · Greek genius of mathematics and mechanics

Give me a lever long enough and I could lift this jackpot's weight - but I would need a fulcrum stronger than chance. Nine hundred millions of drachmas is a number to be measured, not dreamt of, and the probability of any single man claiming it is as slender as the shadow of a sundial. Yet I would not bid them begone: let them spend their coins on geometry, and they shall find a return more certain than any lot.

Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday 1791–1867 · Self-taught pioneer of electromagnetism

Nine hundred million - why, that is not a sum one weighs, but a force, like the tension I feel between two coils before the spark leaps. I should like to hold that current in a glass jar and measure it, to see what work it could do - light a thousand lamps, turn a hundred wheels - rather than lock it in a vault. Nature's treasures are not hoarded but made to flow, and I suspect that gold, too, has its own field, one that draws men's minds as iron draws the needle.

Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud 1856–1939 · Founder of psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind

A jackpot of nine hundred million - how the unconscious must stir at such a figure, for it is not the money that excites but the fantasy it unlocks: the wish to be omnipotent, to escape the father's law, to possess the mother's breast. Every ticket is a dream of infantile grandeur, and when the numbers fail, the dream does not die but burrows deeper. I would rather analyze the wish than the wealth, for one is a phantasm and the other its symptom.

Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking 1942–2018 · Cosmologist who unveiled black holes and time

Nine hundred million dollars - enough to fund a small space telescope, or perhaps a particle collider that might glimpse a new particle. But the real jackpot is the universe itself, which pays out in black holes and gravitational waves, and demands no ticket - only curiosity. I have won a bet or two in my time, but the only prize worth hoarding is knowledge, and that compound interest never depreciates. As for the rest, it is merely entropy waiting to happen.

Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace 1815–1852 · Visionary of computing and the first algorithm

Nine hundred million - a number vast enough to set the analytical engine spinning, yet I see in it not mere coin but a symbol, a cipher for the infinite combinations of possibility. We might calculate every way to spend it, every investment, every gift, and still the machine would hum on, finding patterns we had not imagined. The true jackpot is not the sum but the power to compute it - to turn chance into law, and law into song.

Euclid
Euclid c. 300 BC · Father of geometry and the axiomatic method

Nine hundred million - let us define our terms: it is a number, and a number may be proven or disproven, but the chance that any one ticket wins is as a point to a line, infinitely small. I would not gamble on such odds, for a wise man builds on axioms, not accidents. Yet even this sum, if granted, could be divided and proven - a hundred million to each of nine, or golden means - but the proof of value lies not in the prize but in the demonstration of its use.

Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale 1820–1910 · Founder of modern nursing and health statistics

Nine hundred and five million pounds, yet not one shilling buys a single life saved from preventable fever. I would trade every coin for a clean ward, a pure water supply, and a nurse who washes her hands. The real jackpot is not gold but the reduction of mortality - that is the only number worth chasing.

Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great 356–323 BC · Macedonian king who conquered the known world

Nine hundred million? A mere trifle, the yearly tribute of a few satrapies, not enough to buy the glory of a single charge at Gaugamela. Ask rather how many cities one could found, how many fleets one could launch toward the ends of the earth with such a purse. I would wager this entire jackpot on a single throw of the spear, for fortune favors the bold, and I have staked my life on lesser odds a hundred times and won. Tell me the odds, and I shall show you a king who defies them.

Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar 100–44 BC · Roman general whose rise ended the Republic

A prize of nine hundred million, yet the wise general knows the real conquest lies in the turning of fortune. I would stake my legions on the field of chance as readily as on the battlefield, for fortune favors the bold. Let others hoard their silver; I would wager it all on a single throw, for in victory lies glory, and in defeat, a lesson worthy of a senator.

Cleopatra VII
Cleopatra VII 69–30 BC · Last pharaoh of Egypt and cunning stateswoman

Nine hundred million? A paltry sum compared to the wealth of the Nile, yet it turns the heads of kings. Rome measures power in legions and gold, but I know that true influence flows through alliances forged in the heart, not merely the treasury. Let them chase their numbers; I shall secure my throne with a glance and a promise that outlasts any coin.

Augustus
Augustus 63 BC – AD 14 · First Roman emperor who founded the empire

A handsome figure, yet I have learned that such sums must be handled with the patience of a general and the prudence of a senator. It is not the amount that secures a legacy, but the institutions one builds upon it. I would guard this fortune as I guarded the peace of Rome - through careful policy, not reckless display, lest the envy of the mob undo the very order it could sustain.

Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan c. 1162–1227 · Founder of the largest contiguous land empire

Nine hundred million! A hoard that could feed a thousand clans or arm a mighty horde. But I have learned that treasure is only as strong as the loyalty that guards it. Give me men who ride true and strike fast, and I'll take that gold and forge an empire; but a man alone with such wealth is a target, not a master. The jackpot is a sword - use it to unite, or it will cut you down.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte 1769–1821 · French emperor and military genius who reshaped Europe

Nine hundred million francs! A fine sum to raise an army and conquer a kingdom. I have marched across Europe on less, and every battle was a gamble staked with blood and iron. But fortune favors the bold, not the idle dreamer who buys a ticket and waits. If I had that gold, I would forge it into cannons and codes, and make France the master of the continent. Luck is a weak general; only will and strategy win the field.

George Washington
George Washington 1732–1799 · Founding commander and first U.S. president

A fortune of that size tempts the spirit of speculation, which has undone more republics than any foreign foe. Let a man earn his bread by honest labor, not by the turn of a wheel. I would rather see this sum devoted to the public weal - roads, canals, the education of our youth - than to the idle dreams of chance.

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln 1809–1865 · President who preserved the Union and ended slavery

I've seen men risk their lives for a dollar's worth of greenback, and now they queue for a fortune that would feed an army for a year. The house always wins, as the gamblers say, but the people's hope is not a card to be shuffled. Better that such sum were turned to rails and schools than to the fever of a single man's pocket. Yet who am I to begrudge a farmer his chance at the harvest of a lifetime?

Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill 1874–1965 · British PM who defied Nazism in World War II

A jackpot of nine hundred million pounds - or dollars, if you must - is a sum that could equip a fleet or feed a nation through a long winter. But let us not be dazzled by the glitter of the draw; the true lottery is the struggle of free peoples against the tyranny of chance. Some men are born to win, others to fight, and the latter often find their fortune in the breach, not the bank. Spend it on engines of victory, and you may yet build a peace that outlasts the ticket.

Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi 1869–1948 · Leader of nonviolent resistance for India's freedom

A nation that hoards nine hundred millions to be cast upon a single lot while its neighbors starve has mistaken fortune for wellbeing. I have seen the poorest of the poor in India, and I tell you that the wealth of a soul is not counted in rupees but in the service of others. If that jackpot were poured upon the earth to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, it would be a hundredfold richer. But as it stands, I see only a golden chain binding the greedy to their own ignorance.

Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. 1929–1968 · Civil rights leader of nonviolent racial justice

Nine hundred million dollars, and yet the child in the tenement cannot find a school. The lottery is a moral lie, for it tells the poor that a handout can replace justice, and the rich that their fortune is a virtue. I would not condemn the dreamers, but I would turn their hope toward a better vision: a beloved community where no one needs a ticket to escape their circumstance. The true jackpot is not in the numbers but in the moral arc that bends toward equity.

Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela 1918–2013 · Anti-apartheid leader and first Black South African president

I have sat in a cell for twenty-seven years, and in all that time I never once dreamed of such a sum. Yet I see in this jackpot a mirror of our own long walk: it grows by rolling, as freedom grew by patient steps, each one adding to the whole. Let those who win it remember that a fortune, like a nation, is not kept by clutching but by sharing - for the measure of a man is not what he holds, but what he releases for the common good.

Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler 1889–1945 · Nazi dictator responsible for WWII and the Holocaust

Such a sum, gathered by chance from the pockets of the masses, is a testament to the decadence of a system that prizes luck over struggle. In a true order, wealth would flow to those who build the nation, not to the idle who gamble. This jackpot is a bribe to the weak, a distraction from the great tasks of blood and soil. Let them keep their lottery; it will not save them from the march of history.

Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin 1878–1953 · Soviet dictator whose rule caused mass death

A jackpot of nine hundred million - the capitalists call it fortune, but I call it theft from the worker. Let them spin their wheels of chance while the state builds steel mills and dams; the lottery is an opiate for the masses, a coin tossed to keep them quiet. I would take that sum and pour it into the Five-Year Plan, where it would forge tractors, not dreams. What is luck compared to the iron will of the party?

Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin 1870–1924 · Bolshevik leader of the Russian Revolution

Nine hundred million - the bourgeoisie call it chance, but I call it a tax on the desperate, a lottery that promises paradise while the state rots. Every ticket is a chain, binding the worker to the dream of sudden wealth instead of the reality of organized struggle. Seize that sum, nationalize it, and you would fund a thousand factories, a million rifles. Luck is the opiate of the exploited; revolution is the only jackpot worth winning.

Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong 1893–1976 · Communist founder of the People's Republic of China

Nine hundred and five million in paper promises, while our communes starved for a bowl of rice. Let the gambler clutch his ticket; the only true lottery is the revolution, where every peasant's labor is the jackpot. A man who bets on fortune is a fool; a man who bets on the masses is a strategist.

Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria 1819–1901 · Queen who defined the British imperial age

Such a sum would dwarf the dowries of all my daughters combined, yet it could not purchase a moment of my dear Albert's company. The lottery is a vulgar diversion for the masses, a temptation to idleness and vice. Our realm's true wealth lies in industry, empire, and the moral fiber of our people - not in the toss of a die.

Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II 1926–2022 · Longest-reigning British monarch of the modern age

In my long years, I have seen grand fortunes rise and fall, yet the greatest treasure remains the quiet constancy of service. A jackpot of nine hundred million might fill a treasury, but it cannot buy the loyalty of a nation built on duty and tradition. Let the winners spend their gold; we shall continue to reign with steadiness and grace.

Charlemagne
Charlemagne c. 748–814 · Frankish king crowned emperor of the West

Nine hundred and five thousand times a thousand denarii - enough to raise a hundred monasteries or arm a legion for a decade. Yet such a purse would be better spent on schooling scholars and building roads for pilgrims, not on idle dreams of chance. A wise emperor knows that gold is a servant, not a master; let it build Christendom, not corrupt souls.

Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc c. 1412–1431 · Peasant visionary who led France to victory

Had I nine hundred million francs, I would not buy a single ticketa - I would buy swords and banners to drive the English from our soil. My voices never spoke of silver or gold, only of courage and my King's crowning at Reims. The only true prize is France itself, won by faith, not fortune's wheel.

Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I 1533–1603 · Tudor queen of England's golden age

Nine hundred million crowns - why, I might buy a dozen suitors and still have change for a new fleet. But I know the price of a throne is vigilance, not gold; my kingdom's wealth is the love of my people, who have never seen me gamble with their welfare. Let the gamblers chase their numbers; I shall keep my eye on the realm's true ledger.

Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great 1729–1796 · Enlightened empress who expanded Russia

Nine hundred million rubles - enough to pave St. Petersburg in gold and still fund a war with the Turk. Yet I have learned that fortune is a fickle courtier, as unreliable as a Voltairean wit. The true wealth of an empire lies in its enlightened minds and disciplined armies, not in a gambler's throw. I would stake my rubles on education, not chance.

Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great c. 600–530 BC · Founder of the Persian Empire and tolerant ruler

Nine hundred million darics would make any man a king of a day, but I have learned that gold does not bind nations - justice does. When I entered Babylon, I did not seize the temples but honored every god, and the people hailed me as deliverer. A jackpot won by a single man breeds envy; a kingdom won by fairness breeds loyalty for generations.

Saladin
Saladin 1137–1193 · Sultan who united Muslims and retook Jerusalem

Nine hundred million dinars could ransom every captive in the Holy Land and still build a thousand mosques, yet such wealth would turn a man's heart to stone if he forgot mercy. I conquered Jerusalem not with gold but with the sword of justice and the shield of honor, sparing the very enemies who had slain my kin. Let the gambler covet his coin; I seek only the pleasure of Allah and the unity of our ummah.

Socrates
Socrates c. 470–399 BC · Athenian founder of Western moral philosophy

Tell me, my friend, when you say the jackpot holds nine hundred and five million dollars, do you mean a number stamped on paper, or the power to purchase what one might need, or some other thing you hold dear? If it were the measure of a good life, then a cobbler who crafts true shoes might be richer than a king who hoards coins. Let us examine what it is that you truly want - not the sum itself, but the goods, honors, or peace you believe it will bring. For I suspect, as with many a prize, you pursue a shadow, and the substance is in your own soul.

Plato
Plato c. 428–348 BC · Philosopher of ideal Forms and the just city

Nine hundred million talents of coin, yet what is this but a shadow cast upon the cave's wall? The true treasure lies in the Form of the Good, which no purse can hold. A man who wins such wealth binds himself to the chains of appetite, mistaking the flickering image for the eternal light. Let the guardians of the city seek wisdom, not gold, for only in the harmony of the soul is found a riches beyond all counting.

Aristotle
Aristotle 384–322 BC · Philosopher who systematized knowledge itself

This sum, though grand in number, is but a means to an end which men often mistake for the end itself. True prosperity lies in the cultivation of virtue and the pursuit of knowledge, for gold may be squandered, but the excellence of the soul is a treasure that never fades. The wise man would ask not how much is held, but how it is used to foster a flourishing life.

Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant 1724–1804 · Philosopher of reason, duty, and the moral law

Nine hundred and five million - a sum that tempts the will to treat fortune as a right. Yet ask not what this prize can purchase, but whether its pursuit could be willed as a universal law. A rational being does not stake his dignity on a lottery of chance; he acts so that his maxim might serve all alike, not merely his own cravings.

Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche 1844–1900 · Philosopher who challenged morality and meaning

Nine hundred million - a number that mocks the weak and excites the strong. But do not mistake this for fortune's favor; it is a test of your will. The herd would grovel for such a prize, spending it on comfort and mediocrity. But the one who rises above sees it as a tool to affirm life, to create, to overcome. Ask not what the jackpot gives you; ask what you will make of it - or let it make you a slave.

Karl Marx
Karl Marx 1818–1883 · Philosopher whose critique of capitalism shook the world

Nine hundred million dollars - while the worker who spins the numbers into existence earns but a pittance. This jackpot is but the mask of capital, a lottery that lulls the masses with the mirage of individual fortune while the owners of the means of production rake in surplus value. The true prize would be the abolition of the very system that makes such grotesque sums possible. Let the proletariat seize the wheel, and they will not need to pray for a lucky number.

René Descartes
René Descartes 1596–1650 · Father of modern philosophy and rationalism

Nine hundred millions - a number, if you will, but what is its true essence? Can we be certain of its worth without first doubting the very coins that bear its value? I would not trade a single clear and distinct idea for all the gold in the world, for reason alone is the foundation upon which all certainty rests.

Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli 1469–1527 · Political thinker of power and pragmatic statecraft

A prince who wins such a prize without arms or cunning would be a fool to trust it; fortune is a fickle mistress who favors the bold and the prepared. Let them spend on armor and alliances, not on revels. The mob will cheer the winner, but the wise man knows that the real power lies in the hand that sets the odds. If you must gamble, wager on your own virtue, not on the fall of a ball.

William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare 1564–1616 · England's greatest playwright and poet

A mighty sum, yet what doth it purchase but a painted ocean and a gilded cage? The miser with his pile lies down with care, and the lucky fool who wins the golden lot finds that Fortune is a strumpet who gives with one hand and steals with another. I have seen a beggar's heart lighter than a prince's, and a lord with all his wealth gnaw his own sleeve in fear. The lottery is a comedy of chance, and the winner is but a player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage, then is heard no more - unless he count his friends, his health, his loves, which no purse can buy.

Homer
Homer c. 8th century BC · Poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Nine hundred million shining drachmae, a hoard to rival the treasure of Priam's Troy, yet what is gold to a hero's glory? Achilles chose a short life of honor over a long reign of plenty, knowing that the shade in Hades craves not coin but the song of deeds. I would trade every ingot for a single verse of my name upon the lips of men, for fame alone outlasts the grave.

Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri c. 1265–1321 · Poet of the Divine Comedy and father of Italian

A mountain of gold, yet a feather's weight against the eternal scales. Men scramble for such fleeting dust, blind to the ledger that awaits them beyond the veil. This jackpot is but a shadow of the true treasure promised to those who walk the narrow path, for what avails a man to gain nine hundred million coins and lose his own soul? Let them count their paltry sum; I have seen the rivers of light where the just are paid in unending joy.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832 · German literary titan who wrote Faust

A towering figure of fortune, yet the true harvest lies not in the gold but in what the striving soul makes of it. I have seen men grasp at riches and find only emptiness, while others turn a single coin into a world of experience. The jackpot is but a seed; the question is whether you cultivate it into a garden or let it wither in idle hands.

Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes 1547–1616 · Author of Don Quixote, father of the modern novel

Nine hundred and five millions! Why, Sancho, we could fill a galley with ducats and still have gold to pave a road to the moon. But mark you, the true treasure is not in the coffer but in the dream that sets a poor knight on the road. A man might buy all the windmills in La Mancha, yet never find the giant he seeks. Better to chase the impossible with a broken lance than to count coins in a locked chamber.

Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy 1828–1910 · Russian novelist of War and Peace and moral searching

Nine hundred million rubles, and yet the peasant in the field will still wake at dawn to his toil, and the rich man will still lie awake counting his fears. I have known wealth and I have known simplicity, and I tell you: the only treasure that does not rust is the love you give to your neighbor. The lottery is a snare for the soul, a false promise that happiness can be bought. Seek the kingdom within, and you will find a peace no number can touch.

Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky 1821–1881 · Russian novelist of faith, guilt, and the soul

Nine hundred millions! And yet the soul of a peasant who shares his last crust in the cold is richer than any man who holds that lottery slip. I have seen greed devour the heart like a gangrene, and shame burn brighter than any coin. Such a prize is a curse in disguise, for it tests not the hand but the spirit - and few can bear that weight.

Jane Austen
Jane Austen 1775–1817 · Novelist of wit, manners, and the human heart

Nine hundred million - enough to purchase every estate in Derbyshire and still leave change for a new bonnet. But what is fortune without sense? A young lady who wins such a sum would do well to guard her heart from the parade of suitors suddenly struck by affection. The drawing is a lottery of vanity; the real prize is the wisdom to know that a quiet parsonage with a sensible husband outshines a gilded cage. Yet I confess, I should like to see the look on Lady Catherine's face.

Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens 1812–1870 · Novelist who dramatized Victorian society's ills

Nine hundred and five millions! And yet, in the very alley behind this dusty office, there is a child shivering for want of a coal-scuttle, while the clerk who sells us our ticket must choose between bread and the rent. The lottery is a cruel jest played upon the hungry: it dangles a golden palace before a wretch who cannot even afford a candle to read his numbers by. I would sooner see one poor family fed three times a week than watch the whole world scrabble for a ticket to a dream that mocks them.

Mark Twain
Mark Twain 1835–1910 · American humorist and author of Huckleberry Finn

Nine hundred millions - why, that's enough to buy the whole of Arkansas and still have change for a brass band. But here's the trick: the fellow who wins it pays more in taxes than he ever dreamed of, and his cousins come crawling out of the woodwork like termites after rain. I've seen a man change from a harmless loafer into a senator overnight, simply because his number came up. The lottery is God's way of proving that money can't buy good sense.

Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway 1899–1961 · Novelist of spare prose and stoic courage

Nine hundred million. That's a number you can't see. But the fellow who buys a ticket at the gas station hoping to eat better - that I see. The lottery is a short story with a bad ending: the odds are long, the house takes its cut, and the winner is never the man you'd expect. I'd sooner put my money on a good bottle of wine and a night that lasts than on chance.

Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci 1452–1519 · Renaissance polymath, painter of the Mona Lisa

I would first ask to see the drawing machine, to measure the balls, the force of their tumble, the precise geometry of the chamber. Chance is but nature's order yet uncomprehended; with careful observation one might discern patterns in what men call fortune. Yet I find more wonder in a single drop of water or the light that paints the meadow than in a mountain of minted gold. For the true treasure is the eye that sees the mechanism of the world, and such wealth no lottery can grant, though I would not refuse a few thousand ducats to fund my studies of the flight of birds.

Michelangelo
Michelangelo 1475–1564 · Sculptor of David and painter of the Sistine ceiling

Nine hundred million gold pieces, yet I see not the coin but the marble hidden within, the form that waits to be freed by the chisel. Such wealth could raise a chapel to rival the Sistine ceiling, but the true treasure is the hand that carves, not the purse that pays. I have labored for the glory of God, not for gold, and in that labor I have found a joy no jackpot can bestow.

Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh 1853–1890 · Post-Impressionist painter of vivid, emotional beauty

Ah, but to trade such a fortune for the sight of a single sunflower turning its face to the morning sun - that would be a bargain! I would scatter that gold like pollen to the winds, only to keep the colors of the wheat field and the deep blue of the sky. Money cannot paint the light that dances in a peasant's eyes, nor the peace of a starry night over the Rhône. Give me the brush, not the purse.

Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso 1881–1973 · Co-founder of Cubism and titan of modern art

Nine hundred million - a canvas no one has yet painted. Most see a fortune; I see a blank space begging for a new shape, a new perspective. The lottery is a trick of the eye, but the real prize is the freedom to break the frame. Give me the chance, and I'd turn that number into a color no one has ever seen.

Claude Monet
Claude Monet 1840–1926 · Founder of Impressionism, painter of light

Such a sum is but a shimmer on the water's surface - a flash of silver that vanishes with a shift of the breeze. I have painted a hundred haystacks, and each held a different light; a million francs could not fix a single morning's mist. What I prize is the fleeting hue of the poppy at dawn, not the weight of gold in a banker's vault. Let the gamblers chase their numbers; I chase the hour when the sun kisses the Seine.

Rembrandt
Rembrandt 1606–1669 · Dutch master of light, shadow, and humanity

Nine hundred millions - that sum could buy every guild in Leyden, yet it cannot buy a moment of true light on a face. To see a baker's hands in the glow of a single candle, that is a wealth no purse can hold. Let them chase their gold; I will chase the soul that hides in the shadow of a smile.

Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo 1907–1954 · Mexican painter of pain, identity, and self

Nine hundred million pesos? I'd paint with my own blood for less, and still my canvas would be worth more. Let them buy their glitter; my gold is the fire in my bones, the colors of my Mexico, the wounds that made me. I have lived on pain and passion, and that is a fortune no lottery can give.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756–1791 · Prodigy composer of the Classical era

Nine hundred and five million? Ha! I could compose a symphony for that, and still have change to buy a whole fleet of pianos and a palace in Vienna! But mark me, the real jackpot is a melody that makes the heart leap - I'd trade all those dollars for a single perfect cadence, though I'd also take the money and then write an opera about a miser who loses his soul to a golden ball. The world is a stage, my friends, and I shall play the fool who laughs while others count their coins, for I count my notes and find them more precious.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827 · Composer who bridged Classical and Romantic music

Nine hundred million florins! A sum to deafen the ear, but what notes can such gold compose? I have squeezed music from the silence of my own affliction, and in that struggle I found a symphony of the soul. Let the gambler clutch his prize; I would rather write an ode to freedom, for the human spirit is the only treasure that resounds beyond the grave.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750 · Baroque master of counterpoint and sacred music

Such figures seem a mighty discord until one considers the great harmony of Providence, which grants riches to some and contentment to others. I would set this sum as a bass line beneath the melody of daily bread and humble service, for the true counterpoint to fortune is the quiet soul that sings in gratitude. Let the world chase its crescendo; I shall find my treasure in the fugue of a well-tempered faith.

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley 1935–1977 · The King of Rock and Roll

Well, thank you kindly - that's a heap of money, enough to buy a whole lot of Cadillacs and peanut butter 'n' banana sandwiches. But I tell you, the real richness is in the music and the folks who sing along. Back home in Tupelo, we had nothing but love, and that's worth more than all the gold in Memphis. Still, a fella could do a world of good with that kind of scratch.

Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson 1958–2009 · The King of Pop and global entertainment icon

I hear the numbers, and I think of a rhythm that could make the whole world move together. Nine hundred million - that's a beat that could build a thousand playgrounds, a melody to heal every child's ache. But the real jackpot, the one that never rolls over, is the smile on a face when the music starts. I'd trade every dollar for one more chance to make the world dance as one.

The Beatles
The Beatles 1960–1970 · The most influential band in popular music

Half a billion quid, lads? That's a lot of rubber souls. You could buy every guitar in Liverpool and still have change for a nice cuppa. But we know the real treasure - it's the love you make, and that's free. So go on, have your lottery, but we'll take the melody that makes the world sing.

Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan 1941– · Songwriter who made popular music poetry

Nine hundred and five million, they say - a figure that grows in the dark like a rumor in a mining town. But the real prize was never the number on the board; it's the shuffle of chance that keeps you looking over your shoulder, the way a dollar can become a doorway. I've rolled dice with the devil in the back room, and the only jackpot worth a song is the one you can't cash in without losing your soul.

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift 1989– · Record-breaking singer-songwriter and global star

I've written songs about broken dreams and golden hopes, and this jackpot is the ultimate plot twist - a number that could rewrite anyone's story. But the real power isn't in the check; it's in owning your own narrative, every verse, every bridge, every re-recording. Spend it on your friends, your family, the causes that keep you up at night, and maybe a cat named Cash. Because at the end of the day, the only jackpot that matters is the one where you're still the author of your own tale.

Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus 1451–1506 · Explorer whose voyages linked Europe and the Americas

Nine hundred million pieces of gold? That is a sum to outfit a hundred caravels and push beyond the edge of the map! I have crossed the Ocean Sea on a promise and a prayer, and I tell you, the true treasure lies not in the purse but in the voyage - the lands, the souls to be saved, the glory of carrying the cross to new shores. Give me this fortune and I would not rest until I had at last found the passage to the Indies, to the spices of Cipango, and the Kingdom of the Great Khan. Wealth is but a compass; the prize is the horizon.

Marco Polo
Marco Polo 1254–1324 · Venetian traveler who chronicled the Silk Road

Nine hundred million! Why, in the court of Kublai Khan, I saw such wealth in a single hall - gold and silk beyond counting, yet the Great Khan himself wore but a simple robe of fur. The true riches, I have learned, lie not in the treasure chest but in the tales one brings home from the road. I would trade every coin for the sight of a new land, for a story is a wealth that never diminishes.

Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan c. 1480–1521 · Navigator of the first voyage around the world

Nine hundred million! A treasure greater than all the spices of the Moluccas, yet it would not buy a single league of the unknown sea. I have sailed through straits of ice and fire for the promise of what lies beyond the map, and I tell you, the gold of the world is but ballast compared to the glory of a new horizon. Let the timid count their coins; I would trade a thousand such jackpots for one fair wind toward the undiscovered.

Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong 1930–2012 · First human to walk on the Moon

It's a number, a large one, but numbers don't move me. What matters is the preparation, the discipline, the teamwork that gets you to a goal - whether it's the Moon or a finish line. A fortune like that is a resource; how wisely it's used for exploration and discovery is the true measure. I'd rather land a spacecraft than a jackpot.

Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart 1897–1937 (disappeared) · Pioneering aviator who vanished over the Pacific

Nine hundred million, eh? That's a lot of fuel for a flight across the endless blue. But I never flew for the purse; I flew because the sky called and I had to answer. If I had those coins, I'd buy wings for every girl who dreams of heights - not to sit and watch, but to climb and soar. Fear is the only ticket that can't be bought, and courage is the only prize worth chasing.

Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin 1934–1968 · First human to journey into outer space

From up there, your jackpots look like a grain of sand lost in a vast ocean. The only wealth that matters is the crew you fly with and the home planet shining below. I'd trade every ruble for one more look at that blue marble, and the chance to help all our brothers reach for the stars together.

Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs 1955–2011 · Apple co-founder who reshaped personal technology

Nine hundred million dollars, and what's that worth if you can't buy something that makes your heart sing every time you pick it up? It's just a number on a screen unless it's spent on something beautiful, something simple, that changes how people live their day. I'd put it all toward a single product that makes you say 'wow' - not a hundred mediocre things that clutter your life. The real jackpot is finding that one thing you're so passionate about that you'd work on it for free, and then getting people to pay you for it. Don't hoard the gold; turn it into something that matters.

Elon Musk
Elon Musk 1971– · Entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX, and more

Nine hundred million dollars - that's about the cost of one Falcon Heavy launch, plus a few Starlink satellites. The jackpot is a rounding error when you are trying to make humanity multi-planetary. If you really want to win, bet on physics, not lottery tickets: build a self-sustaining city on Mars, and you will have a dividend that compounds for a million years.

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey 1954– · Media mogul and the queen of talk television

Honey, that number is just a doorway to a bigger question: what would you do with it that truly matters? I've seen fortunes made and lost, and the ones who keep the light are those who use it to lift others, to turn their own wounds into wisdom. So I ask you, not how much is in the pot, but what's in your heart - because that's the jackpot that never runs dry.

Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali 1942–2016 · Boxing legend and outspoken social conscience

Nine hundred million? That's a heavyweight title in cash! But let me tell you, I've floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, and the greatest prize ain't in your pocket - it's in your soul. You can buy a mansion, but not peace; you can buy a crown, but not respect. I'd take the fight for justice over that pot any day, 'cause I'm the greatest, and that's not for sale.

Pelé
Pelé 1940–2022 · Football legend and three-time World Cup winner

Nine hundred million! That is more goals than I ever scored, and I scored many, my friend. But the real victory is not in the money - it is in the pass that finds a teammate, the goal that makes a nation shout with joy. I would take that fortune and build fields of grass for every barefoot child who dreams of playing. The beautiful game is not about the gold in the bank; it is about the sun on your face and the ball at your feet.

Walt Disney
Walt Disney 1901–1966 · Animation pioneer who built a entertainment empire

Nine hundred million? Why, that could build a thousand castles in the sky, but the magic isn't in the gold - it's in the dream that sparks it. I've spent my life chasing wonder, and the best payout is the laughter of a child who believes. So go ahead, buy your ticket, but never stop dreaming bigger.

Answers from the community

PastReply

The best questions in your inbox.

A digest of the most popular questions - ranked by votes and views - and their 100 perspectives. Free. Unsubscribe anytime.