I'm reminded of this phrase today when I see so many railing against the current Southampton board and some using this as the microscope through which to scrutinise every aspect of our club.
As banks topple like dominoes and the world rides a tight-rope between recession and financial oblivion, it's clearly hard to stay positive and confident on any subject.
Worse, it is when we harbour fears about our own basic needs - shelter, warmth and food - that the cynic in all of us is prone to rear his ugly head more often. No-one thanks the cheery passenger aboard the sinking ship for pointing out that the sea is warm and sharks rarely attack humans by choice, after all.
If only those in a possession of financial management had listened to their own advice - "past results are no guarantee of future performance" - then we might have avoided this current mess which will probably result in all of us suffering some form of hardship.
And if only more of our fans would adopt the same approach.
Raised on a diet of First Divisions success, I know more than anyone how hard the past five years has been for us. While never truly mighty, we have fallen some distance. We find ourselves stripped not just of status but also any household names.
But finally, we have a plan and the plan is a good one given the frailty of the economy. The plan is no guarantee of success, but nor is it a guarantee of failure. The plan is cheap and all the better for it. The plan could have been Icelandic or hedge funding and where would that have left us today?
Even if they support the plan, many fans do not accept the current Chairman is the best man to deliver it. He is, they say, akin to the fireman claiming hero status for quelling a fire of his own making. But if you found your home ablaze, who would you rather help you, the fireman who accidently knocked over your scented candle or the well-intentioned neighbour without an extinguisher to his name?
There is no doubt Rupert contributed to setting us alight. Does that automatically mean his method of extinguishing the flames is the wrong one? He was the man criticised for sanctioning only £90,000 for Ricardo Fuller two years ago. How sensible does that decision appear in hindsight?
And yes, the plan was forced upon Rupert by the profligacy of our interim saviours who risked increasing player wages and overheads in a one-way bet on promotion and failed; they placed it all on red and white and lost.
But you know, they say necessity is the mother of invention. And if you haven't worked out that purchases based on spurious leveraged debt are a problem, wait until you receive your next pension statement. My pension fund has dropped 30% in eighteen months and it's what my advisor calls 'medium-risk'.
If there is a lesson to learn from the forthcoming recession (and the world's current governments seemed to have missed the point entirely) it is that we must learn to live within our means. And we must only ever borrow what we know we can afford to repay, understanding that asset prices rise and fall, not just rise for ever.
But this need not mean accepting second best.
If Jan Poortvliet is a financial choice, then for my money he's doing a pretty good job. With a team drawn almost entirely from youth and reserve ranks, we find ourselves just four points outside the play-offs after ten games. JP's first ten games in English football, let us not forget.
So why oh why are the moaners and Jonahs out in force?
It is because, in my view, they are judging current performances on past results. They are refusing to see past the board and onto the pitch where effort and passion once again fill the red and white shirts.
They are failing to grasp that what they see is not the Sistine Chapel, but Michael-Angelo's sketch-book. They are looking at a promising work in progress and assessing it against some mythical era of super-performance in the Premiership; an era that exists only in legend.
Our manager is nothing if not honest and his recent official assessment that we have taken "two steps forward and one step backwards" in our past five games is no work of fiction. It is a genuine reflection on recent results and performances. His belief in the team and self-effacing charm are also welcome guests.
Today Saints might be borne from poverty, but there is no shame in that. And while the love of money might be the root of all evil, don't let a lack of money spoil the love of your football club.