"Leopold II, the Leopold II who appears to us in the light of the texts we know today, was indeed one of the most foreign men to the spirit of profit as it is usually understood. But his great thoughts, when he wielded money as an instrument, were more often than not for himself, but for his country. The Congo, no matter what Morel thought, brought him nothing personally. He drew money from the Congo, but he used it almost exclusively to enrich the national heritage, through real estate acquisitions, monumental constructions, and urban planning. His dread was not his own fortune but the “beautification” of his country."