A liability is something you pay to keep, while an asset is something you get paid to keep. Simple and obvious examples are stocks that pay dividends and a loan that accumulates interest. How to identify into which bucket a house, a car or a company investment fall is the hard part, that was the point I was trying to make. Rich people understand this and leverage it.

The original quote is:

The rich buy assets. The poor only have expenses. The middle class buys liabilities they think are assets.

Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad