“ When a man says he’s rich, you’re generally sure he isn’t. Besides, if they are poor, you can’t help it. ”
Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit (1857). copy citation
| Author | Charles Dickens |
|---|---|
| Source | Little Dorrit |
| Topic | help |
| Date | 1857 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/963/963-h/963-h.htm |
Context
“‘You can’t say, you know,’ snorted Pancks, taking one of his dirty hands out of his rusty iron-grey pockets to bite his nails, if he could find any, and turning his beads of eyes upon his employer, ‘whether they’re poor or not. They say they are, but they all say that. When a man says he’s rich, you’re generally sure he isn’t. Besides, if they are poor, you can’t help it. You’d be poor yourself if you didn’t get your rents.’
‘True enough,’ said Arthur.
‘You’re not going to keep open house for all the poor of London,’ pursued Pancks. ‘You’re not going to lodge ‘em for nothing.”
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