Man should not be ready to show that he can live like a badly-fed animal.
 Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism (1891). copy citation

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Author Oscar Wilde
Source The Soul of Man under Socialism
Topic animal living
Date 1891
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1017/1017-0.txt

Context

“But to recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less. For a town or country labourer to practise thrift would be absolutely immoral. Man should not be ready to show that he can live like a badly-fed animal. He should decline to live like that, and should either steal or go on the rates, which is considered by many to be a form of stealing. As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg.” source