“ A person who can't pay, gets another person who can't pay, to guarantee that he can pay. ”
Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit (1857). copy citation
| Author | Charles Dickens |
|---|---|
| Source | Little Dorrit |
| Topic | debt paying reference |
| Date | 1857 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/963/963-h/963-h.htm |
Context
“Look at your tenants down the Yard here. They'd all be references for one another, if you'd let 'em. What would be the good of letting 'em? It's no satisfaction to be done by two men instead of one. One's enough. A person who can't pay, gets another person who can't pay, to guarantee that he can pay. Like a person with two wooden legs getting another person with two wooden legs, to guarantee that he has got two natural legs. It don't make either of them able to do a walking match. And four wooden legs are more troublesome to you than two, when you don't want any.'”
source
Meaning and analysis
