Have I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have; but when all the world has gone a-slumming I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds-the man who, against great odds, has directed the efforts of others, and having succeeded, finds there's nothing in it: nothing but bare board and clothes. I have carried a dinner pail and worked for day's wages, and I have also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty; rags are no recommendation; and all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous. My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the 'boss' is away, as well as when he is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly takes the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets 'laid off' nor has to go on a strike for higher wages.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author expresses sympathy for employers who work hard but see little reward, while also acknowledging that poor workers can be virtuous and employers can be fair.
- In plain terms
- Both employers and employees have valid perspectives on work and struggle.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoid judging workers or bosses by their wealth alone.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who deserves more sympathy in the workplace?
- Is success a reliable measure of virtue?
Another view
The quote is a long excerpt that mixes several ideas rather than one clear point.
More from Elbert Hubbard
If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all?
Permalink to quote #2 Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted. He is wanted in every city, town and village-in e…
Permalink to quote #4 By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young …
Permalink to quote #1
Related quotes
You must not suppose, because I am a man of letters, that I never tried to earn an honest living.
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw quote #14 Men of England, wherefore plough For the lords who lay ye low?
Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley quote #27 ?Si se puede!
Cesar ChavezCesar Chavez quote #1