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Money
Virtue and Vice
415. Narrowness;
Self-Preservation
"There will always be a part, and always a very large part of
every community, that have no care but for themselves, and whose
care for themselves reaches little further than impatience of
immediate pain, and eagerness for the nearest good."
Johnson: Taxation No Tyranny
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417. Narrowness
"A merchant's desire is not of glory, but of gain; not of
publick wealth, but of private emolument; he is, therefore,
rarely to be consulted about war and peace, or any designs of
wide extent and distant consequence."
Johnson: Taxation No Tyranny
Link
877. Futurity; Mortality;
Narrowness
"Every instance of death may justly awaken our fears and quicken
our vigilance; but its frequency so much weakens its effect that
we are seldom alarmed unless some close connexion is broken,
some scheme frustrated, or some hope defeated. Many, therefore,
seem to pass on from youth to decrepitude without any reflection
on the end of life, because they are wholly involved within
themselves, and look on others only as inhabitants of the common
earth, without any expectation of receiving good, or intention of
bestowing it."
Johnson: Rambler #78 (December 15, 1750)
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