millionaire is but
the average dishwasher
dressed in a new suit
Fear of the mob is a superstitious fear.
It is based on the idea that there is some mysterious, fundamental difference between rich and poor, as though they were two different races, like negroes and white men.
But in reality there is no such difference.
The mass of the rich and the poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.
Change places, and handy dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?
From Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. (First published by Victor Gollancz 1933.)
Mr. Orwell opens his book with the epigram from Chaucer.
O scathful harm, condicion of poverte!
I am reminded as well as warned, “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him” from the James 2:5 (NIV)
No Haiku For You 