Quotes from Elbert Hubbard’s Snap Book
“Inasmuch as most good things are produced by labour, it follows that all such things ought to belong to those whose labour has produced them. But it has happened in all ages of the world that some have laboured, and others, without labour, have enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong and should not continue. To secure to each labourer the whole product of his labour as nearly as possible is a worthy object of any good government.”—Abraham Lincoln. (Elbert Hubbard’s Snap Book, p.58.)
“The present position which we, the educated and well-to-do classes, occupy, is that of the Old Man of the Sea, riding on the poor man’s back; only, unlike the Old Man of the Sea, we are very sorry for the poor man, very sorry; and we will do almost anything for the poor man’s relief. We will not only supply him with food sufficient to keep him on his legs, but we will teach and instruct him and point out to him the beauties of the landscape; we will discourse sweet music to him and give him abundance of good advice. Yes, we will do almost anything for the poor man, anything but get off his back.”—Leo Tolstoy. (Elbert Hubbard’s Scrap Book, p.16.)
“The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation becomes almost impossible. Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralising. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.”—Oscar Wilde. (Elbert Hubbard’s Scrap Book, p.48.)
“Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty. What is the matter with the Rich is Uselessness.”—G. B. Shaw, (Hubbard. p,14.)