Thought Provoking...

"Nynaeve shook her head. She supposed it was one way to find money for the poor. Simply rob anyone who was not poor. Of course, that would just make everyone poor in the end, but it might work for a time... People who claimed they were collecting money to help others often had a way of letting a good bit stick in their own pockets, or else they liked the power that spreading it about gave them, liked it far too much. She had better feeling for the man who freely gave one copper from his own purse than for the fellow who wrested a gold crown from someones else's. And less for fools who abandoned their farms and shops to follow this...this Prophet, with no idea where their next meal would come from."

-Excerpt from The Fires of Heaven, of the Wheel of Times series by Robert Jordan.


"...Then she reached up and whipped the cloth off the back of the cart, revealing its contents.
"The cart was piled with food.
"'Idos Domi!' Raoden cursed. 'Galladon, we're in trouble... The timing is wrong. Our people are just starting to get a sense of independence; they're beginning to focus on the future and forget their pain. If someone hands them food now, they'll forget everything else. For a short time they'll be fed... After that, it will be back to the pain, the hunger, and the self-pity. My princess out there could destroy everything we've been working for.'
"'You're right,' Galladon realized.
"People were appearing in the alleys around the courtyard... they were tired, wretched forms of those... who still lived on their own, wandering through the city like shades. More and more of them had been joining with Raoden-But now, with free food available, he would never get the rest of them. They would continue without thought or purpose, lost in their pain and damnation.
"'Oh, my lovely princess,' Raoden whispered. 'You probably mean well, but handing these people food is the worst thing you could do for them.'

-Excerpt from Elantris by Brandon Sanderson


"Oh posterity, you may never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope that you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I took half the pains to preserve it."

-John Adams