Page 1273 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘Granted, but it’s work in the sense that his activity
produces a result—the railways. But of course you think
the railways useless.’
‘No, that’s another question; I am prepared to admit

that they’re useful. But all profit that is out of proportion
to the labor expended is dishonest.’
‘But who is to define what is proportionate?’
‘Making profit by dishonest means, by trickery,’ said
Levin, conscious that he could not draw a distinct line
between honesty and dishonesty. ‘Such as banking, for
instance,’ he went on. ‘It’s an evil—the amassing of huge
fortunes without labor, just the same thing as with the
spirit monopolies, it’s only the form that’s changed. Le roi
est mort, vive le roi. No sooner were the spirit
monopolies abolished than the railways came up, and
banking companies; that, too, is profit without work.’
‘Yes, that may all be very true and clever.... Lie down,
Krak!’ Stepan Arkadyevitch called to his dog, who was
scratching and turning over all the hay. He was obviously
convinced of the correctness of his position, and so talked
serenely and without haste. ‘But you have not drawn the
line between honest and dishonest work. That I receive a
bigger salary than my chief clerk, though he knows more
about the work than I do—that’s dishonest, I suppose?’

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