How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
I've a horror of all trades. Masters and workers: all peasants, ignoble. The hand on the pen's the same as the hand at the plough. – What an age of hands! – I'll never get my hand in. Anyway service goes too far. The honesty of beggary upsets me. (15)
In these lines, the speaker sees both masters and workers as equally distasteful, despite their differences in social class. They're both begging in his view—a view that doesn't make him feel any better, by the way.
Quote #2
Without even using my body to live, and idler than a toad, I've lived everywhere. Not a family in Europe I don't know. – I mean families like mine, who owe it all to the declaration of the Rights of Man. – I've known every son of good family! (16)
Hrm—so is our speaker really a downtrodden outcast? Or is he some spoiled rich kid who just wants to be seen as a social rebel? These lines both point to a kind of privileged background for the speaker, and also provide a contrast with his desires to leave all that behind.
Quote #3
Repose with riches is impossible. Wealth has always been so public. Divine love alone offers the keys of knowledge. (52)
Here the speaker rejects the notion that an upper class life can bring rest and relaxation. Everyone will be looking at you for starters—that hardly sounds peaceful. Instead, he's in favor of "Divine love," which may seem odd, given his position on Christianity (see "Themes: Religion"). Still, the main takeaway here is that the speaker to avoid the old game of climbing the social ladder. He's after a more spiritual reward.