How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Fifteen grand, though, isn't too much for a man of your intelligence to ask out of life. Fools, hard-hearted criminals, and murderers have millions to squander. They burn up the world—oil, coal, wood, metal, and soil, and suck even the air and the sky. They consume, and they give back no benefits. (5.20)
Tamkin likes to make Wilhelm feel that he deserves the (imaginary) fortune that's coming to him, but is he being honest? When Wilhelm had money of his own, did he use it to do good, or was he just like those others who burn up the world, and give nothing back?