How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"No doubt," answered Partridge, "it is better to take away one's money than one's life; and yet it is very hard upon honest men, that they can't travel about their business without being in danger of these villains [highwaymen]. And to be sure it would be better that all rogues were hanged out of the way, than that one honest man should suffer. For my own part, indeed, I should not care to have the blood of any of them on my own hands; but it is very proper for the law to hang them all. What right hath any man to take sixpence from me, unless I give it him? Is there any honesty in such a man?"
"No, surely," cries Jones, "no more than there is in him who takes the horses out of another man's stable, or who applies to his own use the money which he finds, when he knows the right owner." (12.14.15-7)
Partridge thinks that highwaymen should all be hanged (though he doesn't want to do the executing himself). But Tom points out that, at different times during their journey, Partridge has also suggested that they "borrow" (but really, steal) a few horses from an inn or that they spend Sophia's hundred-pound bank note. As usual, part of Tom's job in talking to Partridge seems to be to expose Partridge's foolish double standards.
Quote #8
I have, in truth, observed, and shall never have a better opportunity than at present to communicate my observation, that the world are in general divided into two opinions concerning charity, which are the very reverse of each other. One party seems to hold, that all acts of this kind are to be esteemed as voluntary gifts, and, however little you give (if indeed no more than your good wishes), you acquire a great degree of merit in so doing. Others, on the contrary, appear to be as firmly persuaded, that beneficence is a positive duty, and that whenever the rich fall greatly short of their ability in relieving the distresses of the poor, their pitiful largesses are so far from being meritorious, that they have only performed their duty by halves, and are in some sense more contemptible than those who have entirely neglected it.
To reconcile these different opinions is not in my power. I shall only add, that the givers are generally of the former sentiment, and the receivers are almost universally inclined to the latter. (13.8.9-10)
Sometimes, we are just really struck by how deeply, marvelously cynical this book is. Here, the narrator points out that there are two views on charity: one perspective is that charity is a gift that builds up good karma for the giver (no matter how small the gift is). Another point of view is that charity is a requirement: that the haves must give to the have-nots. And while the narrator never says which of these two views he believes, he does note that the people who give charity usually believe the first thing, while the people who receive it usually think the second. In either case, there is a huge sense of self-interest: people who give away stuff want to get credit for having done so, and the people who receive charity desire as much of it as they can get.