As long as my purse contains money it secures my
independence, and exempts me from the trouble of seeking other
money, a trouble of which I have always had a perfect horror; and
the dread of seeing the end of my independence, makes me
proportionately unwilling to part with my money. The money that we
possess is the instrument of liberty, that which we lack and strive to
obtain is the instrument of slavery. Thence it is that I hold fast
to aught that I have, and yet covet nothing more.
My disinterestedness, then, is in reality only idleness, the
pleasure of possessing is not in my estimation worth the trouble of
acquiring: and my dissipation is only another form of idleness; when
we have an opportunity of disbursing pleasantly we should make the
best possible use of it.
I am less tempted by money than by other objects, because between
the moment of possessing the money and that of using it to obtain
the desired object there is always an interval, however short; whereas
to possess the thing is to enjoy it. I see a thing, and it tempts
me; but if I see not the thing itself but only the means of
acquiring it, I am not tempted. Therefore it is that I have been a
pilferer, and am so even now, in the way of mere trifles to which I
take a fancy, and which I find it easier to take than to ask for;
but I never in my life recollect having taken a farthing from any one,
except about fifteen years ago, when I stole seven francs and ten
sous. The story is worth recounting, as it exhibits a concurrence of
ignorance and stupidity I should scarcely credit, did it relate to any
but myself.
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