(American humorist and social philosopher, born 1867)
Th’ millyionaire starts in as a foreman in a can facthry. By an’ by, he larns that wan iv th’ men wurrukin’ f’r him has invinted a top that ye can opin with a pair iv scissors, an’ he throws him down an’ takes it away fr’m him. He’s a robber, says ye? He is while he’s got th’ other man down. But whin he gets up he’s a magnate.
Diomedes the Pirate to Alexander
By François Villon
(French poet and vagabond, 1431-1484)
The Emperor reasoned with him: “Why should you desire to be a pirate?” And the other replied: “Why call me a pirate? Because you see me going about in a little galley? If I could arm myself like you, like you I would be an emperor.”
The Leisure Classes
Anonymous
There was a little beggar maid