What do you think?
Rate this book
589 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1899
"Forgive me, but that is not so: every thief knows that stealing is wrong and that he ought not to steal - that stealing is wicked," said Rogozhinsky, with a calm, self-assured, slightly contemptuous smile which specially irritated Nekhlyudov.
"No, he does not. You tell him: 'Don't steal!' and he sees the factory owners stealing his labour by keeping back his wages; he knows that the Government, with all its officials, never stops robbing him by means of taxes."
"This sounds like anarchism," Rogozhinsky said, quietly defining the meaning of his brother-in-law's words.
"I don't know what it sounds like. I only know what happens," Nekhlyudov continued. "He knows that the Government robs him; he knows that we land proprietors robbed him long ago when we took the land which ought to be common property. And now if he gathers a few sticks from that stolen land to light his fire we clap him in gaol and tell him he's a thief. Of course he knows that not he but the man who robbed him of the land is the thief, and that ever restitution of what has been stolen from him is a duty he owes to his family."