Before he left, Aunt William pressed a sovereign into his hand guiltily, as if it were conscience money. He, on his side, took it ...as though it were a doctor's fee, and both ignored the transaction.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Most of the money given by rich people in "charity" is made up of conscience money, "ransom," political bribery, and bids for titl...es.... One buys moral credit by signing a cheque, which is easier than turning a prayer wheel.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We might make a public moan in the newspapers about the decay of conscience, but in private conversation, no matter what crimes a ...man may have committed or how cynically he may have debased his talent or his friends, variations on the answer "Yes, but I did it for the money" satisfy all but the most tiresome objections.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
When you are beginning, you will find you give better performances in the evening if you stay quiet during the day--no lunches, an...d certainly no cocktail parties. Remember you are overpaid, so take your money at the end of the week with as clear a conscience as you can.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I am a Christian according to my conscience in belief, ... in purpose and wish;Mnot of course by the orthodox standard. But I am c...ontent, and have a feeling of trust and safety. The Machiavellian mind and the merchant mind are at one in their simple faith in the power of segmental division to rule all--in the dichotomy of power and morals and of money and morals.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It's complicated, being an American, Having the money and the bad conscience, both at the same time.... Perhaps, after all, this is not the right subject for a poem.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I can't earn my own living. I could never make anything turn into money. It's like making fires. A careful assortment of paper, sh...avings, faggots and kindling nicely tipped with pitch will never light for me. I have never been present when a cigarette butt, extinct, thrown into a damp and isolated spot, started a conflagration in the California woods.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The master plan was laid out months ago. Jack Kemp would give 200 rubber-chicken dinners (sometimes it's meatballs or just cocktai...ls) between Jan. 1, 1995, and Jan. l, 1996. What the plan did not say was that he would be expected to deliver the same lines, ingratiate himself to political hangers-on and, most humiliating of all, beg them for money.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »