Quote Origin: Adversity Is the Trial of Principle; Without It, One Hardly Knows Whether One Is an Honest Person

Henry Fielding? Charles Grandison? Samuel Richardson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: To avoid a major hardship an individual will sometimes abandon an ethical principle or a close friend.  Experiencing a setback reveals a person’s inner strengths and weaknesses.  Here are three versions of a pertinent saying: (1) Adversity is the trial of principle; without it, …

A Lottery Is a Taxation Upon All the Fools in Creation

William Petty? Henry Fielding? Adam Smith? Camillo Benso? James Wolcott? Marshall McLuhan? Roger Jones? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The winners of a recent lottery jackpot split more than one billion dollars. Yet the probability of a lucky lottery strike is smaller than an unlucky lightning strike. Economists, mathematicians, and wits have made sardonic remarks like …