If We Suddenly Plant Our Foot, And

Ralph Waldo Emerson

If we suddenly plant our foot, and say, - i will neither eat nor drink nor wear nor touch any food or fabric which i do not know to be innocent, or deal with any person whose whole manner of life is not clear and rational, we shall stand still. whose is so? not mine; not thine; not his. but i think we must clear ourselves each one by the interrogation, whether we have earned our bread to-day by the hearty contribution of our energies to the common benefit? and we must not cease to tend to the correction of these flagrant wrongs, by laying one stone aright every day.