It required all his delicate Epicurean education to prevent his doing something about it; he had to repeat over to himself his favorite notions: that the injustice and unhappiness in the world is a constant; that the theory of progress is a delusion; that the poor, never having known happiness, are insensible to misfortune. Like all the rich he could not bring himself to believe that the poor (look at their houses, look at their clothes) could really suffer. Like all the cultivated he believed that only the widely read could be said to know that they were unhappy.
This time of year," she said, "people__ consciences gnaw at them. They give away truckloads of canned goods and quote Dickens and wring their hands over the __ess fortunate._" We boarded the Metro and took seats perpendicular to each other. "But God forbid anyone should address why they__e poor in the first place, or try to change the structures that keep them poor. Then the __ess fortunate_ turn into __elfare queens_ and __erelicts._ But if I were a lobbyist whoring on behalf of some transnational corporation, I__ never hear the word __erelict._""So when it comes to taking care of poor people," I said, "if Mother Teresa is the Hallmark card, then you__e the electric bill.
Requiem for the Devil
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This time of year," she said, "people__ consciences gnaw at them. They give away truckloads of canned goods and quote Dickens and wring their hands over the __ess fortunate._" We boarded the Metro and took seats perpendicular to each other. "But God forbid anyone should address why they__e poor in the first place, or try to change the structures that keep them poor. Then the __ess fortunate_ turn into __elfare queens_ and __erelicts._ But if I were a lobbyist whoring on behalf of some transnational corporation, I__ never hear the word __erelict._""So when it comes to taking care of poor people," I said, "if Mother Teresa is the Hallmark card, then you__e the electric bill.
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