He told me it was men of desperate fortunes on one hand, or of aspiring, superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in undertakings of a nature out of the common road; that these things were all either too far above me or too far below me; that mine was the middle state, or what might be called the upper station of low life, which he had found, by long experience, was the best state in the world, the most suited to human happiness, not exposed to the miseries and hardships, the labour and sufferings of the mechanic part of mankind, and not embarrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition, and envy of the upper part of mankind.
Én a középsorsúakhoz tartozom, és amint ezt ő alaposan megtapasztalta, ez a legjobb állapot a világon, az emberi boldogság legbiztosabb forrása. Az ide tartozó sem a kemény munkának és a kézműves osztály szenvedéseinek, sem a nagyok büszkeségének, nagyravágyásának és irigységének nincs kitéve.