p. 11 | Penurious Philanthropy

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 13, 1907

Penurious Philanthropy

At the conclusion of an animated debate between a dollar and a penny, the dollar was heard to remark, “And you, a despised, blackened, copper penny, whose intrinsic value is but a hundredth part of mine, you who are shunned by all, and loved by none, whose occupation it is to cumber people’s pocketbooks, will presume to impudently withstand me, when I am loved by all and hated by none, so dearly cherished that tears are shed at my departure, have been loved by millions of earth for centuries, adored and worshiped by the innumerable descendants of Adam, how can you, in the wildest flights of your erratic imagination, attempt to make a comparison?”

The penny, chagrined, abashed, confounded, paused a moment until time in its friendly lapses should restore its reason, when it was heard to tremulously reply, “I know, most honorable dollar, that all this is true. You are a hundred times greater than I, are loved by all, and hated by none, lauded by millions, and cherished most tenderly, have been adored for centuries, and worshiped by the innumerable descendants of Adam; but after all, I count one virtue in my favor. I go to church every Sabbath, and am invariably most tenderly presented to the usher, and that is something that you never do. Is not my piety recognized by every parishioner?”—Selected.