John Woolman: Great Wealth Can Become a Seed of Discord in the Soil
From the Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman (1774)
[Scroll down for the English]
KISWAHILI
“Utajiri huhudumiwa na mamlaka, ambayo kwayo mapatano na maafikiano yanayopingana na haki ya ulimwengu wote yanasaidiwa; na hapa dhuluma, inayoendelezwa kwa sera za kidunia na utaratibu, hujivika kwa jina la uadilifu na kuwa kama mbegu ya kutokupatana katika udongo; na kama vile hisia hii ikitangatanga…ndivyo mbegu ya vita huota na kuchipuka na kukua kuwa nguvu, hadi matunda mengi yameiva.”
- John Woolman (1720-1772) alikuwa waziri wa Quaker (Jamii ya Marafiki), mleta mabadiliko, na ukomeshaji wa utumwa mwenye ushawishi mkubwa katika makoloni ya Amerika Kaskazini (kabla ya nchi ya Marekani).
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“Wealth is attended with power, by which bargains and proceedings contrary to universal righteousness are supported; and here oppression, carried on with worldly policy and order, clothes itself with the name of justice and becomes like a seed of discord in the soil; and as this spirit which wanders…so the seed of war swells and sprouts and grows and becomes strong, till much fruits are ripened.”
- John Woolman (1720-1772) was a Quaker (Society of Friends) minister, reformist, and influential abolitionist in the North American colonies (pre-United States).
Chanzo (source): Woolman, John. “A Plea for the Poor—or A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich” in The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, edited by Phillips P. Moulton, page 255. Richmond, Indiana: Friends United Press, 1971 (original was published in 1774).