In a message dated 97-02-24 11:42:14 EST, you write: >> Would anyone know of a collection of essays that addresses Twain's "a great >> law of human action"? Thanks in advance. >> >> Takashi SUZUKI >> Nihon University >> [log in to unmask] >> >Takashi Suzuki, > >Is that a quote from _Tom Sawyer_? If so, which chapter? I don't >understand exactly what you are looking for. > >Good luck, >larry marshburne > > > Larry Marshburne, The quote in question comes from chapter 2 of SAWYER: Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it--namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. This comes near the end of the chapter after the whitewashing incident. -Shawn Fitzpatrick.