> I am sorry that I could not express the point clearly. Yes, it is a quote > from _ Tom Sawyer_; "He had discovered a great law of human action, . . . > that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to > make the thing difficult to attain" (Ch.2).' The law is also mentioned in > his other works. I would like to know if there are some essays that focus > on Twain's thought of the 'law of human action just for reference. Takashi Suzuki, Try Forrest G. Robinson's _In Bad Faith: The Dynamics of Deception in Mark Twain's America_ (Harvard U., 1986). Or, for more in Twain's words, the U. of Cal. edition of _What is Man? and Other Philosophical Writings_. And you express yourself well. larry marshburne