“A plongeur is a slave, and a wasted slave, doing stupid and largely unnecessary work. He is kept at work, ultimately, because of a vague feeling that he would be dangerous if he had leisure. And educated people, who should be on his side, acquiesce in the process, because they know nothing about him and consequently are afraid of him.”

“An idiot will do anything, no matter how stupid, because he is afraid of what everybody will think of him if he does nothing. A genius, on the other hand, is content to do nothing, no matter what people think, if he can’t find anything worth doing.”

“Is a PLONGEUR'S work really necessary to civilization? We have a feeling that it must be 'honest' work, because it is hard and disagreeable, and we have made a sort of fetish of manual work. We see a man cutting down a tree, and we make sure that he is filling a social need, just because he uses his muscles; it does not occur to us that he may only be cutting down a beautiful tree to make room for a hideous statue. I believe it is the same with a PLONGEUR. He earns his bread in the sweat of his brow, but it does not follow that he is doing anything useful; he may be only supplying a luxury which, very often, is no luxury at all.”

“A slave mentality which had been built into him by years of carrot-and-whip grading, a mule mentality which said, “If you don’t whip me, I won’t work.” He didn’t get whipped. He didn’t work.”

“I am the slave of the Master of ProphetsAnd my fealty to him has no beginning.I am a slave of his slave, and of his slave’s slave,And so forth endlessly,For I do not cease to approach the doorOf his good pleasure among the beginners.I proclaim among people the teaching of his high attributes,And sing his praises among the poets.Perhaps he shall tell me: “You are a noted friendOf mine, a truly excellent beautifier of my tribute.”Yes, I would sacrifice my soul for the dust of his sanctuary.His favor should be that he accept my sacrifice.He has triumphed who ascribes himself to him!- Not that he needs such following,For he is not in need of creation at all,While they all need him without exception.He belongs to Allah alone, Whose purified servant he is,As his attributes and names have made manifest;And every single favor in creation comes from AllahTo him, and from him to everything else.”

“He became a surgeon because he was afraid of knives. He got married because he was afraid of women. He had a child because he was afraid of responsibility. Now, his marriage over and his child no longer speaking to him, he turned off all the lights in the house because he was afraid of the dark”