Most Compelling Sentence: "There are certain eminent philosophers who have emphatically announced that the sole duty of the state is to administer justice" (Quincy, 389).
I assume that Quincy is talking about Thomas Hobbes here (he is, after all, mentioned in the conclusion of the article). I never understood Hobbes very well. Not because he isn't easy to understand, but shouldn't the government (or the Leviathan) want to do something to stimulate his or her people? If whatever the Leviathan says, goes, then why can't the Leviathan grant his people a library?
"A few wealthy men have already seen that there is no surer way of benefiting their neighborhoods than by providing permanent library buildings, capable of giving the pleasure and education which fair forms and beautiful coloring afford" (Quincy, 401).
Can't the Leviathan be a benevolent Leviathan? I've always found Hobbes to be crude and simplistic. He only seemed to understand the worst of men, from the vainglorious soul to the brutal oaf's. J.P. Quincy is one of those who can see more than just a nasty, brutish and short existence, I guess.
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