It is the duty of the poor to support and sustain the rich in their power and idleness. In doing so, they have to work before the laws' majestic equality, which forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.

Cela consiste pour les pauvres à soutenir et à conserver les riches dans leur puissance et leur oisiveté. Ils y doivent travailler devant la majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Le Lys Rouge [The Red Lily] (1894), ch. 7

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Anatole France (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.