"Lopakhin. I put nearly three thousand acres down to poppy in the spring and made a clewr forty thousand roubles. And when my poppues were in flower, that was a sight to see. What I'm trying to say is, I've made forty thousand and I'd like to lend it you because I can afford to. So why turn it down? I'm a peasant, I put it to you straight.
Trofimov. Your father was a peasant and mine worked in a chemist's shop, all of which proves precisely nothing. [Lopakhin takes out his wallet.] Oh, put it away, for heaven's sake. If you offered me two hundred thousand I still wouldn't take it. I'm a free man. And all the things that mean such a lot to you all, whether you're rich or poor - why, they have no more power over me than a but of thistledown floating on the breeze. I can get on without you, I can pass you by. I'm strong and proud. Mankind is marching towards a higher truth, towards the greatest possible happiness on earth, and I'm in the vanguard." - Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard, in the Five Plays, pg. 286
I take this to mean that nothing is worth the price of freedom.
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