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If you had only a few precious stones, would you add lumps of lead and clay to them in order to have more?"
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"Surely no one would do that, sir," I answered.
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"Take another illustration," he continued. "The earth itself will give you an answer if you humbly ask it
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whether it produces more gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, or clay.
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There is more silver than gold, more copper than silver, more iron than copper, more lead than iron, and more clay than lead.