"Yes, that is often the case." Quentin agreed. "Hard work can only take you so far. A person can work hard but still be kept from succeeding due to the people in his life taking what coin he has earned for himself to turn it into their own vices. And that hard-working individual goes along with it merely because they think that is how things are." Quentin says, guessing that much of the money the boy managed to earn through honest labour went toward drink and not for himself.

"However, sometimes an industrious and hard-working person can be afforded an opportunity that will let them rise beyond their station. Lad, I could quite easily give you the twenty-odd pounds I currently have in my wallet. But if you went home with such a sum, answer me honestly, what would happen?"