Life & Wisdom Quote by Henry Lawson

Lawson frames generosity as a challenge and a trap. The opening question - "Who says..". - isn`t really seeking debate; it`s a rhetorical shove meant to clear space for a national self-image: Australia as refuge, as second chance, as practical antidote to Old World scarcity. But he loads that welcome with conditions, and the pivot comes fast. The offer of "a home for every poor Englishman" sounds expansive until the follow-up: "And what sort of thanks do we get for it?" Hospitality curdles into grievance. The subtext is transactional: we took you in, so you owe us loyalty, respect, maybe silence about what you find here.

It also reveals a young nation`s cultural insecurity. Late colonial and early Federation-era Australia was built on migration and mythmaking, and Lawson was one of its great myth engineers. This line leans into the bush ethos of hard-earned belonging: you don`t just arrive; you prove yourself. By specifying the "poor Englishman" first, Lawson exposes the hierarchy inside the supposed open door. The English are the default beneficiaries; "any other countryman" is appended almost as an afterthought, a nod to breadth that still keeps the center intact.

The brilliance is how the sentence performs its own argument. The first question invites applause; the second demands repayment. Lawson isn`t only talking about immigrants - he`s diagnosing a cultural mood that recurs whenever nations brand themselves as generous: pride sliding into resentment, welcome packaged with a receipt.