LITERARY NOTES
The first literary reference to the idea of paying it forward is thought to have been in Dyskolos, an ancient Greek play by Menander, usually translated as The Grouch, which uses it as a key part of the plot. It’s also at the heart of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, Les Misérables. When the protagonist Jean Valjean steals a pair of candlesticks from a bishop, the cleric kindly covers up for him, which, in turn, sparks a lifetime of good intentions, if not all of them successful. Even Ebenezer Scrooge finally catches on to the spirit of benevolence in Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.