--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Excise: A hateful tax levied upon…" description: "\"Excise: A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/samuel-johnson-50_commodity_excise-a-hateful-tax-levied-upon-commodi_1227495.jpg" --- # Excise: A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and… ![“Excise: A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/samuel-johnson-50_commodity_excise-a-hateful-tax-levied-upon-commodi_1227495.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/samuel-johnson-50_commodity_excise-a-hateful-tax-levied-upon-commodi_1227495.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/samuel-johnson-50_commodity_excise-a-hateful-tax-levied-upon-commodi_1227495.jpg) > “Excise: A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A tax imposed unfairly, enforced by corrupt officials rather than impartial judges. **In simple terms:** Unfair tax enforced by hired officials. Key Takeaway Question the legitimacy of taxes and their enforcers. Themes taxation corruption justice Mood critical skeptical Type political analytical When to use this quote - voting on tax reforms - public protests - journalistic investigations Key Concepts legal theory economic exploitation Questions to Reflect On - How does tax policy affect everyday citizens? - Who should oversee tax enforcement? A Different Perspective The quote assumes all taxes are corrupt, ignoring legitimate public funding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commodity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/) [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Excise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excise-2451022/) [Excise Hateful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excise-hateful-3782824/) [Excise Paid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excise-paid-3782823/) [Hateful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hateful/) [Hired Excise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hired-excise-3782822/) [Judging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judging/) [Paid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paid/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Tax Levied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tax-levied-502182/) [Taxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxes/) ## Related quotes > [The genius of the people will ill brook the inquisitive and preemptory spirit of excise laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-genius-of-the-people-will-ill-brook-the-inquisitive-and-2/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Once you have an equalization instrument in place, as you have in Canada, there arise tremendous bureaucratic values - bureaucratic rent so to speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-buchanan/once-you-have-an-equalization-instrument-in-place-as-you-have-in/) [James M. Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-buchanan/) > [Change of fashion is the tax levied by the industry of the poor on the vanity of the rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-chamfort/change-of-fashion-is-the-tax-levied-by-the-industry-of-the-poor-on/) [Nicolas Chamfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-chamfort/) > [For every benefit you receive a tax is levied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/for-every-benefit-you-receive-a-tax-is-levied/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Remember, the federal gov operated for more than 120 years without an income tax, using excise taxes to raise necessary revenues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-the-federal-gov-operated-for-more-than-120-years-without-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The genius of the people will ill brook the inquisitive and peremptory spirit of excise laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-genius-of-the-people-will-ill-brook-the-inquisitive-and/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [There prevails among men of letters, an opinion, that all appearance of science is particularly hateful to Women; and that therefore whoever desires to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/there-prevails-among-men-of-letters-an-opinion-that-all-appearance-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I've been racking my brain. 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