How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
PEACHUM. Wouldn't you care to lie down awhile? Just close your eyes and pretend nothing has happened. Imagine you're on a lovely green meadow with little white clouds overhead. The main thing is to forget about all those ghastly things, those that are past, and most of all, those that are still to come. (2.6.326-330)
Even though Peachum is talking to Sheriff Brown, he might also be zinging the audience a bit for hypocritical attitudes. This ostrich behavior, burying one's head in the sand and ignoring trouble, could be likened to hypocrisy, because it isn't authentic and would prefer to ignore ugliness.
Quote #8
PEACHUM. I discovered that though the rich of this earth find no difficulty in creating misery, they can't bear to see it. (3.7.87-89)
Mr. Peachum lives off of rich people's hypocrisy. That is, he gets them to feel sorry for his beggars through enhancing their pitiful appearances, and therefore give more money. Of course, that little act allows them to ignore their guilt or complicity in creating the inequality that leaves some people begging on the street and others with jingle in their pockets.
Quote #9
PEACHUM. The law was made for one thing alone, for the exploitation of those who don't understand it, or are prevented by naked misery from obeying it. And anyone who wants a crumb of this exploitation for himself must obey the law strictly. (3.7.141-145)
Hypocrisy, for Brecht, is not just a social issue. It's encoded into the law. Rather than protecting the weak, the law actually exploits them and protects the powerful. Peachum's wry comment is that anyone with the means to understand how to twist the law can use it to their advantage, while those who might actually need the law's protection aren't equipped to exploit it.