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scene from "le misanthrope".
Shuts out his baseness. Nay, if men contend
For any dignity, he triumphs ever
Over the worthiest. I'm sore at heart
To see vice honoured thus, and there are times
When sudden promptings of my inmost soul
Would counsel me to put the desert's breadth
Betwixt mankind and me.
For any dignity, he triumphs ever
Over the worthiest. I'm sore at heart
To see vice honoured thus, and there are times
When sudden promptings of my inmost soul
Would counsel me to put the desert's breadth
Betwixt mankind and me.
philinte.
Oh, in God's name,
Let not the times' offences sink so deep,
But judge humanity and scan its errors
With milder zeal. The virtue of this world
Must be discreet, and we may err by pushing
Goodness too far. Wisdom avoids extremes;
Bids us be virtuous with sobriety.
Your code of sterner days would be a yoke
Too heavy for the morals of the age,
And asks too much of human imperfection.
Bend to the times, and hold no folly greater
Than that of wishing to reform the world.
Like you, I see a hundred things a day
Let not the times' offences sink so deep,
But judge humanity and scan its errors
With milder zeal. The virtue of this world
Must be discreet, and we may err by pushing
Goodness too far. Wisdom avoids extremes;
Bids us be virtuous with sobriety.
Your code of sterner days would be a yoke
Too heavy for the morals of the age,
And asks too much of human imperfection.
Bend to the times, and hold no folly greater
Than that of wishing to reform the world.
Like you, I see a hundred things a day
