The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a read more

The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow.

Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself; it only requires opportunity.

Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself; it only requires opportunity.

I would love to see the grimace he [Marquis de Cinq-Mars] is now
making on the scaffold.
[Fr., read more

I would love to see the grimace he [Marquis de Cinq-Mars] is now
making on the scaffold.
[Fr., Je voudrais bien voir la grimace qu'il fait a cette heure
sur cet echafaud.]

If it were absolutely necessary to choose, I would rather be guilty of an immoral act than of a cruel read more

If it were absolutely necessary to choose, I would rather be guilty of an immoral act than of a cruel one.

It is cruelty to be humane to rebels, and humanity is cruelty.
[Fr., Contre les rebelles c'est cruante que read more

It is cruelty to be humane to rebels, and humanity is cruelty.
[Fr., Contre les rebelles c'est cruante que d'estre humain, et
humanite d'estre cruel.]

Inhumanity is caught from man,
From smiling man.

Inhumanity is caught from man,
From smiling man.

All cruelty springs from hard-heartedness and weakness.

All cruelty springs from hard-heartedness and weakness.

Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn!

Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn!

In order to get power and retain it, it is necessary to love power; but love of power is not read more

In order to get power and retain it, it is necessary to love power; but love of power is not connected with goodness but with qualities that are the opposite of goodness, such as pride, cunning and cruelty