If the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter, the whole face of the
earth would have been changed.

If the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter, the whole face of the
earth would have been changed.

Even here Thy strong magnetic charms I feel,
And pant and tremble like the amorous steel.
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Even here Thy strong magnetic charms I feel,
And pant and tremble like the amorous steel.
To lower good, and beauties less divine,
Sometimes my erroneous needle does incline;
But yet (so strong the sympathy)
It turns, and points again to Thee.

For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance, as though they were realities and are often more influenced read more

For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance, as though they were realities and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are

The future influences the present just as much as the past.

The future influences the present just as much as the past.

Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the
deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
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Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the
deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never
so wisely.

Ah, who could have ever foretold that that little retrousse nose
would change the laws of an empire.
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Ah, who could have ever foretold that that little retrousse nose
would change the laws of an empire.
[Fr., Ah, qui jamais autoir pu dire
Que ce petit nez retrousse
Changerait les lois d'un empire.]

People are submissive to power, and few of them can be influenced
by doctrines of righteousness.

People are submissive to power, and few of them can be influenced
by doctrines of righteousness.

So when a great man dies,
For years beyond our ken,
The light he leaves behind him read more

So when a great man dies,
For years beyond our ken,
The light he leaves behind him lies
Upon the paths of men.

There is no such thing as a good influence. Because to influence a person is to give him one's own read more

There is no such thing as a good influence. Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtures are not real to him. His sins, if there are such thing as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of someone else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him.