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He possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence; courage without ferocity; and all the virtues of man without his vices
He possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence; courage without ferocity; and all the virtues of man without his vices
Vice itself lost half its evil, by losing all its grossness.
Vice itself lost half its evil, by losing all its grossness.
Vice may be learnt, even without a teacher.
Vice may be learnt, even without a teacher.
Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
Every vice makes its guilt the more conspicuous in proportion to
the rank of the offender.
[Lat., Omne read more
Every vice makes its guilt the more conspicuous in proportion to
the rank of the offender.
[Lat., Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se
Crimen habet, quanto major qui peccat habetur.]
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated need but to be seen;
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Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated need but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
Who has a book of all that monarchs do,
He's more secure to keep it shut than shown;
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Who has a book of all that monarchs do,
He's more secure to keep it shut than shown;
For vice repeated is like the wand'ring wind,
Blows dust in others' eye, to spread itself;
And yet the end of all is bought thus dear,
The breath is gone, and the sore eyes see clear
To stop the air would hurt them.
Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?
Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?
Ne'er blush'd, unless, in spreading vice's snares,
She blunder'd on some virtue unawares.
Ne'er blush'd, unless, in spreading vice's snares,
She blunder'd on some virtue unawares.