We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the return stroke straps our vice.

We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the return stroke straps our vice.

Times change. The vices of your age are stylish today.

Times change. The vices of your age are stylish today.

If individuals have no vices, their virtues may be of use to us.

If individuals have no vices, their virtues may be of use to us.

And last the Vice and Follies of the Age.

And last the Vice and Follies of the Age.

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?

This is the essential evil of vice, that it debases man.

This is the essential evil of vice, that it debases man.

The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us.

The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us.

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.

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.