Quote#Death
I used to suppose that certain evils could never befall a being in…
Quote byCharles Brockden Brown · 1771–1810
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Wieland; or, the Transformation (1798).
English (original)
I used to suppose that certain evils could never befall a being in possession of a sound mind; that true virtue supplies us with energy which vice can never resist; that it was always in our power to obstruct, by his own death, the designs of an enemy who aimed at less than our lives.
— Charles Brockden Brown
More from Charles Brockden Brown
Purposes fraught with horror, that shun the light, and contemplate the pollution of innocence are here engendered, and fostered, and reared to maturity.
that he wages a perpetual war against the happiness of mankind, and sets his engines of destruction at work against every object that presents itself.
I feel little reluctance in complying with your request. You know not fully the cause of my sorrows. You are a stranger to the depth of my distresses. Hence your efforts at consolation must necessarily fail.
Bloodshed is the trade, and horror is the element of this man.
In the midst of my despair, I do not disdain to contribute what little I can for the benefit of mankind.
Scanned by the eyes of this intelligence, your path will be without pits to swallow, or snares to entangle you. Environed by the arms of this protection, all artifices will be frustration, and all malice repelled.