Quote#Hope
Ashamed of the many Frailties they feel within, all Men endeavour to…
Quote byBernard Mandeville · 1670–1733
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Fable of the Bees (1714), Remark T, p. 262.
English (original)
Ashamed of the many Frailties they feel within, all Men endeavour to hide themselves, their Ugly Nakedness, from each other, and wrapping up the true Motives of their Hearts in the Specious Cloke of Sociableness, and their Concern for the publick Good, they are in hopes of concealing their filthy Appetites and the Deformity of their Desires.
— Bernard Mandeville
More from Bernard Mandeville
Thus every Part was full of Vice, Yet the whole Mass a Paradise; Flatter'd in Peace, and fear'd in Wars, They were th' Esteem of Foreigners, And lavish of their Wealth and Lives, The Balance of all other Hives.
The worst of all the Multitude Did something for the Common Good.
They put off hearings wilfully, To finger the refreshing fee.
Vast Numbers throng'd the fruitful Hive; Yet those vast Numbers made 'em thrive; Millions endeavouring to supply Each other's Lust and Vanity.
Thus Vice nurs'd Ingenuity, Which join'd with Time and Industry, Had carry'd Life's Conveniences, It's real Pleasures, Comforts, Ease, To such a Height, the very Poor Liv'd better than the Rich before.
Luxury Employ'd a Million of the Poor, And odious Pride a Million more; Envy it self, and Vanity, Were Ministers of Industry; Their darling Folly, Fickleness,