Quote#Wisdom
One murder made a villain
Quote byBeilby Porteus · 1731–1809
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Death: A Poetical Essay (1759), Line 154. Compare: "One to destroy is murder by the law, And gibbets keep the lifted hand in awe; To murder thousands takes a specious name, War’s glorious art, and gives immortal fame", Edward Young, "Love of Fame", Satire vii, line 55..
English (original)
One murder made a villain, Millions a hero. Princes were privileged To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime.
— Beilby Porteus
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In sober state, Through the sequestered vale of rural life, The venerable patriarch guileless held The tenor of his way.
Teach him how to live, And, oh still harder lesson! how to die.
The scene was changed. It was a bark that slowly held its way, And o'er its lee the coast of France in the light of evening lay; And on its deck a lady sat, who gazed with tearful eyes Upon the fast receding hills that dim and distant rise.
What great Effects from slender Causes flow!
So All is diff’rent, and yet All is One.
But as well may you, when urging a man up-hill with a heavy load upon his back, and with your lash also upon his back, tell him, that be has nothing to do either with the load or the lash.