But what is Hope? Nothing but the paint on the face of Existence; the least touch of truth rubs it off, and then we see what a hollow-cheeked harlot we have got hold of.
Lord ByronRead
I cannot help thinking that the menace of Hell makes as many devils as the severe penal codes of inhuman humanity make villains.
Interpretation
By instilling fear of punishment, society may create more wrongdoers than it deters.
This quote by Lord Byron suggests that the fear of Hell, akin to the harsh laws imposed by society, can lead to the creation of evil rather than preventing it. Byron critiques human justice systems and religious beliefs, implying that creating fear can breed rebellion and wrongdoing instead of morality and virtue, thereby questioning the effectiveness and morality of using fear as a deterrent against evil actions.
In practice
A sermon discussing the nature of punishment and its effects on morality.
But what is Hope? Nothing but the paint on the face of Existence; the least touch of truth rubs it off, and then we see what a hollow-cheeked harlot we have got hold of.
It is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake.
For what were all these country patriots born? To hunt, and vote, and raise the price of corn?
Absence - that common cure of love.
Her great merit is finding out mine; there is nothing so amiable as discernment.
But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
She would have liked not to be alive, or to be always asleep.
Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?'/Let us go and make our visit.
Destruction is always an attractive idea. My brother and I used to spend weeks making models of cities so that we could destroy them in 15 minutes. There's a fantastic joy in destroying something that you've meticulously built. Then you're free to build a new thing. Destruction and creation... they're inseparable.
I will tell you what is my overriding perception of the last twenty years: that we are a civilization careening toward a succession of anticlimaxes β toward an infinity of unsatisfying, and disagreeable endings.
In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass and a nightingale. Diversity of character is due to their unequal activity.
We used to root for the Indians against the cavalry, because we didn't think it was fair in the history books that when the cavalry won it was a great victory, and when the Indians won it was a massacre.
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