“ Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, truly! You never find them keep the golden mean; The limits of good sense, too narrow for them, Must always be passed by, in each direction; They often spoil the noblest things, because They go too far, and push them to extremes. ”
Molière, Tartuffe or The Impostor (1669). copy citation
| Author | Molière |
|---|---|
| Source | Tartuffe or The Impostor |
| Topic | limit meaning |
| Date | 1669 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Curtis Hidden Page |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Tartuffe_or_the_Hypocrite |
Context
“And will you treat them both alike, and pay
The self-same honour both to masks and faces
Set artifice beside sincerity,
Confuse the semblance with reality,
Esteem a phantom like a living person,
And counterfeit as good as honest coin?
Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, truly!
You never find them keep the golden mean;
The limits of good sense, too narrow for them,
Must always be passed by, in each direction;
They often spoil the noblest things, because
They go too far, and push them to extremes.
I merely say this by the way, good brother.
ORGON
You are the sole expounder of the doctrine;
Wisdom shall die with you, no doubt, good brother,
You are the only wise, the sole enlightened,
The oracle, the Cato, of our age.”
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