“ There are certain people who are only to be managed by indirect means, temperaments averse from all resistance, restive natures whom truth causes to rear, who always kick when we would lead them on the right road of reason, and who can only be led by a way opposed to that by which you wish them to go. ”
Molière, The Miser (1668). copy citation
| Author | Molière |
|---|---|
| Source | The Miser |
| Topic | resistance truth |
| Date | 1668 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Charles Heron Wall |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Miser_(Moliere) |
Context
“Surely, Valère, you are not in earnest when you speak to him in that manner?
Val. I do it that I may not vex him, and the better to secure my ends. To resist him boldly would simply spoil everything. There are certain people who are only to be managed by indirect means, temperaments averse from all resistance, restive natures whom truth causes to rear, who always kick when we would lead them on the right road of reason, and who can only be led by a way opposed to that by which you wish them to go. Pretend to comply with his wishes; you are much more likely to succeed in the end, and ...
Eli. But this marriage, Valère?
Val. We will find some pretext for breaking it off.
Eli. But what pretext can we find if it is to be concluded to-night?”
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