“Your goodness must have some edge to it -- else it is none.”
1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), Self-Reliance
Variante: Truth is handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness must have some edge to it, — else it is none.
Fuente: Culture, Behavior, Beauty, Books, Art, Eloquence, Power, Wealth, Illusions
Contexto: Truth is handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness must have some edge to it, — else it is none. The doctrine of hatred must be preached as the counteraction of the doctrine of love when that pules and whines. I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me. I would write on the lintels of the door-post, Whim. I hope it is somewhat better than whim at last, but we cannot spend the day in explanation. Expect me not to show cause why I seek or why I exclude company.