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Quote by William Beckford

“It is a great evil to look upon mankind with too clear vision. You seem to be living among wild beasts, and you become a wild beast yourself. ("“The Story of Prince Alasi and the Princess Firouzkah”)”

Book:The Episodes of Vathek

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The Episodes of Vathek

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William Beckford

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“Honesty is all I've got," she said finally, speaking in a low voice. "I don't have family. I don't have beauty, or a man. I don't have money, and I sure as hell don't have a future. All I've got to prop up my pride is my word." Her chin rose. "When Jenny Jones says something, you can bet your last peso that it's true.”

Honesty Promises

Book:The Promise of Jenny Jones

Source: The Promise of Jenny Jones

“Sometimes it's possible, just barely possible, to imagine a version of this world different from the existing one, a world in which there is true justice, heroic honesty, a clear perception possessed by each individual about how to treat all the others. Sometimes I swear I could see it, glittering in the pavement, glowing between the words in a stranger's sentence, a green, impossible vision--the world as it was meant to be, like a mist around the world as it is.”

Change Justice Honesty Perception Utopia Difference Dystopia Alternate History

Book:Underground Airlines

Source: Underground Airlines

“I have made up my mind to say my say. I shall do it kindly, distinctly; but I am going to do it. I know there are thousands of men who substantially agree with me, but who are not in a condition to express their thoughts. They are poor; they are in business; and they know that should they tell their honest thought, persons will refuse to patronize them—to trade with them; they wish to get bread for their little children; they wish to take care of their wives; they wish to have homes and the comforts of life. Every such person is a certificate of the meanness of the community in which he resides. And yet I do not blame these people for not expressing their thought. I say to them: 'Keep your ideas to yourselves; feed and clothe the ones you love; I will do your talking for you. The church can not touch, can not crush, can not starve, cannot stop or stay me; I will express your thoughts.”

Community Church Honesty Expression Thoughts Blame Agreement Meanness Condition Mental Slavery Patronize Distinctly Kindly

Book:The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child

Source: The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child

“For there is no virtue, the honor and credit for which procures a man more odium than that of justice; and this, because more than any other, it acquires a man power and authority among the common people.”

Virtue Honesty Honor

Book:Lives of the Noble Romans

Source: Lives of the Noble Romans

“I have striven never to betray myself”

Love Honesty Betrayal

Book:Indiscretion

Source: Indiscretion

“Is the prison that Mr. Scoundrel lives in at the end of his career a more uncomfortable place than the workhouse that Mr. Honesty lives in at the end of his career?”

Honesty

Book:The woman in white

Source: The woman in white

“If he could have it his way, nobody would ever say anything again. The entire world would go silent. Even the clocks wouldn’t tick. All that mattered would be the beating of hearts, the widening and narrowing of pupils, the whirling of ties and loose strands of hair in the wind---nothing voluntary, nothing false.”

Humanity Silence Honesty Falsehoods

Book:Homesick for Another World

Source: Homesick for Another World

Quote by William Beckford

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