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But the ingenious machinery contrived by the Gods for reducing human possibilities of amelioration to a minimum — which arranges that wisdom to do shall come pari passu with the departure of zest for doing — stood in the way of all that.

— Thomas Hardy The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)

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More quotes by Thomas Hardy

Do not do an immoral thing for moral reasons!

Jude the Obscure (1895)

Like the British Constitution, she owes her success in practice to her inconsistencies in principle.

The Hand of Ethelberta (1876)

It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.

Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)

Patience, that blending of moral courage with physical timidity.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891)

The place became full of a watchful intentness now; for when other things sank blooding to sleep the heath appeared slowly to awake and listen.

The Return of the Native (1878)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Hardy (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.