To be wicked is never excusable, but there is some merit in knowing that you are; the most irreparable of vices is to do evil from stupidity.

On n'est jamais excusable d'être méchant, mais il y a quelque mérite à savoir qu'on l'est; et le plus irréparable des vices est de faire le mal par bêtise.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

XXVIII: "La Fausse Monnaie"

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