For, if the interest of his passions leads him to evil, he
will do evil; and, if this same interest leaves him indifferent
to good, he will not do good. And society will have no right to
reproach him for having listened to his passions, because it was
for society to conduct him by his passions. What a rich and
precious nature was that of Nero, who killed his mother because
she wearied him, and who caused Rome to be burned in order to
have a representation of the pillage of Troy! What an artist's
soul was that of Heliogabalus, who organized prostitution! What
a potent character was Tiberius! But what an abominable society
was that which perverted those divine souls, and produced,
moreover, Tacitus and Marcus Aurelius!
This, then, is what is called the harmlessness of man,--the
holiness of his passions! An aged Sappho, abandoned by her
lovers, goes back under the conjugal law; her interest detached
from love, she returns to marriage, and is holy. What a pity
that this word HOLY (saint) has not in French the double meaning
which it possesses in the Hebrew language! All would be in
accord regarding the holiness of Sappho.
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