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"And again, though we cannot prove, we feel, that we are deathless. We perceive that life is not like those dramas so beloved by the people-in which every villain is punished, and every act of virtue meets with its reward; we learn anew every day that the wisdom of the serpent fares better here than the gentleness of the dove, and that any thief can triumph if he steals enough. If mere worldly utility and expediency were the justification of virtue, it would not be wise to be too good. And yet, knowing all this, having it flung into our faces with brutal repetition, we still feel the command to righteousness, we know that we ought to do the inexpedient good."
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"The distinction between pretending you are better than you are and beginning to be better in reality is finer than moral sleuth hounds conceive."
"And there, right in the middle of it, I find 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us.' There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms. It is made perfectly clear that if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven."
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"Taste is the only morality. Tell me what you like and I'll tell you what you are."
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Explore more quotes by Will Durant
"For what is philosophy but an art - one more attempt to give 'significant form' to the chaos of experience?"
"But now and then liberty, in the slogans of the strong, means freedom from restraint in the exploitation of the weak."
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"Religion arises not out of sacerdotal invention or chicanery, but out of the persistent wonder, fear, insecurity, hopefulness and loneliness of man."
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