Look, look,' cried the count, seizing the young man's hands - "look, for on my soul it is curious. Here is a man who had resigned himself to his fate, who was going to the scaffold to die - like a coward, it is true, but he was about to die without resistance. Do you know what gave him strength? - do you know what consoled him? It was, that another partook of his punishment - that another partook of his anguish - that another was to die before him. Lead two sheep to the butcher's, two oxen to the slaughterhouse, and make one of them understand that his companion will not die; the sheep will bleat for pleasure, the ox will bellow with joy. But man - man, who God created in his own image - man, upon whom God has laid his first, his sole commandment, to love his neighbour - man, to whom God has given a voice to express his thoughts - what is his first cry when he hears his fellowman is saved? A blasphemy. Honour to man, this masterpiece of nature, this king of the creation!

About This Quote

About Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas was a 19th-century French writer and dramatist. Alexandre Dumas, also known as Alexandre Dumas père, was a French novelist and playwright. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Death — Contemplations on mortality, loss, and the legacy we leave
  • God — Spiritual reflections on the divine, faith, and creation
  • Nature — Appreciation for the natural world and our place within it

More quotes by Alexandre Dumas

Related Quotes