Oliver Goldsmith on Pity
← Back to Oliver Goldsmith Profile
“Taught by that Power that pities me, I learn to pity them.”
“Careless their merits, or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began.”
“Yet, let it not be thought that I would exclude pity from the human mind. There are scarcely any that are not, to some degree, possessed of this pleasing softness; but it is at best but a short-lived passion, and seldom affords distress more than transitory assistance; with some it scarce lasts from the first impulse till the hand can be put into the pocket…”