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It is not because of his toils that I lament for the poor; we must all toil, or steal, which is worse; no faithful workman finds his task a pastime.... But what I do mourn over is that the lamp of his soul should go out; that no ray of heavenly, or even earthly, knowledge should visit him; but only in the haggard darkness, like two spectres, Fear and Indignation bear him company.

It is not because of his toils that I lament for the poor; we must all toil, or steal, which is worse; no faithful workman finds his task a pastime.... But what I do mourn over is that the lamp of his soul should go out; that no ray of heavenly, or even earthly, knowledge should visit him; but only in the haggard darkness, like two spectres, Fear and Indignation bear him company.

Approximate author period: c. 1838 AD · industrial

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Thomas Carlyle
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 1838 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1795–1881)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)

Printed citation: Carlyle. · page_203

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.