CLÉANTE: Most men are strangely made; they always stray
Out of the natural and proper way;
Rejecting reason’s bounds as limitations,
They range about amid their aberrations;
Even the noblest things they often mar
By forcing them and pushing them too far.
[Les hommes, la plupart, sont étrangement faits;
Dans la juste nature on ne les voit jamais:
La raison a pour eux des bornes trop petites,
En chaque caractère ils passent ses limites;
Et la plus noble chose, ils la gâtent souvent,
Pour la vouloir outrer et pousser trop avant.]
Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 6 (1669) [tr. Frame (1967)]
Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/moliere/77969/
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