"So weak is the Frailty of Human Nature, that we can never be too secure, tho' arm'd with the sublimest Vertue, against the repeated Attacks of so many Passions, as constantly besiege us; and, tho' the Garrison of the Mind may be never so well provided with all Means of Resistance, the greatest of Qualities, Vertues, and Perfections, that our Nature is capable of attaining; nevertheless Treachery, within, Force or Stratagem, from without, may surprize and defeat us."
The Plain Dealer, No. 3
Text from <u>The Plain Dealer: Being Select Essays on Several Curious Subjects: Relating to Friendship, ... Poetry, and Other Branches of Polite Literature. Publish'd originally in the year 1724. And Now First Collected into Two Volumes</u> (London: Printed for S. Richardson, and A. Wilde, 1730.) &lt;<a href="">Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP</a>&gt;&lt;<a href="">Link to Vol. II in ECCO-TCP</a>&gt;