“In Dante the hero would rather flee
and renounce the tempting embrace
instead of yielding to his desires
and enduring the attendant dangers.”

— Peter Weiss

Dante (written 1963, published 2003)

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Peter Weiss 23

Swedish-German playwright and author 1916–1982

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Variant: I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty, than those attending too small a degree of it.
Source: Letters of Thomas Jefferson

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Misattributed