“On our Pompilia, faultless to a fault,
Law bends a brow maternally severe,
Implies the worth of perfect chastity,
By fancying the flaw she cannot find.”
Book IX : Juris Doctor Johannes-Baptista Bottinius, Fisci et Rev. Cam. Apostol. Advocatus.
The Ring and the Book (1868-69)
Context: Forgive me this digression — that I stand
Entranced awhile at Law's first beam, outbreak
O' the business, when the Count's good angel bade
"Put up thy sword, born enemy to the ear,
"And let Law listen to thy difference!"
And Law does listen and compose the strife,
Settle the suit, how wisely and how well!
On our Pompilia, faultless to a fault,
Law bends a brow maternally severe,
Implies the worth of perfect chastity,
By fancying the flaw she cannot find.
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Robert Browning179
English poet and playwright of the Victorian Era 1812–1889Related quotes
W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) English librettist of the Gilbert & Sullivan duo
The Lord Chancellor's Song (from Iolanthe).
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Variant: The Law is the true embodiment
Of everything that's excellent.
It has no kind of fault or flaw,
And I, my Lords, embody the Law.
“I think her flaws make me love her even more. She's not perfect, but she's perfect to me”
Jodi Picoult (1966) Author
Source: Between the Lines
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author
The Essays Or Counsels, Civil And Moral, Of Francis Ld. Verulam Viscount St. Albans (1625), Of Marriage and Single Life
“An untempted woman cannot boast of her chastity.”
Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman
Attributed
Lin Carter book The Wizard of Zao
Source: The Wizard of Zao (1978), Chapter 5 (p. 65)
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) American fiction writer
Source: The True Game, The Song of Mavin Manyshaped (1985), Chapter 2 (p. 31)