“Now two punctilious envoys, Thine and Mine,
Embroil the earth about a fancied line;
And, dwelling much on right and much on wrong,
Prove how the right is chiefly with the strong.”

Et le Mien et le Tien, deux frères pointilleux,
Par son ordre amenant les procès et la guerre,
En tous lieux de ce pas vont partager la terre ;
En tous lieux, sous les noms de bon droit et de tort,
Vont chez elle établir le seul droit du plus fort.
Satire 11, l. 141
Satires (1716)

Original

Et le Mien et le Tien, deux frères pointilleux, Par son ordre amenant les procès et la guerre, En tous lieux de ce pas vont partager la terre ; En tous lieux, sous les noms de bon droit et de tort, Vont chez elle établir le seul droit du plus fort.

Satires (1716)

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Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux 30
French poet and critic 1636–1711

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