“Twin-sister of Religion, Selfishness!
Rival in crime and falsehood, aping all
The wanton horrors of her bloody play;
Yet frozen, unimpassioned, spiritless,
Shunning the light, and owning not its name,
Compelled by its deformity to screen
With flimsy veil of justice and of right
Its unattractive lineaments that scare
All save the brood of ignorance; at once
The cause and the effect of tyranny;
Unblushing, hardened, sensual and vile;
Dead to all love but of its abjectness;
With heart impassive by more noble powers
Than unshared pleasure, sordid gain, or fame;
Despising its own miserable being,
Which still it longs, yet fears, to disenthrall.”

— Percy Bysshe Shelley , Queen Mab

Canto V
Queen Mab (1813)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Percy Bysshe Shelley 246

English Romantic poet 1792–1822

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Percy Bysshe Shelley 246

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