“I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I wish to take from every grave its fear.”

— Robert G. Ingersoll

At A Child's Grave (1882)
Context: I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I wish to take from every grave its fear. Here in this world, where life and death are equal kings, all should be brave enough to meet what all the dead have met. The future has been filled with fear, stained and polluted by the heartless past.

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Robert G. Ingersoll439

Union United States Army officer 1833–1899

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“I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I wish to take from every grave its fear.”

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Robert G. Ingersoll439

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