So that fair spectacle from him was reft,
Yet that, which reft it, no less faire was found:
So, hid in lockes and waves from looker’s theft,
Nought but her lovely face she for his looking left.
Withall she laughèd, and she blushed withall,
That blushing to her laughter gave more grace,
And laughter to her blushing.
Spenser (Faerie Queene 2, XII, 67).
I love and honour Epaminondas, but I do not wish to be Epaminondas. Nor can you excite me to the least uneasiness by saying, “He acted, and thou sittest still.” I see action to be good when the need is, and sitting still to be also good. One piece of the tree is cut for a weathercock, and one for the sleeper of a bridge; the virtue of the wood is apparent in both.