To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde, was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless. The bargain might appear unequal; but there was still another consideration in the scales; for while Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even conscious of all that he had lost. Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate are as old and commonplace as man; much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it.

To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde, was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless. The bargain might appear unequal; but there was still another consideration in the scales; for while Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even conscious of all that he had lost. Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate are as old and commonplace as man; much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote
Similar Quotes by robert-louis-stevenson

I really learned how to write from Robert Louis Stevenson, Anthony Trollope, and de Maupassant.

Louis L'Amour
Save QuoteView Quote

I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in. As I walked, my mind was busy fitting what I saw with appropriate words; when I sat by the roadside, I would either read or a pencil and a penny version-book would be in my hand, to note the features of the scene or commemorate some halting stanzas. Thus I lived with words.

Robert Louis Stevenson, Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote

I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.

Robert Louis Stevenson, Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote

There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.

Robert Louis Stevenson, The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson, Fiction, Historical, Literary
Save QuoteView Quote

Alan," cried I, "what makes ye so good to me? What makes ye care for such a thankless fellow?"Deed, and I don't, know" said Alan. "For just precisely what I thought I liked about ye, was that ye never quarrelled:—and now I like ye better!

Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, Fiction, Classics, Action & Adventure
Save QuoteView Quote

Compromise is the best and cheapest lawyer.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote

There is no progress whatever. Everything is just the same as it was thousands, and tens of thousands, of years ago. The outward form changes. The essence does not change.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote

That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote

Absences are a good influence in love and keep it bright and delicate.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote

Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Save QuoteView Quote
Related Topics to robert-louis-stevenson Quotes