[The] public path of life Is dirty.
'T is greatly wise to talk with our past hours, And ask them what report they bore to heaven.
Ocean into tempest wrought, To waft a feather, or to drown a fly.
It is great and manly to disdain disguise; it shows our spirit and proves our strength.
Where boasting ends, there dignity begins.
But fate ordains that dearest friends must part.