Alas!... what is it, valiant knight, save an offering of sacrifice to a demon of vain glory, and a passing through the fire of Moloch? What remains to you as a prize of all the blood you have spilled, of all the travail and pain you have endured, of all the tears which your deeds have caused, when death hath broken the strong man's spear, and overtaken the speed of his war-horse?
Walter ScottNever was flattery lost on a poet's ear; a simple race, they waste their toil for the vain tribute of a smile.
Walter ScottMany miles away there's a shadow on the door of a cottage on the Shore of a dark Scottish lake.
Walter ScottGuilt, though it may attain temporal splendor, can never confer real happiness; the evil consequences of our crimes long survive their commission, and, like the ghosts of the murdered, forever haunt the steps of the malefactor; while the paths of virtue, though seldom those of worldly greatness, are always those of pleasantness and peace.
Walter Scott