If we are ever in doubt what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done. – John Lubbock, “The Happiness of Duty,” 1887
Consequences are unpitying. Our deeds carry their terrible consequences, quite apart from any fluctuations that went before—consequences that are hardly ever confined to ourselves. And it is best to fix our minds on that certainty, instead of considering what may be the elements of excuse for us. – George Eliot, Adam Bede