What men gain fairly -- that they should possess,
And children may inherit idleness,
From him who earns itThis is understood;
Private injustice may be general good.
But he who gains by base and armed wrong,
Or guilty fraud, or base compliances,
May be despoiled; even as a stolen dress
Is stripped from a convicted thief; and he
Left in the nakedness of infamy.
Fragment: What Men Gain Fairly
written byPercy Bysshe Shelley
© Percy Bysshe Shelley