Tough Sentence
I I could understand nothing from this sentence:

"It is--we say it without censure, nor in diminution of the claim which it indefeasibly possesses on beings of another mould--it is always selfish in its essence; and we must give it leave to be so, and heap up our heroic and disinterested love upon it so much the more, without a recompense."

I looked for every single word in the dictionary, but without getting any clue... Could anyone help?

Source: https://hawthorne.thefreelibrary.com/House-Of-Seven-Gables/1-7#censure
32nd paragraph, with a word in yellow.

Question

Tough Sentence
I I could understand nothing from this sentence:

"It is--we say it without censure, nor in diminution of the claim which it indefeasibly possesses on beings of another mould--it is always selfish in its essence; and we must give it leave to be so, and heap up our heroic and disinterested love upon it so much the more, without a recompense."

I looked for every single word in the dictionary, but without getting any clue... Could anyone help?

Source: https://hawthorne.thefreelibrary.com/House-Of-Seven-Gables/1-7#censure
32nd paragraph, with a word in yellow.

Answer

Basically, "He will always be selfish, so we need to love him even though he can't love us back."

Don't worry, it took me five minutes to understand it. :)

Answer

In plain(er) English: It is always selfish (and there is no need to regret saying it or ignore the effect that his nature would have on a different person), we need to let it be that way, and we need to love it more because of that without expecting anything in return.

Basically, his nature is selfish and there is nothing that we can do except love it.

Answer

I wouldn't worry too much. It is partly archaic language (over 150 years old) and also written at a time when people often tried to 'show off' by writing in a way that is difficult to read, and which displays their immense vocabulary. When I read this type of writing, I imagine a peacock strutting - 'look at me!, see what I can do!'. Some people still do it, but thankfully less.

Answers · 3

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