They had no hope of any virtue in nature, and hardly any hope of any virtue in society.

They had not enough interest in the outer world really to wreck or revolutionise it.

They did not love the city enough to set fire to it.

Thus the ancient world was exactly in our own desolate dilemma.

The only people who really enjoyed this world were busy breaking it up; and the virtuous people did not care enough about them to knock them down.