And, in facing even such a terrible thicket as that, let not even an old man absolutely despair.

At forty, at sixty, at threescore and ten, let not an old penitent despair.

Only take axe in hand and see if the sun does not stand still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon till you have avenged yourself on your enemies.

And always when you stop to wipe your brow, and to whet the edge of your axe, and to wet your lips with water, keep on saying things like those of another great sinner deep in his thicket of vice, say this: O God, he said, Thou hast not cut off as a weaver my life, nor from day even to night hast Thou made an end of me.

But Thou hast vouchsafed to me life and breath even to this hour from childhood, youth, and hitherto even unto old age.