Permalink: The GadflyHe paused a moment, and went on again: …
“I think that perhaps I have misjudged you, and that there is in you something better than what you show outside. To that better self in you I appeal, and solemnly entreat you, on your conscience, to tell me truthfully — in my place, what would you do?”
A long silence followed; then the Gadfly looked up. …
“We atheists,” he went on fiercely, “understand that if a man has a thing to bear, he must bear it as best he can; and if he sinks under it — why, so much the worse for him. But a Christian comes whining to his God, or his Saints; or, if they won’t help him, to his enemies — he can always find a back to shift his burdens on to. … Go back to your Jesus … Consent, man, of course, and go home to your dinner…”
The Gadfly, p. 329
E. L. Voynich