But are sailors, frequenters of fiddlers' greens, without vices? No; but less often than with landsmen do their vices, so called, partake of crookedness of heart, seeming less to proceed from viciousness than exuberance of vitality after long constraint: frank manifestations in accordance with natural law.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Sailors have vices but they are less crooked than those of landmen. Their faults often stem from excess energy after long restraint rather than true wickedness.
- In plain terms
- Sailors have faults but they come from energy rather than bad hearts.
- What can you take from it?
- Vices on ships often come from restraint, not evil.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Are some vices just expressions of life?
- Does environment shape character?
Another view
Not all sailors share this noble view of their own faults.
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