But as the girl timidly accosted him, he gave a convulsive movement and saved hisrespectability by a vigorous side-step. He did not risk it to save a soul. For how was he toknow that there was a soul before him that needed saving?

Stephen Crane
About This Quote

A man is not bound to accept a risk for the sake of a soul. A man is bound to accept a risk for the sake of his own soul. A man is not responsible for another’s action, but he can make them responsible for their actions.

Source: Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets & Other Stories

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  3. What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul - Victor Hugo
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More Quotes By Stephen Crane
  1. Two or three angels Came near to the earth. They saw a fat church. Little black streams of people Came and went in continually. And the angels were puzzled To know why the people went thus, And why they stayed so long within.
  2. When the suicide arrived at the sky, the people there asked him: "Why?" He replied: "Because no one admired me.
  3. Tell her this And more, – That the king of the seas Weeps too, old, helpless man. The bustling fates Heap his hands with corpses Until he stands like a child With surplus of toys.
  4. It perhaps might be said--if any one dared--that the most worthless literature of the world has been that which has been written by the men of one nation concerning the men of another.
  5. A serious prophet upon predicting a flood should be the first man to climb a tree. This would demonstrate that he was indeed a seer.
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