Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And even his failings lean'd to Virtue's side.
Oliver Goldsmith
Character
A quote by Oliver Goldsmith
From the source
The Deserted Village. Line 161.
Recorded in John Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, ninth edition, 1905 printing.