Th' ethereal mould Incapable of stain would soon expel Her mischief, and purge off the baser fire, Victorious. Thus repuls'd, our final hope Is flat despair.
John Milton
Hope
A quote by John Milton
From the source
Paradise Lost. Book ii. Line 139.
Recorded in John Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, ninth edition, 1905 printing.