Therefore don't let sinners take courage to think they will be favoured like the thief on the cross for we see on the other side they may be like the hardened one and reproach death itself.
The willow which bends to the tempest often escapes better than the oak which resists it and so in great calamities it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.
