"Why should the private pleasure of some one Become the public plague of many moe? Let sin, alone committed, light alone Upon his head that hath transgressèd so; Let guiltless souls be freed from guilty woe; For one’s offence why should so many fall, To plague a private sin in general?"

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Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Added on April 10, 2026
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Original Language: English

Sources

Lines 1478–84

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Lucrece