The portrait I have to paint is of…an ambiguous character, a mixture of virtues and vices, a perpetual contrast between good impulses and bad actions.
• Avis de l'auteur, p. 30; translation p. 3.
• Avis de l'auteur, p. 30; translation p. 3.
“
J'ai à peindre…un caractère ambigu, un mélange de vertus et de vices, un contraste perpétuel de bons sentiments et d'actions mauvaises.
— Antoine François Prévost
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "J'ai à peindre…un caractère ambigu, un mélange de vertus et de vices, un contraste perpétuel de bons sentiments et d'actions mauvaises." in the context of "The portrait I have to paint is of…an ambiguous character, a mixture of virtues and vices, a perpetual contrast between good impulses and bad actions.
• Avis de l'auteur, p. 30; translation p. 3." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Antoine François Prévost" (Quotes, L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut (1731): French quotations are cited from the 1846 Charpentier edition, English quotations from Angela Scholar (trans.) The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Antoine François Prévost
Antoine-François Prévost d'Exiles (April 1 1697 – November 25 1763), also known as the Abbé Prévost, was a French novelist, historian and journalist. His best-known story, L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, has formed the basis of several operas, most notably Puccini's Manon Lescaut.
About Antoine François Prévost
Antoine-François Prévost d'Exiles (April 1 1697 – November 25 1763), also known as the Abbé Prévost, was a French novelist, historian and journalist. His best-known story, L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, has formed the basis of several operas, most notably Puccini's Manon Lescaut.
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