“In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself” (1976)
Wislawa Szymborska:
"The buzzard never says it is to blame. The panther would not know what scruples mean. When the piranha strikes, it feels no shame. If snakes had hands, they would claim their hands were clean. A jackal does not understand remorse. Lions and lice don't waver in their course. Why should they, when they know they are right? Though hearts of killer whales weigh a ton, in every other way they are light. On this third planet of the sun among the signs of bestiality, a clean conscience is Number One."
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