“We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask!”

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Originally said in English.

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About Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar is quoted here; further biographical details are not publicly available.

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"We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades…" — Paul Laurence Dunbar | Daily Quotes