midnight
The little I have seen of the world , and know of the history of mankind , teaches me to look upon the errors of others in sorrow , not inanger . When I take the history of one poor heart that has sinned and suffered , and represent to myself the struggles and temptations it has passed , -- the brief pulsations of joy , -- the feverish inquie-tude of hope and fear , -- the tears of regret , -- the feebleness of purpose , -- the pressure of want , -- the desertion of friends , -- the scorn of a world that has little charity , -- the desolation of the soul 's sanctuary , -- and threatening voices within , -- health gone , -- happiness gone , -- even hope , that stays longest with us , gone , -- I have little heart for aught else than thankfulness , that it is not so with me , and would fain leave the erring soul of my fellow-man with Him , from whose hands it came , ` even as a little child , Weeping and laughing in its childish sport . ' '' `` You are right . And it is worth a student 's while to observe calmly how tobacco , wine , and midnight did their work like fiends upon the delicate frame of Hoffmann ; and no less thoroughly upon his delicate mind . He who drinks beer , thinks beer ; and he who drinks wine , thinks wine ; -- and he who drinks midnight , thinks midnight . He was a man of rare intellect . He was endowed with racy humor and sarcastic wit , and a glorious imagination .