I have studied men’s vices in order to defend myself against them; and I have found that, like serpents, they fly the light.
He claims research rather than rage as his method. Vice as serpent, light as exposure—the symbols are clean and classical. It frames his traps as lanterns, not daggers: he lets men condemn themselves in public day. Emotionally, readers feel the brisk chill of strategic morality. It almost sounds clinical, which is the point—and the risk. Too much light can scorch as well as reveal. Later mercy softens the lamp.