Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:
A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day.
and a curse if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which ye have not not known.

What is that which is a friend and an enemy, a blessing and a curse, which saves life and takes it away; is long and short, round and square, rough and smooth, straight and crooked, hard and soft, hot and cold, and most wanted when it is in greatest plenty; which accommodates itself to all palates; is sweet and of bad smell, strong and weak; sometimes able to bear great burdens, but at other times will not bear a pin.

On the whole the Contrabando was both a blessing and a curse; it was a blessing and a great benefit in that it brought the necessities of life to the people, but a curse in that it was training them in intrigue, because the contrabandistas often resorted to piracy along the sequestered coasts and on the open seas; they would sell their commodities to the people, then turn around and loot the cattle and hogs in the fields.

A blessing and a curse

Meaning

Noun