Those people who govern their lives by forebodings and dreams, and
signs of ill-luck, are kept in a state of constant anxiety and
uneasiness. Such a disposition is grounded on superstition, which is
the offspring of a narrow mind, and adds greatly to the evils with
which life is sufficiently loaded. Heaven has kindly concealed from
us the knowledge of futurity, and it is therefore foolish for us to
attempt to pry into it, or to disturb our minds with absurd conceptions
of events which are only realised by our ridiculous precautions against
them. How inconsistent is the conduct of people who imagine things to
be predestined, and yet busy themselves in endeavours to prevent their
coming to pass; as if the vain efforts of human power or prudence were
able to counteract the will, or reverse the decrees of the Omnipotent.
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