We are liable to many misfortunes that no care or foresight can
prevent; but we ought to provide in the best way we can against them,
and leave the rest to Providence. The wisest of men have their foibles
or blind sides, and have their enemies too, who watch to take advantage
of their weaknesses. It behoves us therefore to look to ourselves
on the blind side, as the part that lies most exposed to an attack.
Vigilance and caution are commonly our best preservatives from evil,
and security is often a fatal enemy, when we cherish it so as to lull
all our apprehensions to rest. We should not however encourage in
ourselves the slavish principle of fear, nor make ourselves miserable
on account of latent evils, which it is not in our power to prevent.
The ways and workings of Providence are inscrutable; and it is not in
the power of human prudence to obviate all the accidents of life.
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