Bright authoress of my good or ill,
Prescribe the law I must observe;
My heart, obedient to thy will,
Shall never from its duty swerve.
If you refuse my griefs to know,
The stifled anguish seals my fate;
But if your ears would drink my woe,
Love shall himself the tale relate.
Though contraries my heart compose,
Hard as the diamond's solid frame,
And soft as yielding wax that flows,
To thee, my fair, 'tis still the same.
Take it, for every stamp prepared;
Imprint what characters you choose;
The faithful tablet, soft or hard,
The dear impression ne'er shall lose.
The sorrows that may arise from well-placed affections,
ought rather to be accounted blessings than calamities.
Good fare lessens care.
The rarest sporting is that we find at other people's cost.
Covetousness bursts the bag.
Other folk's burdens break the ass's back.
There is no road so smooth but it has its stumbling-places.
Madness will have more followers than discretion.
Comparisons in grief lessen its weight.
If the blind lead the blind, both may fall into the ditch.
A good paymaster needs no pledge.
Nobody knows the heart of his neighbor; some go out for wool
and come home shorn.
Let us drink and live, for time takes care to rid us of our
lives, without our seeking ways to go before our appointed
term and season.
"You must know I have had in my family, by the father's side, two of the
rarest tasters that were ever known in La Mancha; and I will give you a
proof of their skill. A certain hogshead was given to each of them to
taste, and their opinion asked as to the condition, quality, goodness,
or badness, of the wine. One tried it with the tip of his tongue; the
other only put it to his nose. The first said the wine savored of iron;
the second said it had rather a twang of goat's leather. The owner
protested that the vessel was clean, and the wine neat, so that it could
not taste either of iron or leather. Notwithstanding this, the two
famous tasters stood positively to what they had said. Time went on;
the wine was sold off, and, on cleaning the cask, a small key, hanging
to a leathern thong, was found at the bottom. Judge then, sir, whether
one of that race may not be well entitled to give his opinion in these
matters."
"That being the case," quoth he of the wood, "we should leave off
seeking adventures, and, since we have a good loaf, let us not look for
cheesecakes."
The conquered must be at the discretion of the conqueror.
It is easy to undertake, but more difficult to finish a
thing.
"Pray, which is the greater madman, he who is so because he
cannot help it, or he who is so on purpose?"
"The difference between these two sorts of madmen is,"
replied Sampson, "that he who cannot help it will remain so,
and he who deliberately plays the fool may leave off when he
thinks fit."
Heaven knows the truth of all things.
The ancient sages, who were not enlightened with the
knowledge of the true God, reckoned the gifts of fortune and
nature, abundance of friends, and increase of dutiful
children, as constituting part of the supreme happiness.
Letters without virtue are like pearls on a dunghill.