Foolish Counsel is not only Vain and Unprofitable in General, but in
many particular Cases most Destructive and Deadly. This Fable lays open
the Folly, the Vanity, and the Danger of Pressing too eagerly for any
thing that’s out of our Reach. We spend our Strength, and our Credit in
clearing the way to’t, and it flies before us like a Shadow, which we may
well Pursue, but can never Overtake. It is much the Humour of Chymists,
and a Thousand other sorts of Projectors, that propose to themselves
things utterly Impracticable, and consume their Lives in Hopeless and
Fruitless Undertakings. This falls out for want of Computing upon the
Proportion betwixt the Means, and the End; and for want of Examining
and Considering what’s Practicable, and what not; and for want again of
Measuring our Force and Capacity with our Designs.