another conquer himself, he is the greater of conquerors.[10]
_Dhammapada._
[10] Cf. Prov. XVI, 32.
224.
The man who is in the highest state of prosperity, and who thinks
his fortune is most secure, knows not if it will remain unchanged
till the evening.
_Demosthenes._
225.
Amongst all possessions knowledge appears pre-eminent. The wise call
it supreme riches, because it can never be lost, has no price, and
can at no time be destroyed.
_Hitopadesa._
226.
The shadows of the mind are like those of the body. In the morning
of life they all lie behind us, at noon we trample them under foot,
and in the evening they stretch long, broad, and deepening before
us.
_Longfellow._
227.
He who is full of faith and modesty, who shrinks from sin, and is
full of learning, who is diligent, unremiss, and full of
understanding--he, being replete with these seven things, is
esteemed a wise man.
_Burmese._
228.
If your foot slip, you may recover your balance, but if your tongue
slip, you cannot recall your words.
_Telugu._
229.
A vacant mind is open to all suggestions, as the hollow mountain
returns all sounds.
_Chinese._
230.
Women are ever masters when they like,
And cozen with their kindness; they have spells
Superior to the wand of the magicians;
And from their lips the words of wisdom fall,
Like softest music on the listening ear.
_Firdausí._
231.
A man cannot possess anything that is better than a good wife, or
anything that is worse than a bad one.
_Simonides._
232.
The wife of bad conduct--constantly pleased with quarrelling--she is
known by wise men to be cruel Old Age in the form of a wife.
_Panchatantra._
233.
I have often thought that the cause of men's good or ill fortune
depends on whether they make their actions fit with the times. A man
having prospered by one mode of acting can never be persuaded that
it may be well for him to act differently, whence it is that a man's
Fortune varies, because she changes her times and he does not his
ways.
_Machiavelli._
234.
By nature all men are alike, but by education very different.
_Chinese._
235.
Whilom, ere youth's conceit had waned, methought
Answers to all life's problems I had wrought;
But now, grown old and wise, too late I see
My life is spent, and all my lore is nought.
_Omar Khayyám._
236.
Weak men gain their object when allied with strong associates: the
brook reaches the ocean by the river's aid.
_Mágha._
237.
A swan is out of place among crows, a lion among bulls, a horse
among asses, and a wise man among fools.
_Burmese._
238.
Whosoever does not persecute them that persecute him; whosoever
takes an offence in silence; he who does good because of love; he
who is cheerful under his sufferings--these are the friends of God,
and of them the Scripture says, "They shall shine forth like the sun
at noontide."
_Talmud._
239.
It is intolerable that a silly fool, with nothing but empty birth to
boast of, should in his insolence array himself in the merits of
others, and vaunt an honour which does not belong to him.
_Boileau._
240.
Ask not a man who his father was but make trial of his qualities,
and then conciliate or reject him accordingly. For it is no disgrace
to new wine, if only it be sweet, as to its taste, that it was the
juice [or daughter] of sour grapes.
_Arabic._
241.
The sun opens the lotuses, the moon illumines the beds of
water-lilies, the cloud pours forth its water unasked: even so the
liberal of their own accord are occupied in benefiting others.
_Bhartrihari._
242.
We blame equally him who is too proud to put a proper value on his
own merit and him who prizes too highly his spurious worth.
_Goethe._
243.
Men are so simple, and yield so much to necessity, that he who will
deceive may always find him that will lend himself to be deceived.
_Machiavelli._
244.
Obstinate silence implies either a mean opinion of ourselves, or a
contempt for our company; and it is the more provoking, as others do
not know to which of these causes to attribute it--whether humility
or pride.
_Hazlitt._
245.
If thou desire not to be poor, desire not to be too rich. He is
rich, not that possesses much, but he that covets no more; and he is
poor, not that enjoys little, but he that wants too much. The
contented mind wants nothing which it hath not; the covetous mind
wants, not only what it hath not, but likewise what it hath.
_Quarles._
246.
Those noble men who falsehood dread
In wealth and glory ever grow,
As flames with greater brightness glow
With oil in ceaseless flow when fed.
But like to flames with water drenched,
Which, faintly flickering, die away,
So liars day by day decay,
Till all their lustre soon is quenched.
_Sanskrit._
247.
Watch over thy expenditure, for he who through vain glory spendeth
uselessly what he hath on empty follies, will receive neither return
nor praise from anyone.
_Firdausí._
248.
If thou art a man, speak not much about thine own manliness, for not
every champion driveth the ball to the goal.
_Sa'dí._
249.
The potter forms what he pleases with soft clay, so a man
accomplishes his works by his own act.
_Hitopadesa._
250.
No man of high and generous spirit is ever willing to indulge in
flattery; the good may feel affection for others, but will not
flatter them.
_Aristotle._
251.
An ass will with his long ears fray
The flies that tickle him away;
But man delights to have his ears
Blown maggots in by flatterers.
_Butler._
252.
Books are pleasant, but if by being over-studious we impair our
health and spoil our good humour, two of the best things we have,
let us give it over. I, for my part, am one of those who think no
fruit derived from them can recompense so great a loss.
_Montaigne._
253.
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.
_Goethe._
254.
If with a stranger thou discourse, first learn,
By strictest observation, to discern
If he be wiser than thyself, if so,
Be dumb, and rather choose by him to know;
But if thyself perchance the wiser be,
Then do thou speak, that he may learn by thee.
_Randolph._
255.
Being continually in people's sight, by the satiety which it
creates, diminishes the reverence felt for great characters.
_Livy._
256.
There is a great difference between one who can feel ashamed before
his own soul and one who is only ashamed before his fellow men.
_Talmud._
257.
By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint and control the
wise man may make for himself an island which no flood can
overwhelm.
_Dhammapada._
258.
The best way to make ourselves agreeable to others is by seeming to
think them so. If we appear fully sensible of their good qualities
they will not complain of the want of them in us.
_Hazlitt._
259.
To form a judgment intuitively is the privilege of few; authority
and example lead the rest of the world. They see with the eyes of
others, they hear with the ears of others. Therefore it is very easy
to think as all the world now think; but to think as all the world
will think thirty years hence is not in the power of every one.
_Schopenhauer._
260.
Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty,
retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She
is a friend of solitude; fountains entertain her, meadows console
her, woods free her from ennui, flowers delight her; in short, she
gives pleasure and instruction to all with whom she communicates.
_Cervantes._
261.
How can we learn to know ourselves? By reflection, never, but by our
actions. Attempt to do your duty, and you will immediately find what
is in you.
_Goethe._
262.
Man is supreme lord and master
Of his own ruin and disaster,
Controls his fate, but nothing less
In ordering his own happiness:
For all his care and providence
Is too feeble a defence
To render it secure and certain
Against the injuries of Fortune;
And oft, in spite of all his wit,
Is lost by one unlucky hit,
And ruined with a circumstance,
And mere punctilio of a chance.
_Butler._
263.
There is nothing in this world which a resolute man, who exerts
himself, cannot attain.
_Somadeva._
264.
Ere need be shown, some men will act,
As trees may fruit without a flower;
To some you speak with no result,
As seeds may die, and yield no grain.
_Hindu Poetess._
265.
Seven things characterise the wise man, and seven the blockhead. The
wise man speaks not before those who are his superiors, either in
age or wisdom. He interrupts not others in the midst of their
discourse. He replies not hastily. His questions are relevant to the
subject, his answers, to the purpose. In delivering his sentiments
he taketh the first in order first, the last, last. What he
understands not he says, "I understand not." He acknowledges his
error, and is open to conviction. The reverse of all this
characterises the blockhead.
_Talmud._
266.
How absolute and omnipotent is the silence of the night! And yet the
stillness seems almost audible. From all the measureless depths of
air around us comes a half sound, a half whisper, as if we could
hear the crumbling and falling away of the earth and all created
things in the great miracle of nature--decay and reproduction--ever
beginning, never ending--the gradual lapse and running of the sand
in the great hour-glass of Time.
_Longfellow._
267.
What avails your wealth, if it makes you arrogant to the poor?
_Arabic._
268.
All confidence is dangerous unless it is complete; there are few
circumstances in which it is not better either to hide all or to
tell all.
_La Bruyère._
269.
It is well that there is no one without a fault, for he would not
have a friend in the world: he would seem to belong to a different
species.
_Hazlitt._
270.
The mind alike,
Vigorous or weak, is capable of culture,
But still bears fruit according to its nature.
'Tis not the teacher's skill that rears the scholar:
The sparkling gem gives back the glorious radiance
It drinks from other light, but the dull earth
Absorbs the blaze, and yields no gleam again.
_Bhavabhúti._
271.
One man envies the success in life of another, and hates him in
secret; nor is he willing to give him good advice when he is
consulted, except it be by some wonderful effort of good feeling,
and there are, alas, few such men in the world. A real friend, on
the other hand, exults in his friend's happiness, rejoices in all
his joys, and is ready to afford him the best advice.
_Herodotus._
272.
This body is a tent which for a space
Does the pure soul with kingly presence grace;
When he departs, comes the tent-pitcher, Death,
Strikes it, and moves to a new halting-place.
_Omar Khayyám._
273.
Speak but little, and that little only when thy own purposes require
it. Heaven has given thee two ears but only one tongue, which means:
listen to two things, but be not the first to propose one.
_Háfiz._
274.
The natural hostility of beasts is laid aside when flying from
pursuers; so also when danger is impending the enmity of rivals is
ended.
_Bháravi._
275.
He who toils with pain will eat with pleasure.
_Chinese._
276.
A day of fortune is like a harvest-day, we must be busy when the
corn is ripe.
_Goethe._
277.
The fame of good men's actions seldom goes beyond their own doors,
but their evil deeds are carried a thousand miles' distance.
_Chinese._
278.
A subtle-witted man is like an arrow, which, rending little surface,
enters deeply, but they whose minds are dull resemble stones dashing
with clumsy force, but never piercing.
_Mágha._
279.
It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in, and
flighty, rushing wheresoever it listeth: a tamed mind brings
blessings.
_Dhammapada._
280.
The man who every sacred science knows,
Yet has not strength to keep in check the foes
That rise within him, mars his Fortune's fame,
And brings her by his feebleness to shame.
_Bháravi._
281.
What a rich man gives and what he consumes, that is his real worth.
_Hitopadesa._
282.
He who does not think too much of himself is much more esteemed than
he imagines.
_Goethe._
283.
It is a kind of policy in these days to prefix a fantastical title
to a book which is to be sold; for as larks come down to a day-net,
many vain readers will tarry and stand gazing, like silly
passengers, at an antic picture in a painter's shop that will not
look at a judicious piece.
_Burton._
284.
With many readers brilliancy of style passes for affluence of
thought: they mistake buttercups in the grass for immeasurable gold
mines under the ground.
_Longfellow._
285.
The doctrine that enters only into the ear is like the repast one
takes in a dream.
_Chinese._
286.
Adorn thy mind with knowledge, for knowledge maketh thy worth.
_Firdausí._
287.
Men hail the rising sun with glee,
They love his setting glow to see,
But fail to mark that every day
In fragments bears their life away.
All Nature's face delight to view,
As changing seasons come anew;
None sees how each revolving year
Abridges swiftly man's career.
_Ramáyána._
288.
The good man shuns evil and follows good; he keeps secret that which
ought to be hidden; he makes his virtues manifest to all; he does
not forsake one in adversity; he gives in season: such are the marks
of a worthy friend.
_Bhartrihari._
289.
No one hath come into the world for a continuance save him who
leaveth behind him a good name.[11]
_Sa'dí._
[11] Cf. 29.
290.
Gross ignorance produces a dogmatic spirit. He who knows nothing
thinks he can teach others what he has himself just been learning.
He who knows much scarcely believes that what he is saying is
unknown to others, and consequently speaks with more hesitation.
_La Bruyère._
291.
When you see a man elated with pride, glorying in his riches and
high descent, rising even above fortune, look out for his speedy
punishment; for he is only raised the higher that he may fall with a
heavier crash.
_Menander._
292.
The ridiculous is produced by any defect that is unattended by pain,
or fatal consequences; thus, an ugly and deformed countenance does
not fail to cause laughter, if it is not occasioned by pain.
_Aristotle._
293.
Happy the man who early learns the difference between his wishes and
his powers.
_Goethe._
294.
There is nothing more pitiable in the world than an irresolute man
vacillating between two feelings, who would willingly unite the two,
and who does not perceive that nothing can unite them.
_Goethe._
295.
Beauty in a modest woman is like fire at a distance, or like a sharp
sword: neither doth the one burn nor the other wound him that comes
not too near them.
_Cervantes._
296.
We are more sociable and get on better with people by the heart than
the intellect.
_La Bruyère._
297.
A good man may fall, but he falls like a ball [and rebounds]; the
ignoble man falls like a lump of clay.
_Bhartrihari._
298.
Do not anxiously expect what is not yet come; do not vainly regret
what is already past.
_Chinese._
299.
The way to subject all things to thyself is to subject thyself to
reason; thou shalt govern many if reason govern thee. Wouldst thou
be a monarch of a little world, command thyself.
_Quarles._
300.
If our inward griefs were written on our brows, how many who are
envied now would be pitied. It would seem that they had their
deadliest foe in their own breast, and their whole happiness would
be reduced to mere seeming.
_Metastasio._
301.
There are many who talk on from ignorance rather than from
knowledge, and who find the former an inexhaustible fund of
conversation.
_Hazlitt._
302.
Whoever brings cheerfulness to his work, and is ever active, dashes
through the world's labours.
_Tieck._
303.
Grossness is not difficult to define: it is obtrusive and
objectionable pleasantry.
_Theophrastus._
304.
Do not consider any vice as trivial, and therefore practise it; do
not consider any virtue as unimportant, and therefore neglect it.
_Chinese._
305.
To bad as well as good, to all,
A generous man compassion shows;
On earth no mortal lives, he knows,
Who does not oft through weakness fall.
_Rámáyana._
306.
The good extend their loving care
To men, however mean or vile;
E'en base Chándálas'[12] dwellings share
Th' impartial sunbeam's silver smile.
_Hitopadesa._
[12] Chándálas, or Pariahs, are the lowest, or of no caste.
307.
Let a man accept with confidence valuable knowledge even from a
person of low degree, good instruction regarding duty even from a
humble man, and a jewel of a wife even from an ignoble family.
_Manu._
308.
We cannot too soon convince ourselves how easily we may be dispensed
with in the world. What important personages we imagine ourselves to
be! We think that we alone are the life of the circle in which we
move; in our absence, we fancy that life, existence, breath will
come to a general pause, and, alas, the gap which we leave is
scarcely perceptible, so quickly is it filled again; nay, it is
often the place, if not of something better, at least for something
more agreeable.
_Goethe._
309.
The friendships formed between good and evil men differ. The
friendship of the good, at first faint like the morning light,
continually increases; the friendship of the evil at the very
beginning is like the light of midday, and dies away like the light
of evening.[13]
_Bhartrihari._
[13] In many parts of the East there is practically no
twilight.
310.
A hundred long leagues is no distance for him who would quench the
thirst of covetousness; but a contented mind has no solicitude for
grasping wealth.
_Hitopadesa._
311.
The noble-minded dedicate themselves to the promotion of the
happiness of others--even of those who injure them. True happiness
consists in making happy.
_Bháravi._
312.
A benefit given to the good is like characters engraven on a stone;
a benefit given to the evil is like a line drawn on water.
_Buddhist._
313.
The undertaking of a careless man succeeds not, though he use the
right expedients: a clever hunter, though well placed in ambush,
kills not his quarry if he falls asleep.
_Bháravi._
314.
All love, at first, like generous wine,
Ferments and frets until 'tis fine;
But when 'tis settled on the lee,
And from th' impurer matter free,
Becomes the richer still the older,
And proves the pleasanter the colder.
_Butler._
315.
Safe in thy breast close lock up thy intents,
For he that knows thy purpose best prevents.
_Randolph._
316.
Frugality should ever be practised, but not excessive parsimony.
_Hitopadesa._
317.
He who receives a favour must retain a recollection of it for all
time to come; but he who confers should at once forget it, if he is
not to show a sordid and ungenerous spirit. To remind a man of a
kindness conferred on him, and to talk of it, is little different
from a reproach.
_Demosthenes._
318.
Pride not thyself on thy religious works,
Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts:
By pride religious merit melts away,
The merit of thy alms, by ostentation.
_Manu._
319.
The empty beds of rivers fill again;
Trees leafless now renew their vernal bloom;
Returning moons their lustrous phase resume;
But man a second youth expects in vain.[14]
_Somadeva._
[14] Cf. Job, XIV, 7.
320.
Shall He to thee His aid refuse
Who clothes the swan in dazzling white,
Who robes in green the parrot bright,
The peacocks decks in rainbow hues?[15]
_Hitopadesa._
[15] Cf. Matt. VI, 25, 26.
321.
A bad man is as much pleased as a good man is distressed to speak
ill of others.
_Mahábhárata._
322.
Every bird has its decoy, and every man is led and misled in his own
peculiar way.
_Goethe._
323.
There is such a grateful tickling in the mind of man in being
commended that even when we know the praises which are bestowed on
us are not our due, we are not angry with the author's insincerity.
_Feltham._
324.
Too much to lament a misery is the next way to draw on a remediless
mischief.
_R. Chamberlain._
325.
There is no remembrance which time doth not obliterate, nor pain
which death doth not put an end to.
_Cervantes._
326.
Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely
improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy
Future, without fear, and with a manly heart.
_Longfellow._
327.
Plans that are wise and prudent in themselves are rendered vain when
the execution of them is carried on negligently and with imprudence.
_Guicciardini._
328.
Every man stamps his value on himself. The price we challenge for
ourselves is given us. Man is made great or little by his own will.
_Schiller._
329.
Hath any wronged thee, be bravely revenged. Slight it, and the
work's begun; forgive it, and 'tis finished. He is below himself
that is not above an injury.
_Quarles._
330.
As gold is tried by the furnace, and the baser metal shown, so the
hollow-hearted friend is known by adversity.
_Metastasio._
331.
The rose does not bloom without thorns. True, but would that the
thorns did not outlive the rose.
_Richter._
332.
Truth from the mouth of an honest man and severity from a
good-natured man have a double effect.
_Hazlitt._
333.
Most virgins marry, just as nuns
The same thing the same way renounce;
Before they've wit to understand
The bold attempt, they take in hand;
Or, having stayed and lost their tides,
Are out of season grown for brides.
_Butler._
334.
The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who has
so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing
anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless
efforts, and multiply the griefs which he purposes to remove.
_Johnson._
335.
In all things, to serve from the lowest station upwards is
necessary. To restrict yourself to a trade is best. For the narrow
mind, whatever he attempts is still a trade; for the higher, an art;
and the highest in doing one thing does all, or, to speak less
paradoxically, in the one thing which he does rightly he sees the
likeness of all that is done rightly.
_Goethe._
336.
Misanthropy ariseth from a man trusting another without having
sufficient knowledge of his character, and, thinking him to be
truthful, sincere, and honourable, finds a little afterwards that he
is wicked, faithless, and then he meets with another of the same
character. When a man experiences this often, and more particularly
from those whom he considered his most dear and best friends, at
last, having frequently made a slip, he hates the whole world, and
thinks that there is nothing sound at all in any of them.
_Plato._
337.
Pleasure, most often delusive, may be born of delusion. Pleasure,
herself a sorceress, may pitch her tents on enchanted ground. But
happiness (or, to use a more accurate and comprehensive term, solid
well-being) can be built on virtue alone, and must of necessity have
truth for its foundation.
_Coleridge._
338.
Entangled in a hundred worldly snares,
Self-seeking men, by ignorance deluded,
Strive by unrighteous means to pile up riches.
Then, in their self-complacency, they say,
"This acquisition I have made to-day,
That will I gain to-morrow, so much pelf
Is hoarded up already, so much more
Remains that I have yet to treasure up.
This enemy I have destroyed, him also,
And others in their turn, I will despatch.
I am a lord; I will enjoy myself;
I'm wealthy, noble, strong, successful, happy;
I'm absolutely perfect; no one else
In all the world can be compared to me.
Now will I offer up a sacrifice,
Give gifts with lavish hand, and be triumphant."
Such men, befooled by endless vain conceits,
Caught in the meshes of the world's illusion,
Immersed in sensuality, descend
Down to the foulest hell of unclean spirits.[16]
_Mahábhárata._
[16] Cf. Luke, XII, 17-20; see also 291.
339.
There needs no other charm, nor conjuror,
To raise infernal spirits up, but Fear,
That makes men pull their horns in, like a snail,
That's both a prisoner to itself and jail;
Draws more fantastic shapes than in the grains
Of knotted wood, in some men's crazy brains,
When all the cocks they think they are, and bulls,
Are only in the insides of their skulls.
_Butler._
340.
He that rectifies a crooked stick bends it the contrary way, so must
he that would reform a vice learn to affect its mere contrary, and
in time he shall see the springing blossoms of a happy restoration.
_R. Chamberlain._
341.
The more weakness the more falsehood; strength goes straight: every
cannon ball that has in it hollows and holes goes crooked.
_Richter._
342.
Learning dissipates many doubts, and causes things otherwise
invisible to be seen, and is the eye of everyone who is not
absolutely blind.
_Hitopadesa._
343.