To the sour palate of the envious mind,
Who hears with grief his neighbours good by name,
And hates the fortune that he ne'er shall find.
_Pindar._
344.
A more glorious victory cannot be gained over another man than this,
that when the injury began on his part the kindness should begin on
ours.
_Tillotson._
345.
Time, which gnaws and diminishes all things else, augments and
increases benefits, because a noble action of liberality done to a
man of reason doth grow continually by his generously thinking of it
and remembering it.
_Rabelais._
346.
Were all thy fond endeavours vain
To chase away the sufferer's smart,
Still hover near, lest absence pain
His lonely heart.
For friendship's tones have kindlier power
Than odorous fruit, or nectared bowl,
To soothe, in sorrow's languid hour,
The sinking soul.
_Sa'dí._
347.
The faults of others are easily perceived, but those of oneself are
difficult to perceive; a man winnows his neighbour's faults like
chaff, but his own fault he hides as a cheat hides the false dice
from the gamester.
_Dhammapada._
348.
Education and morals will be found almost the whole that goes to
make a good man.
_Aristotle._
349.
Toil and pleasure, in their natures opposite, are yet linked
together in a kind of necessary connection.
_Livy._
350.
Enjoy thou the prosperity of others,
Although thyself unprosperous; noble men
Take pleasure in their neighbours' happiness.
_Mahábhárata._
351.
Neither live with a bad man nor be at enmity with him; even as if
you take hold of glowing charcoal it will burn you, if you take hold
of cold charcoal it will soil you.
_Buddhist._
352.
In the sandal-tree are serpents, in the water lotus flowers, but
crocodiles also; even virtues are marred by the vicious--in all
enjoyments there is something which impairs our happiness.
_Hitopadesa._
353.
There is no pleasure of life sprouting like a tree from one root but
there is some pain joined to it; and again nature brings good out of
evil.
_Menander._
354.
The manner of giving shows the character of the giver more than the
gift itself. There is a princely manner of giving and accepting.
_Lavater._
355.
Perfect ignorance is quiet, perfect knowledge is quiet; not so the
transition from the former to the latter.
_Carlyle._
356.
Superstition is the religion of feeble minds; and they must be
tolerated in an admixture of it in some trifling or enthusiastic
shape or other; else you will deprive weak minds of a resource found
necessary to the strongest.
_Burke._
357.
Fair words without good deeds to a man in misery are like a saddle
of gold clapped upon a galled horse.
_Chamberlain._
358.
There is a rabble among the gentry as well as the commonalty; a sort
of plebeian heads whose fancy moves with the same wheel as these
men--in the same level with mechanics, though their fortunes do
sometimes gild their infirmities and their purses compound for their
follies.
_Sir Thomas Browne._
359.
It is a common remark that men talk most who think least; just as
frogs cease their quacking when a light is brought to the
water-side.
_Richter._
360.
Our time is like our money; when we change a guinea the shillings
escape as things of small account; when we break a day by idleness
in the morning, the rest of the hours lose their importance in our
eyes.
_Sir Walter Scott._
361.
Vociferation and calmness of character seldom meet in the same
person.
_Lavater._
362.
Wit and wisdom differ. Wit is upon the sudden turn, wisdom is in
bringing about ends.
_Selden._
363.
Real and solid happiness springs from moderation.
_Goethe._
364.
In all the world there is no vice
Less prone t'excess than avarice;
It neither cares for food nor clothing:
Nature's content with little, that with nothing.
_Butler._
365.
Beside the streamlet seated, mark how life glides on:
That sign, how swift each moment goes, to me's enough.
Behold this world's delights, and view its various pains:
If not to you, the joy it shows to me's enough.
_Háfiz._
366.
The lake no longer water holds--
Off fly the fowls, the lilies stay:
If friends are friends when wealth is gone,
The lily's constancy they share.
_Hindu Poetess._
367.
Let us be well persuaded that everyone of us possesses happiness in
proportion to his virtue and wisdom, and according as he acts in
obedience to their suggestion.
_Aristotle._
368.
All property which comes to hand by means of violence, or infamy, or
baseness, however large it may be, is tainted and unblest. On the
other hand, whatever is obtained by honest profit, small though it
be, brings a blessing with it.[17]
_Akhlak-i-Jalálí._
[17] See 44.
369.
We should know mankind better if we were not so anxious to resemble
one another.
_Goethe._
370.
Root out the love of self, as you might the autumn lotus with your
hand.
_Buddhist._
371.
Whoever has the seed of virtue and honour implanted in his breast
will drop a sympathising tear on the woes of his neighbour.
_Nakhshabí._
372.
Do naught to others which, if done to thee, would cause thee pain:
this is the sum of duty.[18]
_Mahábhárata._
[18] Cf. Matt. VII, 12.
373.
A bad man, though raised to honour, always returns to his natural
course, as a dog's tail, though warmed by the fire and rubbed with
oil, retains its form.[19]
_Hitopadesa._
[19] Cf. Arab proverb: "A dog's tail never can be made
straight."
374.
The man who cannot blush, and who has no feelings of fear, has
reached the acme of impudence.
_Menander._
375.
It is the usual consolation of the envious, if they cannot maintain
their superiority, to represent those by whom they are surpassed as
inferior to some one else.
_Plutarch._
376.
Such as the chain of causes we call Fate, such is the chain of
wishes: one links on to another; the whole man is bound in the chain
of wishing for ever.
_Seneca._
377.
I do remember stopping by the way,
To watch a potter thumping his wet clay;
And with its all-obliterated tongue
It murmured, "Gently, brother, gently, pray!"
_Omar Khayyám._
378.
If you only knew the evils which others suffer, you would willingly
submit to those which you now bear.
_Philemon._
379.
Children form a bond of union than which the human heart finds none
more enduring.
_Livy._
380.
The sweetest pleasures soonest cloy,
And its best flavour temperance gives to joy.
_Juvenal._
381.
To our own sorrows serious heed we give,
But for another's we soon cease to grieve.
_Pindar._
382.
Can anything be more absurd than that the nearer we are to our
journey's end, we should lay in the more provision for it?
_Cicero._
383.
Set about whatever you intend to do; the beginning is half the
battle.
_Ausonius._
384.
All smatterers are more brisk and pert
Than those who understand an art;
As little sparkles shine more bright
Than glowing coals that gave them light.
_Butler._
385.
No prince, how great soever, begets his predecessors, and the
noblest rivers are not navigable to the fountain.
_A. Marvell._
386.
The guilty man may escape, but he cannot be sure of doing so.
_Epicurus._
387.
In everything you will find annoyances, but you ought to consider
whether the advantages do not predominate.
_Menander._
388.
Dreams in general take their rise from those incidents which have
most occupied the thoughts during the day.
_Herodotus._
389.
Sleeping, we image what awake we wish;
Dogs dream of bones, and fishermen of fish.[20]
_Theocritus._
[20] Cf. Arab proverb: "The dream of the cat is always about
mice."
390.
A man who does not endeavour to _seem_ more than he is will
generally be thought nothing of. We habitually make such large
deductions for pretence and imposture that no real merit will stand
against them. It is necessary to set off our good qualities with a
certain air of plausibility and self-importance, as some attention
to fashion is necessary.
_Hazlitt._
391.
There is nothing more beautiful than cheerfulness in an old face,
and among country people it is always a sign of a well-regulated
life.
_Richter._
392.
From things which have been obtained after having been long desired
men almost never derive the pleasure and delight which they had
anticipated.
_Guicciardini._
393.
Seest thou good days? Prepare for evil times. No summer but hath its
winter. He never reaped comfort in adversity that sowed not in
prosperity.
_Quarles._
394.
Every man knows his own but not others' defects and miseries; and
'tis the nature of all men still to reflect upon themselves their
own misfortunes, not to examine or consider other men's, not to
confer themselves with others; to recount their own miseries but not
their good gifts, fortunes, benefits which they have, to ruminate on
their adversity, but not once to think on their prosperity, not what
they have but what they want.
_Burton._
395.
Some people, you would think, are made up of nothing but title and
genealogy; the stamp of dignity defaces in them the very character
of humanity, and transports them to such a degree of haughtiness
that they reckon it below them to exercise good nature or good
manners.
_L'Estrange._
396.
He alone is poor who does not possess knowledge.
_Talmud._
397.
It is not enough to know; we must apply what we know. It is not
enough to will; we must also act.
_Goethe._
398.
Words of blame from those who are hostile to a great man cannot
injure him. The moon is not hurt when barked at by a dog.
_Arabic._
399.
The value of three things is justly appreciated by all classes of
men: youth, by the old; health, by the diseased; and wealth, by the
needy.
_Omar Khayyám._
400.
As one might nurse a tiny flame,
The able and far-seeing man,
E'en with the smallest capital,
Can raise himself to wealth.
_Buddhist._
401.
By a husband wealth is accumulated; by a wife is its preservation.
_Burmese._
402.
It is very hard for the mind to disengage itself from a subject on
which it has been long employed. The thoughts will be rising of
themselves from time to time, though we have given them no
encouragement, as the tossings and fluctuations of the sea continue
several hours after the winds are laid.
_Addison._
403.
Hypocrisy will serve as well
To propagate a church as zeal;
As persecution and promotion
Do equally advance devotion:
So round white stones will serve, they say,
As well as eggs, to make hens lay.
_Butler._
404.
Man differs from other animals particularly in this, that he is
imitative, and acquires his rudiments of knowledge in this way;
besides, the delight in imitation is universal.
_Aristotle._
405.
The hooting fowler seldom takes much game. When a man has a project
in his mind, digested and fixed by consideration, it is wise to keep
it secret till the time that his designs arrive at their despatch
and perfection. He is unwise who brags much either of what he will
do or what he shall have, for if what he speaks of fall not out
accordingly, instead of applause, a mock and scorn will follow him.
_Feltham._
406.
What is the most profitable? Fellowship with the good. What is the
worst thing in the world? The society of evil men. What is the
greatest loss? Failure in one's duty. Where is the greatest peace?
In truth and righteousness. Who is the hero? The man who subdues his
senses. Who is the best beloved? The faithful wife. What is wealth?
Knowledge. What is the most perfect happiness? Staying at home.
_Bhartrihari._
407.
If a man says that it is right to give every one his due, and
therefore thinks within his own mind that injury is due from a just
man to his enemies but kindness to his friends, he was not wise who
said so, for he spoke not the truth, for in no case has it appeared
to be just to injure any one.[21]
_Plato._
[21] Cf. Matt. V, 43, 44.
408.
Faith is like love, it cannot be forced. Therefore it is a dangerous
operation if an attempt be made to introduce or bind it by state
regulations; for, as the attempt to force love begets hatred, so
also to compel religious belief produces rank unbelief.
_Schopenhauer._
409.
We are like vessels tossed on the bosom of the deep; our passions
are the winds that sweep us impetuously forward; each pleasure is a
rock; the whole life is a wide ocean. Reason is the pilot to guide
us, but often allows itself to be led astray by the storms of pride.
_Metastasio._
410.
Empty is the house of a childless man; as empty is the mind of a
bachelor; empty are all quarters of the world to an ignorant man;
but poverty is total emptiness.
_Hitopadesa._
411.
The wicked have no stability, for they do not remain in consistency
with themselves; they continue friends only for a short time,
rejoicing in each other's wickedness.
_Aristotle._
412.
It is the natural disposition of all men to listen with pleasure to
abuse and slander of their neighbour, and to hear with impatience
those who utter praises of themselves.
_Demosthenes._
413.
A man ought not to return evil for evil, as many think, since at no
time ought we to do an injury to our neighbour.[22]
_Plato._
[22] Cf. Rom. XII, 19; 1 Thess. V, 15.
414.
In all that belongs to man you cannot find a greater wonder than
memory. What a treasury of all things! What a record! What a journal
of all! As if provident Nature, because she would have man
circumspect, had furnished him with an account-book, to carry always
with him. Yet it neither burthens nor takes up room.
_Feltham._
415.
He who will not freely and sadly confess that he is _much_ a fool is
_all_ a fool.
_Fuller._
416.
The man with hoary head is not revered as aged by the gods, but only
he who has true knowledge; he, though young, is old.
_Manu._
417.
No fathers and mothers think their own children ugly, and this
self-deceit is yet stronger with respect to the offspring of the
mind.
_Cervantes._
418.
In thy apparel avoid singularity, profuseness, and gaudiness. Be not
too early in the fashion, nor too late. Decency is half way between
affectation and neglect. The body is the shell of the soul, apparel
is the husk of that shell; the husk often tells you what the kernel
is.
_Quarles._
419.
We have more faith in a well-written romance while we are reading it
than in common history. The vividness of the representations in the
one case more than counterbalances the mere knowledge of the truth
of facts in the other.
_Hazlitt._
420.
It is easy to lose important opportunities, and difficult to regain
them; therefore when they present themselves it is the more
necessary to make every effort to retain them.
_Guicciardini._
421.
Among wonderful things is a sore-eyed man who is an oculist.
_Arabic._
422.
Gold gives the appearance of beauty even to ugliness; but everything
becomes frightful with poverty.
_Boileau._
423.
When the scale of sensuality bears down that of reason, the baseness
of our nature conducts us to most preposterous conclusions.
_R. Chamberlain._
424.
Idleness is a great enemy to mankind. There is no friend like
energy, for, if you cultivate that, it will never fail.
_Bhartrihari._
425.
The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them.
_Goethe._
426.
We must oblige everybody as much as we can; we have often need of
assistance from those inferior to ourselves.
_La Fontaine._
427.
We magnify the wealthy man, though his parts be never so poor. The
poor man we despise, be he never so well qualified. Gold is the
coverlet of imperfections. It is the fool's curtain, which hides all
his defects from the world.
_Feltham._
428.
There is nothing more operative than sedulity and diligence. A man
would wonder at the mighty things which have been done by degrees
and gentle augmentations. Diligence and moderation are the best
steps whereby to climb to any excellence, nay, it is rare that there
is any other other way.
_Feltham._
429.
In sooth, it is a shame to choose rather to be still borrowing in
all places, from everybody, than to work and win.
_Rabelais._
430.
Behaviour is a mirror in which every one shows his image.
_Goethe._
431.
There is nothing more daring than ignorance.
_Menander._
432.
It is not easy to stop the fire when the water is at a distance;
friends at hand are better than relations afar off.
_Chinese._
433.
The lustre of a virtuous character cannot be defaced, nor can the
vices of a vicious man ever become lucid. A jewel preserves its
lustre, though trodden in the mud, but a brass pot, though placed
upon the head, is brass still.
_Panchatantra._
434.
Noble birth is an accident of fortune, noble actions characterise
the great.
_Goldoni._
435.
Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.
_Hazlitt._
436.
When anyone is modest, not after praise, but after censure, then he
is really so.
_Richter._
437.
Experience has always shown, and reason shows, that affairs which
depend on many seldom succeed.
_Guicciardini._
438.
Give not thy tongue too great a liberty, lest it take thee prisoner.
A word unspoken is like thy sword in thy scabbard; if vented, the
sword is in another's hand.[23] If thou desire to be held wise, be
so wise as to hold thy tongue.
_Quarles._
[23] Cf. 221; also Metastasio:
Voce dal fuggita
Poi richiamar non vale;
Non si trattien lo strale
Quando dall' arco uscì.
[The word that once escapes the tongue cannot be
recalled; the arrow cannot be detained which has once
sped from the bow.]
439.
The old lose one of the greatest privileges of man, for they are no
longer judged by their contemporaries.
_Goethe._
440.
When the man of a naturally good propensity has much wealth it
injures his advancement in wisdom; when a worthless man has much
wealth it increases his faults.
_Chinese._
441.
In youth a man is deluded by other ideas than those which delude him
in middle life, and again in his decay he embraces other ideas.
_Mahábhárata._
442.
To consider, Is this man of our own or an alien? is a mark of
little-minded persons; but the whole earth is of kin to the
generous-hearted.[24]
_Panchatantra._
[24] Cf. Luke, X, 29, ff.
443.
Skill in advising others is easily attained by men; but to practise
righteousness themselves is what only a few can succeed in doing.
_Hitopadesa._
444.
Hast thou not perfect excellence, 'tis best
To keep thy tongue in silence, for 'tis this
Which shames a man; as lightness does attest
The nut is empty, nor of value is.
_Sa'dí._
445.
Understand a man by his deeds and words; the impressions of others
lead to false judgment.
_Talmud._
446.
A man of feeble character resembles a reed that bends with every
gust of wind.
_Mágha._
447.
There is no fire like passion; there is no shark like hatred; there
is no snare like folly; there is no torrent like greed.
_Dhammapada._
448.
Commit a sin twice, and it will not seem to thee a sin.
_Talmud._
449.
Liberality attended with mild language; learning without pride;
valour united with mercy; wealth accompanied with a generous
contempt of it--these four qualities are with difficulty acquired.
_Hitopadesa._
450.
Inquire about your neighbour before you build, and about your
companions before you travel.
_Arabic._
451.
Though you may yourself abound in treasure, teach your son some
handicraft; for a heavy purse of gold and silver may run to waste,
but the purse of the artisan's industry can never get empty.
_Sa'dí._
452.
It is an observation no less just than common that there is no
stronger test of a man's real character than power and authority,
exciting, as they do, every passion, and discovering every latent
vice.
_Plutarch._
453.
Rather skin a carcass for pay in the public streets than be idly
dependent on charity.
_Talmud._
454.
Knowledge produces mildness of speech; mildness of speech, a good
character; a good character, wealth; wealth, if virtuous actions
attend it, happiness.
_Hitopadesa._
455.
O how wonderful is the human voice! It is indeed the organ of the
soul. The intellect of man sits enshrined visibly upon his forehead
and in his eye; and the heart of man is written upon his
countenance. But the soul reveals itself in the voice only, as God
revealed himself to the prophet in the still small voice, and in a
voice from the Burning Bush. The soul of man is audible, not
visible. A sound alone betrays the flowing of the eternal fountain
invisible to man.
_Longfellow._
456.
Every gift, though small, is in reality great, if it be given with
affection.[25]
_Philemon._
[25] See also 80.
457.
Good words, good deeds, and beautiful expressions
A wise man ever culls from every quarter,
E'en as a gleaner gathers ears of corn.
_Mahábhárata._
458.
In poverty and other misfortunes of life men think friends to be
their only refuge. The young they keep out of mischief, to the old
they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime
of life they incite to noble deeds.
_Aristotle._
459.
Heed not the flatterer's fulsome talk,
He from thee hopes some trifle to obtain;
Thou wilt, shouldst thou his wishes baulk,
Ten hundred times as much of censure gain.
_Sa'dí._
460.
By the fall of water-drops the pot is filled: such is the increase
of riches, of knowledge, and of virtue.
_Hitopadesa._
461.
We deliberate about the parcels of life, but not about life itself,
and so we arrive all unawares at its different epochs, and have the
trouble of beginning all again. And so finally it is that we do not
walk as men confidently towards death, but let death come suddenly
upon us.
_Seneca._
462.
It is no very good symptom, either of nations or individuals, that
they deal much in vaticination. Happy men are full of the present,
for its bounty suffices them; and wise men also, for its duties
engage them. Our grand business undoubtedly is not to see what lies
dimly at a distance, but to do what clearly lies at hand.
_Carlyle._
463.
Law does not put the least restraint
Upon our freedom, but maintain'st;
Or, if it does, 'tis for our good,
To give us freer latitude:
For wholesome laws preserve us free,
By stinting of our liberty.
_Butler._
464.
It is only necessary to grow old in order to become more indulgent.
I see no fault committed that I have not been myself inclined to.
_Goethe._
465.
Even a blockhead may respect inspire,
So long as he is suitably attired;
A fool may gain esteem among the wise,
So long as he has sense to hold his tongue.
_Hitopadesa._
466.
A wise man should never resolve upon anything, at least, never let
the world know his resolution, for if he cannot reach that he is
ashamed.[26]
_Selden._
[26] See 406.
467.
Men's minds are generally ingenious in palliating guilt in
themselves.
_Livy._
468.
Prosperity is acquired by exertion, and there is no fruit for him
who doth not exert himself: the fawns go not into the mouth of a
sleeping lion.
_Hitopadesa._
469.
Wickedness, by whomsoever committed, is odious, but most of all in
men of learning; for learning is the weapon with which Satan is
combated, and when a man is made captive with arms in his hand his
shame is more excessive.
_Sa'dí._
470.
He that will give himself to all manner of ways to get money may be
rich; so he that lets fly all he knows or thinks may by chance be
satirically witty. Honesty sometimes keeps a man from growing rich,
and civility from being witty.
_Selden._
471.
Men are not rich or poor according to what they possess but to what
they desire. The only rich man is he that with content enjoys a
competence.
_R. Chamberlain._
472.
Poverty is not dishonourable in itself, but only when it arises from
idleness, intemperance, extravagance, and folly.
_Plutarch._
473.
Do nothing rashly; want of circumspection is the chief cause of
failure and disaster. Fortune, wise lover of the wise, selects him
for her lord who ere he acts reflects.
_Bháravi._
474.
First think, and if thy thoughts approve thy will,
Then speak, and after, what thou speak'st fulfil.
_Randolph._
475.
It cannot but be injurious to the human mind never to be called into
effort: the habit of receiving pleasure without any exertion of
thought, by the mere excitement of curiosity, and sensibility, may
be justly ranked among the worst effects of habitual novel-reading.
_Coleridge._
476.
Patience is the chiefest fruit of study; a man that strives to make
himself different from other men by much reading gains this chiefest
good, that in all fortunes he hath something to entertain and
comfort himself withal.
_Selden._
477.
Friendship throws a greater lustre on prosperity, while it lightens
adversity by sharing in its griefs and troubles.
_Cicero._
478.