Every one can master grief, but he that has it.
_Much Ado about Nothing, Act iii. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.
The grief that does not speak
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.
_Macbeth, Act iv. Sc. 3_. SHAKESPEARE.
No words suffice the secret soul to show,
For truth denies all eloquence to woe.
_The Corsair, Canto III_. LORD BYRON.
No greater grief than to remember days
Of joy when misery is at hand.
_Inferno, Canto V_. DANTE.
I am not mad;--I would to heaven I were!
For then, 'tis like I should forget myself;
O, if I could, what grief I should forget!
_King John, Act iii. Sc. 4_. SHAKESPEARE.
Not to the grave, not to the grave, my soul,
Follow thy friend beloved!
But in the lonely hour,
But in the evening walk,
Think that he accompanies thy solitude;
Think that he holds with thee
Mysterious intercourse:
And though remembrance wake a tear,
There will be joy in grief.
_The Dead Friend_. R. SOUTHEY.
HABIT.
Habit with him was all the test of truth;
"It must be right: I've done it from my youth."
_The Borough, Letter III_. G. CRABBE.
How use doth breed a habit in a man!
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled town.
_Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act v. Sc. 4_. SHAKESPEARE.
Hackneyed in business, wearied at that oar,
Which thousands, once fast chained to, quit no more.
_Retirement_. W. COWPER.
Small habits, well pursued betimes,
May reach the dignity of crimes.
_Florio, Pt. I_. HANNAH MORE.
Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,
As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
_Metamorphoses, Bk. XV_. OVID. _Trans. of_ DRYDEN.