Book of Wise Sayings Part 14

453.

Rather skin a carca.s.s 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 G.o.d 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.

Mahabharata.

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 n.o.ble 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'di.

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 lat.i.tude: 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'di.

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 circ.u.mspection is the chief cause of failure and disaster. Fortune, wise lover of the wise, selects him for her lord who ere he acts reflects.

Bharavi.

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.

Friends.h.i.+p throws a greater l.u.s.tre on prosperity, while it lightens adversity by sharing in its griefs and troubles.

Cicero.

478.

There is nothing more becoming a wise man than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art. Let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters than thy inferiors; shunning always such as are poor and needy, for if thou givest twenty gifts and refuse to do the like but once, all that thou hast done will be lost, and such men will become thy mortal enemies.

Sir W. Raleigh, to his Son.

479.

Learning is like Scanderbeg's sword, either good or bad according to him who hath it: an excellent weapon, if well used; otherwise, like a sharp razor in the hand of a child.

R. Chamberlain.

480.

The greater part of mankind employ their first years to make their last miserable.

La Bruyere.

481.

I hate the miser, whose unsocial breast Locks from the world his useless stores. Wealth by the bounteous only is enjoyed, Whose treasures, in diffusive good employed, The rich return of fame and friends procure, And 'gainst a sad reverse a safe retreat secure.

Pindar.

482.

Wisdom alone is the true and unalloyed coin for which we ought to exchange all things, for this and with this everything is bought and sold--fort.i.tude, temperance, and justice; in a word, true virtue subsists with wisdom.

Plato.

483.

If thou intendest to do a good act, do it quickly, and then thou wilt excite grat.i.tude; a favour if it be slow in being conferred causes ingrat.i.tude.

Ausonius.

484.

'Tis those who reverence the old That are the men versed in the Faith; Worthy of praise while in this life, And happy in the life to come.

Buddhist.

485.

Low-minded men are occupied solely with their own affairs, but n.o.ble-minded men take special interest in the affairs of others. The submarine fire drinks up the ocean, to fill its insatiable interior; the rain-cloud, that it may relieve the drought of the earth, burnt up by the hot season.