Book of Wise Sayings Part 15

Bhartrihari.

486.

Those men are wise who do not desire the unattainable, who do not love to mourn over what is lost, and are not overwhelmed by calamities.

Mahabharata.

487.

Let him take heart who does advance, even in the smallest degree.

Plato.

488.

A truly great man never puts away the simplicity of a child.[27]

Chinese.

[27] Cf. Pope, in his Epitaph on the poet Gay: Of manners gentle, of affections mild; In wit a man, simplicity, a child.

489.

If thou desirest ease in this life, keep thy secrets undisclosed, like the modest rosebud. Take warning from that lovely flower, which, by expanding its. .h.i.therto hidden beauties when in full bloom, gives its leaves and its happiness to the winds.

Persian.

490.

A husband is the chief ornament of a wife, though she have no other ornament; but, though adorned, without a husband she has no ornaments.

Hitopadesa.

491.

He who has more learning than goodness is like a tree with many branches and few roots, which the first wind throws down; whilst he whose works are greater than his knowledge is like a tree with many roots and fewer branches, which all the winds of heaven cannot uproot.

Talmud.

492.

He that would build lastingly must lay his foundation low. The proud man, like the early shoots of a new-felled coppice, thrusts out full of sap, green in leaves, and fresh in colour, but bruises and breaks with every wind, is nipped with every little cold, and, being top-heavy, is wholly unfit for use. Whereas the humble man retains it in the root, can abide the winter's killing blast, the ruffling concussions of the wind, and can endure far more than that which appears so flouris.h.i.+ng.

Feltham.

493.

The man who has not anything to boast of but his ill.u.s.trious ancestors is like a potato--the only good belonging to him is underground.

Sir Thos. Overbury.

494.

When men will not be reasoned out of a vanity, they must be ridiculed out of it.

L'Estrange.

495.

Women are ever in extremes, they are either better or worse than men.

La Bruyere.

496.

An absent friend gives us friendly company when we are well a.s.sured of his happiness.

Goethe.

497.

The man of worth is really great without being proud; the mean man is proud without being really great.

Chinese.

498.

Liberality consists less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

La Bruyere.

499.

Outward perfection without inward goodness sets but the blacker dye on the mind's deformity.

R. Chamberlain.

500.

As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so wise men falter not amidst blame or praise.

Dhammapada.

501.

Of what avail is the praise or censure of the vulgar, who make a useless noise like a senseless crow in a forest?

Mahabharata.

502.

Hark! here the sound of lute so sweet, And there the voice of wailing loud; Here scholars grave in conclave meet, There howls the brawling drunken crowd; Here, charming maidens full of glee, There, tottering, withered dames we see. Such light! Such shade! I cannot tell, If here we live in heaven or h.e.l.l.

Bhartrihari.

503.

The every-day cares and duties which men call drudgery are the weights and counterpoises of the clock of Time, giving its pendulum a true vibration, and its hands a regular motion; and when they cease to hang upon the wheels, the pendulum no longer sways, the hands no longer move, the clock stands still.

Longfellow.

504.

A man of little learning deems that little a great deal; a frog, never having seen the ocean, considers its well a great sea.

Burmese.

505.

Trust not thy secret to a confidant, for he too will have his a.s.sociates and friends; and it will spread abroad through the whole city, and men will call thee weak-headed.

Firdausi.

506.

Labour like a man, and be ready in doing kindnesses. He is a good-for-nothing fellow who eateth by the toil of another's hand.

Sa'di.[28]

[28] See also 429, 453.

507.

Let every man sweep the snow from before his own doors, and not busy himself about the frost on his neighbour's tiles.

Chinese.

508.

With knowledge, say, what other wealth Can vie, which neither thieves by stealth Can take, nor kinsmen make their prey, Which, lavished, never wastes away.

Sanskrit.

509.

Women's wealth is beauty, learning, that of men.

Burmese.

510.

Prosperity attends the lion-hearted man who exerts himself, while we say, destiny will ensure it. Laying aside destiny, show manly fort.i.tude by thy own strength: if thou endeavour, and thy endeavours fail of success, what crime is there in failing?

Hitopadesa.

511.

Spare not, nor spend too much, be this thy care, Spare but to spend, and only spend to spare. Who spends too much may want, and so complain; But he spends best that spares to spend again.

Randolph.

512.

Everything that is acknowledges the blessing of existence. Shalt not thou, by a similar acknowledgment, be happy? If thou pay due attention to sounds, thou shalt hear the praise of the Creator celebrated by the whole creation.

Nakhshabi.

513.

The attribute most n.o.ble of the hand Is readiness in giving; of the head, Bending before a teacher; of the mouth, Veracious speaking; of a victor's arms, Undaunted valour; of the inner heart, Pureness the most unsullied; of the ears, Delight in hearing and receiving truth--These are adornments of high-minded men, Better than all the majesty of Empire.

Bhartrihari.

514.

The mere reality of life would be inconceivably poor without the charm of fancy, which brings in its bosom as many vain fears as idle hopes, but lends much oftener to the illusions it calls up a gay flattering hue than one which inspires terror.

Von Humboldt.

515.

Stupidity has its sublime as well as genius, and he who carries that quality to absurdity has reached it, which is always a source of pleasure to sensible people.

Wieland.

516.

It is curious to note the old sea-margins of human thought. Each subsiding century reveals some new mystery; we build where monsters used to hide themselves.

Longfellow.

517.

Women never reason and therefore they are, comparatively, seldom wrong. They judge instinctively of what falls under their immediate observation or experience, and do not trouble themselves about remote or doubtful consequences. If they make no profound discoveries, they do not involve themselves in gross absurdities. It is only by the help of reason and logical inference, according to Hobbes, that "man becomes excellently wise or excellently foolish."

Hazlitt.

518.