We ought to do our neighbour all the good we can. If you do good, good will be done to you; but if you do evil, the same will be measured back to you again.[691:2] Dabschelim and Pilpay. Chap. i. It has been the providence of Nature to give this creature [the cat] nine lives instead of one.[691:3] The Greedy and Ambitious Cat. Fable iii. There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.[691:4] The Two Travellers. Chap. ii. Fable vi. Wise men say that there are three sorts of persons who are wholly deprived of judgment,—they who are ambitious of preferments in the courts of princes; they who make use of poison to show their skill in curing it; and they who intrust women with their secrets. The Two Travellers. Chap. ii. Fable vi. Men are used as they use others. The King who became Just. Fable ix. What is bred in the bone will never come out of the flesh.[691:5] The Two Fishermen. Fable xiv. Guilty consciences always make people cowards.[691:6] The Prince and his Minister. Chap. iii. Fable iii. [692] Whoever...prefers the service of princes before his duty to his Creator, will be sure, early or late, to repent in vain. The Prince and his Minister. Chap. iii. Fable iii. There are some who bear a grudge even to those that do them good. A Religious Doctor. Fable vi. There was once, in a remote part of the East, a man who was altogether void of knowledge and experience, yet presumed to call himself a physician. The Ignorant Physician. Fable viii. He that plants thorns must never expect to gather roses.[692:1] The Ignorant Physician. Fable viii. Honest men esteem and value nothing so much in this world as a real friend. Such a one is as it were another self, to whom we impart our most secret thoughts, who partakes of our joy, and comforts us in our affliction; add to this, that his company is an everlasting pleasure to us. Choice of Friends. Chap. iv. That possession was the strongest tenure of the law.[692:2] The Cat and the two Birds. Chap. v. Fable iv. Footnotes [691:1] Pilpay is supposed to have been a Brahmin gymnosophist, and to have lived several centuries before Christ. The earliest form in which his Fables appear is in the Pancha-tantra and Hitopadesa of the Sanskrit. The first translation was into the Pehlvi language, and thence into the Arabic, about the seventh century. The first English translation appeared in 1570. [691:2] And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.—Matthew vii. 2.
HESIOD. Circa 720 (?) b. c. (Translation by J. Banks, M. A., with a few alterations.[692:3]) We know to tell many fictions like to truths, and we know, when we will, to speak what is true. The Theogony. Line 27. On the tongue of such an one they shed a honeyed dew,[692:4] and from his lips drop gentle words. The Theogony. Line 82. Night, having Sleep, the brother of Death.[692:5] The Theogony. Line 754. [693] From whose eyelids also as they gazed dropped love.[693:1] The Theogony. Line 910. Both potter is jealous of potter and craftsman of craftsman; and poor man has a grudge against poor man, and poet against poet.[693:2] Works and Days. Line 25. Fools! they know not how much half exceeds the whole.[693:3] Works and Days. Line 40. For full indeed is earth of woes, and full the sea; and in the day as well as night diseases unbidden haunt mankind, silently bearing ills to men, for all-wise Zeus hath taken from them their voice. So utterly impossible is it to escape the will of Zeus. Works and Days. Line 101. They died, as if o'ercome by sleep. Works and Days. Line 116. Oft hath even a whole city reaped the evil fruit of a bad man.[693:4] Works and Days. Line 240. For himself doth a man work evil in working evils for another. Works and Days. Line 265. Badness, look you, you may choose easily in a heap: level is the path, and right near it dwells. But before Virtue the immortal gods have put the sweat of man's brow; and long and steep is the way to it, and rugged at the first. Works and Days. Line 287. This man, I say, is most perfect who shall have understood everything for himself, after having devised what may be best afterward and unto the end. Works and Days. Line 293. Let it please thee to keep in order a moderate-sized farm, that so thy garners may be full of fruits in their season. Works and Days. Line 304. [694] Invite the man that loves thee to a feast, but let alone thine enemy. Work and Days. Line 342. A bad neighbour is as great a misfortune as a good one is a great blessing. Works and Days. Line 346. Gain not base gains; base gains are the same as losses. Works and Days. Line 353. If thou shouldst lay up even a little upon a little, and shouldst do this often, soon would even this become great. Works and Days. Line 360. At the beginning of the cask and at the end take thy fill, but be saving in the middle; for at the bottom saving comes too late. Let the price fixed with a friend be sufficient, and even dealing with a brother call in witnesses, but laughingly. Works and Days. Line 366. Diligence increaseth the fruit of toil. A dilatory man wrestles with losses. Works and Days. Line 412. The morn, look you, furthers a man on his road, and furthers him too in his work. Works and Days. Line 579. Observe moderation. In all, the fitting season is best. Works and Days. Line 694. Neither make thy friend equal to a brother; but if thou shalt have made him so, be not the first to do him wrong. Works and Days. Line 707. Footnotes [693:3] Pittacus said that half was more than the whole.—Diogenes Laertius: Pittacus, ii. [693:4] One man's wickedness may easily become all men's curse.—Publius Syrus: Maxim 463.
THEOGNIS. 570(?)-490(?) b. c. Wine is wont to show the mind of man. Maxims. Line 500. No one goes to Hades with all his immense wealth.[694:1] Maxims. Line 725. Footnotes [694:1] For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away, his glory shall not descend after him.—Psalm xlix. 17.
[695] [These selections from the most famous gnomic sayings of the great tragic writers of Greece—Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides—are chiefly from the fragments and not from their complete plays. The numbers of the fragments refer to the edition of Nauck. They are selected and translated by M. H. Morgan, Ph. D., of Harvard University.] ÆSCHYLUS. 525-456 b. c. I would far rather be ignorant than wise in the foreboding of evil.[695:1] Suppliants, 453. "Honour thy father and thy mother" stands written among the three laws of most revered righteousness.[695:2] Suppliants, 707. Words are the physicians of a mind diseased.[695:3] Prometheus, 378. Time as he grows old teaches many lessons. Prometheus, 981. God's mouth knows not to utter falsehood, but he will perform each word.[695:4] Prometheus, 1032. Learning is ever in the freshness of its youth, even for the old.[695:5] Agamemnon, 584. Few men have the natural strength to honour a friend's success without envy....I well know that mirror of friendship, shadow of a shade. Agamemnon, 832. Exiles feed on hope. Agamemnon, 1668. Success is man's god. ChoephorÆ, 59. [696] So in the Libyan fable it is told That once an eagle, stricken with a dart, Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft, "With our own feathers, not by others' hands, Are we now smitten."[696:1] Frag. 135 (trans. by Plumptre). Of all the gods, Death only craves not gifts: Nor sacrifice, nor yet drink-offering poured Avails; no altars hath he, nor is soothed By hymns of praise. From him alone of all The powers of heaven Persuasion holds aloof. Frag. 146 (trans. by Plumptre). O Death the Healer, scorn thou not, I pray, To come to me: of cureless ills thou art The one physician. Pain lays not its touch Upon a corpse. Frag. 250 (trans. by Plumptre). A prosperous fool is a grievous burden. Frag. 383. Bronze is the mirror of the form; wine, of the heart. Frag. 384. It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath. Frag. 385. Footnotes [695:2] The three great laws ascribed to Triptolemus are referred to,—namely, to honour parents; to worship the gods with the fruits of the earth; to hurt no living creature. The first two laws are also ascribed to the centaur Cheiron. [695:3] Apt words have power to suage The tumours of a troubl'd mind. Milton: Samson Agonistes. [695:4] God is not a man that he should lie;...hath he said, and shall he not do it?—Numbers xxiii. 19.
SOPHOCLES. 496-406 b. c. Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right. Antigone, 706. Death is not the worst evil, but rather when we wish to die and cannot. Electra, 1007. There is an ancient saying, famous among men, that thou shouldst not judge fully of a man's life before he dieth, whether it should be called blest or wretched.[696:2] TrachiniÆ, 1. In a just cause the weak o'ercome the strong.[696:3] Œdipus Coloneus, 880. [697] A lie never lives to be old. Acrisius. Frag. 59. Nobody loves life like an old man. Acrisius. Frag. 63. A short saying oft contains much wisdom.[697:1] Aletes. Frag. 99. Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all. Hipponous. Frag. 280. It is better not to live at all than to live disgraced. Peleus. Frag. 445. War loves to seek its victims in the young. Scyrii. Frag. 507. If it were possible to heal sorrow by weeping and to raise the dead with tears, gold were less prized than grief. Scyrii. Frag. 510. Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. PhÆdra. Frag. 619. The truth is always the strongest argument. PhÆdra. Frag. 737. The dice of Zeus fall ever luckily. PhÆdra. Frag. 809. Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted. PhÆdra. Frag. 842. No oath too binding for a lover. PhÆdra. Frag. 848. Thoughts are mightier than strength of hand. PhÆdra. Frag. 854. A wise player ought to accept his throws and score them, not bewail his luck. PhÆdra. Frag. 862. If I am Sophocles, I am not mad; and if I am mad, I am not Sophocles. Vit. Anon. p. 64 (Plumptre's Trans.). Footnotes [696:2] The saying "Call no man happy before he dies" was ascribed to Solon. Herodotus, i. 32.
EURIPIDES. 484-406 b. c. Old men's prayers for death are lying prayers, in which they abuse old age and long extent of life. But when death draws near, not one is willing to die, and age no longer is a burden to them. Alcestis. 669. [698] The gifts of a bad man bring no good with them. Medea. 618. Moderation, the noblest gift of Heaven. Medea. 636. I know, indeed, the evil of that I purpose; but my inclination gets the better of my judgment.[698:1] Medea. 1078. There is in the worst of fortune the best of chances for a happy change.[698:2] Iphigenia in Tauris. 721. Slowly but surely withal moveth the might of the gods.[698:3] BacchÆ. 882. Thou didst bring me forth for all the Greeks in common, not for thyself alone. Iphigenia in Aulis. 1386. Slight not what 's near through aiming at what 's far.[698:4] Rhesus. 482. The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate. Ægeus. Frag. 7. A bad beginning makes a bad ending. Æolus. Frag. 32. Time will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks. Æolus. Frag. 38. Waste not fresh tears over old griefs. Alexander. Frag. 44. The nobly born must nobly meet his fate.[698:5] Alcmene. Frag. 100. Woman is woman's natural ally. Alope. Frag. 109. Man's best possession is a sympathetic wife. Antigone. Frag. 164. Ignorance of one's misfortunes is clear gain.[698:6] Antiope. Frag. 204. [699] Try first thyself, and after call in God; For to the worker God himself lends aid.[699:1] Hippolytus. Frag. 435. Second thoughts are ever wiser.[699:2] Hippolytus. Frag. 436. Toil, says the proverb, is the sire of fame. Licymnius. Frag. 477. Cowards do not count in battle; they are there, but not in it. Meleager. Frag. 523. A woman should be good for everything at home, but abroad good for nothing. Meleager. Frag. 525. Silver and gold are not the only coin; virtue too passes current all over the world. Œdipus. Frag. 546. When good men die their goodness does not perish, But lives though they are gone. As for the bad, All that was theirs dies and is buried with them. TemenidÆ. Frag. 734. Every man is like the company he is wont to keep. Phoenix. Frag. 809. Who knows but life be that which men call death,[699:3] And death what men call life? Phrixus. Frag. 830. Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future. Phrixus. Frag. 927. The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children. Phrixus. Frag. 970. Footnotes [698:2] The darkest hour is that before the dawn.—Hazlitt: English Proverbs. [698:5] Noblesse oblige.—Bohn: Foreign Proverbs.
MIMNERMUS (Tragedian). We are all clever enough at envying a famous man while he is yet alive, and at praising him when he is dead. Frag. 1.
[700] HIPPOCRATES. 460-359 b. c. Life is short and the art long.[700:1] Aphorism i. Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.[700:2] Aphorism i. Footnotes [700:2] See Shakespeare, page 141. For a desperate disease a desperate cure.—Montaigne: Chap. iii. The Custom of the Isle of Cea.
DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 430-367 b. c. Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent. Frag. 6.
PLAUTUS. 254(?)-184 b. c. (Translated by Henry Thomas Riley, B. A., with a few variations. The references are to the text of Ritschl's second edition.[700:3]) What is yours is mine, and all mine is yours.[700:4] Trinummus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 48. (329.) Not by years but by disposition is wisdom acquired. Trinummus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 88. (367.) These things are not for the best, nor as I think they ought to be; but still they are better than that which is downright bad. Trinummus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 111. (392.) He whom the gods favour dies in youth.[700:5] Bacchides. Act iv. Sc. 7, 18. (816.) [701] You are seeking a knot in a bulrush.[701:1] MenÆchmi. Act ii. Sc. 1, 22. (247.) In the one hand he is carrying a stone, while he shows the bread in the other.[701:2] Aulularia. Act ii. Sc. 2, 18. (195.) I had a regular battle with the dunghill-cock. Aulularia. Act iii. Sc. 4, 13. (472.) It was not for nothing that the raven was just now croaking on my left hand.[701:3] Aulularia. Act iv. Sc. 3, 1. (624.) There are occasions when it is undoubtedly better to incur loss than to make gain. Captivi. Act ii. Sc. 2, 77. (327.) Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.[701:4] Rudens. Act ii. Sc. 5, 71. If you are wise, be wise; keep what goods the gods provide you. Rudens. Act iv. Sc. 7, 3. (1229.) Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only.[701:5] Truculentus. Act iv. Sc. 4, 15. (868.) Nothing is there more friendly to a man than a friend in need.[701:6] Epidicus. Act iii. Sc. 3, 44. (425.) Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.[701:7] Mostellaria. Act i. Sc. 3, 40. (197.) To blow and swallow at the same moment is not easy. Mostellaria. Act iii. Sc. 2, 104. (791.) Each man reaps on his own farm. Mostellaria. Act iii. Sc. 2, 112. (799.) Footnotes [701:1] A proverbial expression implying a desire to create doubts and difficulties where there really were none. It occurs in Terence, the "Andria," act v. sc. 4, 38; also in Ennius, "SaturÆ," 46. [701:2] What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?—Matthew vii. 9. [701:4] Patience is a remedy for every sorrow.—Publius Syrus: Maxim 170. [701:6] A friend in need is a friend indeed.—Hazlitt: English Proverbs. [701:7] The unexpected always happens.—A common proverb.
[702] TERENCE. 185-159 b. c. (From the translation of Henry Thomas Riley, B. A., with occasional corrections. The references are to the text of Umpfenbach.[702:1]) Do not they bring it to pass by knowing that they know nothing at all? Andria. The Prologue. 17. Of surpassing beauty and in the bloom of youth. Andria. Act i. Sc. 1, 45. (72.) Hence these tears. Andria. Act i. Sc. 1, 99. (126.) That is a true proverb which is wont to be commonly quoted, that "all had rather it were well for themselves than for another." Andria. Act ii. Sc. 5, 15. (426.) The quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love.[702:2] Andria. Act iii. Sc. 3, 23. (555.) Look you, I am the most concerned in my own interests.[702:3] Andria. Act iv. Sc. 1, 12. (636.) In fine, nothing is said now that has not been said before. Eunuchus. The Prologue. 41. It is up with you; all is over; you are ruined. Eunuchus. Act i. Sc. 1, 9. (54.) If I could believe that this was said sincerely, I could put up with anything. Eunuchus. Act i. Sc. 2, 96. (176.) Immortal gods! how much does one man excel another! What a difference there is between a wise person and a fool! Eunuchus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 1. (232.) I have everything, yet have nothing; and although I possess nothing, still of nothing am I in want.[702:4] Eunuchus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 12. (243.) [703] There are vicissitudes in all things. Eunuchus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 45. (276.) The very flower of youth. Eunuchus. Act ii. Sc. 3, 28. (319.) I did not care one straw. Eunuchus. Act iii. Sc. 1, 21. (411.) Jupiter, now assuredly is the time when I could readily consent to be slain,[703:1] lest life should sully this ecstasy with some disaster. Eunuchus. Act iii. Sc. 5, 2. (550.) This and a great deal more like it I have had to put up with. Eunuchus. Act iv. Sc. 6, 8. (746.) Take care and say this with presence of mind.[703:2] Eunuchus. Act iv. Sc. 6, 31. (769.) It behooves a prudent person to make trial of everything before arms. Eunuchus. Act iv. Sc. 7, 19. (789.) I know the disposition of women: when you will, they won't; when you won't, they set their hearts upon you of their own inclination. Eunuchus. Act iv. Sc. 7, 42. (812.) I took to my heels as fast as I could. Eunuchus. Act v. Sc. 2, 5. (844.) Many a time,...from a bad beginning great friendships have sprung up. Eunuchus. Act v. Sc. 2, 34. (873.) I only wish I may see your head stroked down with a slipper.[703:3] Eunuchus. Act v. Sc. 7, 4. (1028.) I am a man, and nothing that concerns a man do I deem a matter of indifference to me.[703:4] Heautontimoroumenos. Act i. Sc. 1, 25. (77.) This is a wise maxim, "to take warning from others of what may be to your own advantage." Heautontimoroumenos. Act i. Sc. 2, 36. (210.) [704] That saying which I hear commonly repeated,—that time assuages sorrow. Heautontimoroumenos. Act iii. Sc. 1, 12. (421.) Really, you have seen the old age of an eagle,[704:1] as the saying is. Heautontimoroumenos. Act iii. Sc. 2, 9. (520.) Many a time a man cannot be such as he would be, if circumstances do not admit of it. Heautontimoroumenos. Act iv. Sc. 1, 53. (666.) Nothing is so difficult but that it may be found out by seeking. Heautontimoroumenos. Act iv. Sc. 2, 8. (675.) What now if the sky were to fall?[704:2] Heautontimoroumenos. Act iv. Sc. 3, 41. (719.) Rigorous law is often rigorous injustice.[704:3] Heautontimoroumenos. Act iv. Sc. 5, 48. (796.) There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance. Heautontimoroumenos. Act iv. Sc. 6, 1. (805.) How many things, both just and unjust, are sanctioned by custom! Heautontimoroumenos. Act iv. Sc. 7, 11. (839.) Fortune helps the brave.[704:4] Phormio. Act i. Sc. 4, 25. (203.) It is the duty of all persons, when affairs are the most prosperous,[704:5] then in especial to reflect within themselves in what way they are to endure adversity. Phormio. Act ii. Sc. 1, 11. (241.) As many men, so many minds; every one his own way. Phormio. Act ii. Sc. 4, 14. (454.) [705] As the saying is, I have got a wolf by the ears.[705:1] Phormio. Act iii. Sc. 2, 21. (506.) I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and from others to take an example for himself. Adelphoe. Act iii. Sc. 3, 61. (415.) According as the man is, so must you humour him. Adelphoe. Act iii. Sc. 3, 77. (431.) It is a maxim of old that among themselves all things are common to friends.[705:2] Adelphoe. Act v. Sc. 3, 18. (803.) What comes from this quarter, set it down as so much gain. Adelphoe. Act v. Sc. 3, 30. (816.) It is the common vice of all, in old age, to be too intent upon our interests.[705:3] Adelphoe. Act v. Sc. 8, 30. (953.) Footnotes [702:3] Equivalent to our sayings, "Charity begins at home;" "Take care of Number One." [703:1] If it were now to die, 'T were now to be most happy. Shakespeare: Othello, act ii. sc. 1. [703:2] Literally, "with a present mind,"—equivalent to CÆsar's prÆsentia animi (De Bello Gallico, v. 43, 4). [703:3] According to Lucian, there was a story that Omphale used to beat Hercules with her slipper or sandal. [703:4] Cicero quotes this passage in De Officiis, i. 30. [704:1] This was a proverbial expression, signifying a hale and vigorous old age. [704:2] See Heywood, page 11. Some ambassadors from the CeltÆ, being asked by Alexander what in the world they dreaded most, answered, that they feared lest the sky should fall upon them.—Arrianus: lib. i. 4. [704:3] Extreme law, extreme injustice, is now become a stale proverb in discourse.—Cicero: De Officiis, i. 33. Une extrÊme justice est souvent une injure (Extreme justice is often injustice).—Racine: FrÈres Ennemies, act iv. sc. 3. Mais l'extrÊme justice est une extrÊme injure.—Voltaire: Œdipus, act iii. sc. 3. [704:4] Pliny the Younger says (book vi. letter xvi.) that Pliny the Elder said this during the eruption of Vesuvius: "Fortune favours the brave." [704:5] Cicero: Tusculan Questions, book iii. 30. [705:1] A proverbial expression, which, according to Suetonius, was frequently in the mouth of Tiberius CÆsar. [705:2] All things are in common among friends.—Diogenes Laertius: Diogenes, vi. [705:3] Cicero quotes this passage (Tusculan Questions, book iii.), and the maxim was a favourite one with the Stoic philosophers.
CICERO. 106-43 b. c. For as lack of adornment is said to become some women, so this subtle oration, though without embellishment, gives delight.[705:4] De Oratore. 78. Thus in the beginning the world was so made that certain signs come before certain events.[705:5] De Divinatione. i. 118. He is never less at leisure than when at leisure.[705:6] De Officiis. iii. 1. While the sick man has life there is hope.[705:7] Epistolarum ad Atticum. ix. 10, 4.
[706] LUCRETIUS. 95-55 b. c. Continual dropping wears away a stone.[706:1] De Rerum Natura. i. 313. What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others.[706:2] De Rerum Natura. iv. 637. In the midst of the fountain of wit there arises something bitter, which stings in the very flowers.[706:3] De Rerum Natura. iv. 1133.
HORACE. 65-8 b. c. Brave men were living before Agamemnon.[706:4] Odes. iv. 9, 25. In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war.[706:5] Satires, ii. 2. (111.) You may see me, fat and shining, with well-cared-for hide,...a hog from Epicurus's herd.[706:6] Satires, ii. 4, 15. What the discordant harmony of circumstances would and could effect.[706:7] Epistles, i. 12, 19. If you wish me to weep, you yourself must feel grief.[706:8] Ars Poetica. 102. The mountains will be in labour; an absurd mouse will be born.[706:9] Ars Poetica. 139. Even the worthy Homer sometimes nods.[706:10] Ars Poetica. 359. Footnotes [706:9] A mountain was in labour, sending forth dreadful groans, and there was in the region the highest expectation. After all, it brought forth a mouse.—PhÆdrus: Fables, iv. 22, 1. The old proverb was now made good: "The mountain had brought forth a mouse."—Plutarch: Life of Agesilaus II.
[707] OVID. 43 b. c.-18 a. d. They come to see; they come that they themselves may be seen.[707:1] The Art of Love. i. 99. Nothing is stronger than custom. The Art of Love. ii. 345. Then the omnipotent Father with his thunder made Olympus tremble, and from Ossa hurled Pelion.[707:2] Metamorphoses. i. It is the mind that makes the man, and our vigour is in our immortal soul.[707:3] Metamorphoses. xiii. The mind, conscious of rectitude, laughed to scorn the falsehood of report.[707:4] Fasti. iv. 311. Footnotes [707:2] See Pope, page 344. I would have you call to mind the strength of the ancient giants, that undertook to lay the high mountain Pelion on the top of Ossa, and set among those the shady Olympus.—Rabelais: Works, book iv. chap. xxxviii. [707:4] And the mind conscious of virtue may bring to thee suitable rewards.—Virgil: Æneid, i. 604.
OF UNKNOWN AUTHORSHIP. Love thyself, and many will hate thee. Frag. 146. Practice in time becomes second nature.[707:5] Frag. 227. When God is planning ruin for a man, He first deprives him of his reason.[707:6] Frag. 379. When I am dead let fire destroy the world; It matters not to me, for I am safe. Frag. 430. Toil does not come to help the idle. Frag. 440. Footnotes [707:5] Custom is almost a second nature.—Plutarch: Rules for the Preservation of Health, 18. [707:6] See Dryden, page 269. This may have been the original of the well known (but probably post-classical) line, "Quem Jupiter vult perdere, dementat prius." Publius Syrus has, "Stultum facit fortuna quem vult perdere."
[708] PUBLIUS SYRUS.[708:1] 42 b. c. (Translation by Darius Lyman. The numbers are those of the translator.) As men, we are all equal in the presence of death. Maxim 1. To do two things at once is to do neither. Maxim 7. We are interested in others when they are interested in us.[708:2] Maxim 16. Every one excels in something in which another fails. Maxim 17. The anger of lovers renews the strength of love.[708:3] Maxim 24. A god could hardly love and be wise.[708:4] Maxim 25. The loss which is unknown is no loss at all.[708:5] Maxim 38. He sleeps well who knows not that he sleeps ill. Maxim 77. A good reputation is more valuable than money.[708:6] Maxim 108. It is well to moor your bark with two anchors. Maxim 119. Learn to see in another's calamity the ills which you should avoid.[708:7] Maxim 120. An agreeable companion on a journey is as good as a carriage. Maxim 143. Society in shipwreck is a comfort to all.[708:8] Maxim 144. Many receive advice, few profit by it. Maxim 149. [709] Patience is a remedy for every sorrow.[709:1] Maxim 170. While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity. Maxim 185. Whatever you can lose, you should reckon of no account. Maxim 191. Even a single hair casts its shadow. Maxim 228. It is sometimes expedient to forget who we are. Maxim 233. We may with advantage at times forget what we know. Maxim 234. You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot.[709:2] Maxim 262. What is left when honour is lost? Maxim 265. A fair exterior is a silent recommendation. Maxim 267. Fortune is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity. Maxim 274. When Fortune is on our side, popular favour bears her company. Maxim 275. When Fortune flatters, she does it to betray. Maxim 277. Fortune is like glass,—the brighter the glitter, the more easily broken. Maxim 280. It is more easy to get a favour from fortune than to keep it. Maxim 282. His own character is the arbiter of every one's fortune.[709:3] Maxim 283. There are some remedies worse than the disease.[709:4] Maxim 301. Powerful indeed is the empire of habit.[709:5] Maxim 305. Amid a multitude of projects, no plan is devised.[709:6] Maxim 319. [710] It is easy for men to talk one thing and think another. Maxim 322. When two do the same thing, it is not the same thing after all. Maxim 338. A cock has great influence on his own dunghill.[710:1] Maxim 357. Any one can hold the helm when the sea is calm.[710:2] Maxim 358. No tears are shed when an enemy dies. Maxim 376. The bow too tensely strung is easily broken. Maxim 388. Treat your friend as if he might become an enemy. Maxim 401. No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety.[710:3] Maxim 406. The judge is condemned when the criminal is acquitted.[710:4] Maxim 407. Practice is the best of all instructors.[710:5] Maxim 439. He who is bent on doing evil can never want occasion. Maxim 459. One man's wickedness may easily become all men's curse. Maxim 463. Never find your delight in another's misfortune. Maxim 467. It is a bad plan that admits of no modification. Maxim 469. It is better to have a little than nothing. Maxim 484. It is an unhappy lot which finds no enemies. Maxim 499. [711] The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.[711:1] Maxim 511. A rolling stone gathers no moss.[711:2] Maxim 524. Never promise more than you can perform. Maxim 528. A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.[711:3] Maxim 540. No one should be judge in his own cause.[711:4] Maxim 545. Necessity knows no law except to conquer.[711:5] Maxim 553. Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently.[711:6] Maxim 557. We desire nothing so much as what we ought not to have. Maxim 559. It is only the ignorant who despise education. Maxim 571. Do not turn back when you are just at the goal.[711:7] Maxim 580. It is not every question that deserves an answer. Maxim 581. No man is happy who does not think himself so.[711:8] Maxim 584. Never thrust your own sickle into another's corn.[711:9] Maxim 593. You cannot put the same shoe on every foot. Maxim 596. [712] He bids fair to grow wise who has discovered that he is not so. Maxim 598. A guilty conscience never feels secure.[712:1] Maxim 617. Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.[712:2] Maxim 633. Familiarity breeds contempt.[712:3] Maxim 640. Money alone sets all the world in motion. Maxim 656. He who has plenty of pepper will pepper his cabbage. Maxim 673. You should go to a pear-tree for pears, not to an elm.[712:4] Maxim 674. It is a very hard undertaking to seek to please everybody. Maxim 675. We should provide in peace what we need in war.[712:5] Maxim 709. Look for a tough wedge for a tough log. Maxim 723. How happy the life unembarrassed by the cares of business! Maxim 725. They who plough the sea do not carry the winds in their hands.[712:6] Maxim 759. He gets through too late who goes too fast. Maxim 767. In every enterprise consider where you would come out.[712:7] Maxim 777. [713] It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity. Maxim 780. The highest condition takes rise in the lowest. Maxim 781. It matters not what you are thought to be, but what you are. Maxim 785. No one knows what he can do till he tries. Maxim 786. The next day is never so good as the day before. Maxim 815. He is truly wise who gains wisdom from another's mishap. Maxim 825. Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings. Maxim 827. It matters not how long you live, but how well. Maxim 829. It is vain to look for a defence against lightning.[713:1] Maxim 835. No good man ever grew rich all at once.[713:2] Maxim 837. Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.[713:3] Maxim 847. It is better to learn late than never.[713:4] Maxim 864. Better be ignorant of a matter than half know it.[713:5] Maxim 865. Better use medicines at the outset than at the last moment. Maxim 866. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. Maxim 872. Whom Fortune wishes to destroy she first makes mad.[713:6] Maxim 911. Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage. Maxim 914. He knows not when to be silent who knows not when to speak. Maxim 930. [714] You need not hang up the ivy-branch over the wine that will sell.[714:1] Maxim 968. It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.[714:2] Maxim 995. Unless degree is preserved, the first place is safe for no one.[714:3] Maxim 1042. Confession of our faults is the next thing to innocency. Maxim 1060. I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.[714:4] Maxim 1070. Keep the golden mean[714:5] between saying too much and too little. Maxim 1072. Speech is a mirror of the soul: as a man speaks, so is he. Maxim 1073. Footnotes [708:1] Commonly called Publius, but spelled Publilius by Pliny (Natural History, 35, sect. 199). [708:2] We always like those who admire us.—Rochefoucauld: Maxim 294. [708:4] It is impossible to love and be wise.—Bacon: Of Love (quoted). [708:6] A good name is better than riches.—Cervantes: Don Quixote, part ii. book ii. chap. xxxiii. [708:7] The best plan is, as the common proverb has it, to profit by the folly of others.—Pliny: Natural History, book xviii. sect. 31. [709:4] See Bacon, page 165. Marius said, "I see the cure is not worth the pain."—Plutarch: Life of Caius Marius. [709:5] Habit is second nature.—Montaigne: Essays, book iii. chap. x. [709:6] He that hath many irons in the fire, some of them will cool.—Hazlitt: English Proverbs. [710:2] The sea being smooth, How many shallow bauble boats dare sail Upon her patient breast. Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, act i. sc. 3. [710:4] Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur,—the motto adopted for the "Edinburgh Review." [710:5] Practice makes perfect.—Proverb. [711:3] Yet do I hold that mortal foolish who strives against the stress of necessity.—Euripides: Hercules Furens, line 281. [711:4] It is not permitted to the most equitable of men to be a judge in his own cause.—Pascal: Thoughts, chap. iv. 1. [711:7] When men are arrived at the goal, they should not turn back.—Plutarch: Of the Training of Children. [711:8] No man can enjoy happiness without thinking that he enjoys it.—Johnson: The Rambler, p. 150. [711:9] Did thrust as now in others' corn his sickle.—Du Bartas: Divine Weekes and Workes, part ii. Second Weeke. Not presuming to put my sickle in another man's corn.—Nicholas Yonge: Musica Transalpini. Epistle Dedicatory. 1588. [712:2] Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.—Marcus Aurelius: Meditations, ii. 5. [712:4] You may as well expect pears from an elm.—Cervantes: Don Quixote, part ii. book ii. chap. xl. [712:6] The pilot cannot mitigate the billows or calm the winds.—Plutarch: Of the Tranquillity of the Mind. [712:7] In every affair consider what precedes and what follows, and then undertake it.—Epictetus: That everything is to be undertaken with circumspection, chap. xv. [713:1] Syrus was not a contemporary of Franklin. [713:2] No just man ever became rich all at once.—Menander: Fragment. [714:4] Simonides said "that he never repented that he held his tongue, but often that he had spoken."—Plutarch: Rules for the Preservation of Health.
SENECA. 8 b. c.-65 a. d. Not lost, but gone before.[714:6] EpistolÆ. 63, 16. Whom they have injured they also hate.[714:7] De Ira. ii. 33. Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.[714:8] De Providentia. 5, 9. There is no great genius without a tincture of madness.[714:9] De Tranquillitate Animi. 17. Do you seek Alcides' equal? None is, except himself.[714:10] Hercules Furens. i. 1, 84. [715] Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue.[715:1] Hercules Furens. 255. A good man possesses a kingdom.[715:2] Thyestes. 380. I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.[715:3] On a Happy Life. 2. (L' Estrange's Abstract, Chap. i.)
PHÆDRUS. 8 a. d. (Translation by H. T. Riley, B. A.[715:4]) Submit to the present evil, lest a greater one befall you. Book i. Fable 2, 31. He who covets what belongs to another deservedly loses his own. Book i. Fable 4, 1. That it is unwise to be heedless ourselves while we are giving advice to others, I will show in a few lines. Book i. Fable 9, 1. Whoever has even once become notorious by base fraud, even if he speaks the truth, gains no belief. Book i. Fable 10, 1. By this story [The Fox and the Raven] it is shown how much ingenuity avails, and how wisdom is always an overmatch for strength. Book i. Fable 13, 13. No one returns with good-will to the place which has done him a mischief. Book i. Fable 18, 1. It has been related that dogs drink at the river Nile running along, that they may not be seized by the crocodiles.[715:5] Book i. Fable 25, 3. [716] Every one is bound to bear patiently the results of his own example. Book i. Fable 26, 12. Come of it what may, as Sinon said. Book iii. The Prologue, 27. Things are not always what they seem.[716:1] Book iv. Fable 2, 5. Jupiter has loaded us with a couple of wallets: the one, filled with our own vices, he has placed at our backs; the other, heavy with those of others, he has hung before.[716:2] Book iv. Fable 10, 1. A mountain was in labour, sending forth dreadful groans, and there was in the region the highest expectation. After all, it brought forth a mouse.[716:3] Book iv. Fable 23, 1. A fly bit the bare pate of a bald man, who in endeavouring to crush it gave himself a hard slap. Then said the fly jeeringly, "You wanted to revenge the sting of a tiny insect with death; what will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?" Book v. Fable 3, 1. "I knew that before you were born." Let him who would instruct a wiser man consider this as said to himself. Book v. Fable 9, 4. Footnotes [715:5] Pliny in his "Natural History," book viii. sect. 148, and Ælian in his "Various Histories" relate the same fact as to the dogs drinking from the Nile. "To treat a thing as the dogs do the Nile" was a common proverb with the ancients, signifying to do it superficially. [716:2] Also alluded to by Horace, Satires, ii. 3, 299; Catullus, 22, 21; and Persius, 4, 24.
PLINY THE ELDER. 23-79 a. d. (Translation by J. Bostock, M. D., and H. T. Riley, B. A., with slight alterations.[716:4]) In comparing various authors with one another, I have discovered that some of the gravest and latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from former works, without making acknowledgment. Natural History. Book i. Dedication, Sect. 22. [717] The world, and whatever that be which we call the heavens, by the vault of which all things are enclosed, we must conceive to be a deity, to be eternal, without bounds, neither created nor subject at any time to destruction. To inquire what is beyond it is no concern of man; nor can the human mind form any conjecture concerning it. Natural History. Book ii. Sect. 1. It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs. Natural History. Book ii. Sect. 20. Everything is soothed by oil, and this is the reason why divers send out small quantities of it from their mouths, because it smooths every part which is rough.[717:1] Natural History. Book ii. Sect. 234. It is far from easy to determine whether she [Nature] has proved to him a kind parent or a merciless stepmother.[717:2] Natural History. Book vii. Sect. 1. Man alone at the very moment of his birth, cast naked upon the naked earth, does she abandon to cries and lamentations.[717:3] Natural History. Book vii. Sect. 2. [718] To laugh, if but for an instant only, has never been granted to man before the fortieth day from his birth, and then it is looked upon as a miracle of precocity.[718:1] Natural History, Book vii. Sect. 2. Man is the only one that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat, and in short he can do nothing at the prompting of nature only, but weep.[718:2] Natural History, Book vii. Sect. 4. With man, most of his misfortunes are occasioned by man.[718:3] Natural History, Book vii. Sect. 5. Indeed, what is there that does not appear marvellous when it comes to our knowledge for the first time?[718:4] How many things, too, are looked upon as quite impossible until they have been actually effected? Natural History, Book vii. Sect. 6. The human features and countenance, although composed of but some ten parts or little more, are so fashioned that among so many thousands of men there are no two in existence who cannot be distinguished from one another.[718:5] Natural History, Book vii. Sect. 8. All men possess in their bodies a poison which acts upon serpents; and the human saliva, it is said, makes them take to flight, as though they had been touched with boiling water. The same substance, it is said, destroys them the moment it enters their throat.[718:6] Natural History, Book vii. Sect. 15. [719] It has been observed that the height of a man from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot is equal to the distance between the tips of the middle fingers of the two hands when extended in a straight line. Natural History. Book vii. Sect. 77. When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it.[719:1] Natural History. Book viii. Sect. 103. Bears when first born are shapeless masses of white flesh a little larger than mice, their claws alone being prominent. The mother then licks them gradually into proper shape.[719:2] Natural History. Book viii. Sect. 126. It is asserted that the dogs keep running when they drink at the Nile, for fear of becoming a prey to the voracity of the crocodile.[719:3] Natural History. Book viii. Sect. 148. It has become quite a common proverb that in wine there is truth.[719:4] Natural History. Book xiv. Sect. 141. Cincinnatus was ploughing his four jugera of land upon the Vaticanian Hill,—the same that are still known as the Quintian Meadows,—when the messenger brought him the dictatorship, finding him, the tradition says, stripped to the work. Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 20. The agricultural population, says Cato, produces the bravest men, the most valiant soldiers, and a class of citizens the least given of all to evil designs....A bad bargain is always a ground for repentance. Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 26. [720] The best plan is, as the common proverb has it, to profit by the folly of others.[720:1] Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 31. Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neighbour.[720:2] Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 44. It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained. Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 44. The bird of passage known to us as the cuckoo. Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 249. Let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration. Natural History. Book xix. Sect. 59. Why is it that we entertain the belief that for every purpose odd numbers are the most effectual?[720:3] Natural History. Book xxviii. Sect. 23. It was a custom with Apelles, to which he most tenaciously adhered, never to let any day pass, however busy he might be, without exercising himself by tracing some outline or other,—a practice which has now passed into a proverb.[720:4] It was also a practice with him, when he had completed a work, to exhibit it to the view of the passers-by in his studio, while he himself, concealed behind the picture, would listen to the criticisms.... Under these circumstances, they say that he was censured by a shoemaker for having represented the shoes with one latchet too few. The next day, the shoemaker, quite proud at seeing the former error corrected, thanks [721]to his advice, began to criticise the leg; upon which Apelles, full of indignation, popped his head out and reminded him that a shoemaker should give no opinion beyond the shoes,[721:1]—a piece of advice which has equally passed into a proverbial saying. Natural History. Book xxxv. Sect. 84. Footnotes [717:1] Why does pouring oil on the sea make it clear and calm? Is it for that the winds, slipping the smooth oil, have no force, nor cause any waves?—Plutarch: Natural Questions, ix. The venerable Bede relates that Bishop Adain (a. d. 651) gave to a company about to take a journey by sea "some holy oil, saying, 'I know that when you go abroad you will meet with a storm and contrary wind; but do you remember to cast this oil I give you into the sea, and the wind shall cease immediately.'"—Ecclesiastical History, book iii. chap. xiv. In Sparks's edition of Franklin's Works, vol. vi. p. 354, there are letters between Franklin, Brownrigg, and Parish on the stilling of waves by means of oil. [717:2] To man the earth seems altogether No more a mother, but a step-dame rather. Du Bartas: Divine Weekes and Workes, first week, third day. [717:3] He is born naked, and falls a whining at the first.—Burton: Anatomy of Melancholy, part i. sect. 2, mem. 3, subsect. 10. And when I was born I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, which is of like nature; and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do.—The Wisdom of Solomon, vii. 3. It was the custom among the ancients to place the new-born child upon the ground immediately after its birth. [718:1] This term of forty days is mentioned by Aristotle in his Natural History, as also by some modern physiologists. [718:4] Omne ignotum pro magnifico (Everything that is unknown is taken to be grand).—Tacitus: Agricola, 30. [718:6] Madame d'Abrantes relates that when Bonaparte was in Cairo he sent for a serpent-detecter (Psylli) to remove two serpents that had been seen in his house. He having enticed one of them from his hiding-place, caught it in one hand, just below the jaw-bone, in such a manner as to oblige the mouth to open, when spitting into it, the effect was like magic: the reptile appeared struck with instant death.—Memoirs, vol. i. chap. lix. [719:1] This is alluded to by Cicero in his letters to Atticus, and is mentioned by Ælian (Animated Nature, book vi. chap. 41). It is like our proverb, "Rats leave a sinking ship." [719:2] See Burton, page 186. Not unlike the bear which bringeth forth In the end of thirty dayes a shapeless birth; But after licking, it in shape she drawes, And by degrees she fashions out the pawes, The head, and neck, and finally doth bring To a perfect beast that first deformed thing. Du Bartas: Divine Weekes and Workes, first week, first day. [720:3] See Shakespeare, page 46. Also Lover, page 583. Numero deus impare gaudet (The god delights in odd numbers).—Virgil: EclogÆ, 8, 75. [720:4] Nulla dies abeat, quin linea ducta supersit.—Erasmus. The form generally quoted, "Nulla dies sine linea" (No day without a line), is not attested. [721:1] Ne supra crepidam sutor judicaret (Let not a shoemaker judge above his shoe).
QUINTILIAN. 42-118 a. d. We give to necessity the praise of virtue.[721:2] Institutiones OratoriÆ, i. 8, 14. A liar should have a good memory.[721:3] Institutiones OratoriÆ, iv. 2, 91. Vain hopes are often like the dreams of those who wake.[721:4] Institutiones OratoriÆ, vi. 2, 30. Those who wish to appear wise among fools, among the wise seem foolish.[721:5] Institutiones OratoriÆ, x. 7, 21.
JUVENAL. 47-138 a. d. No man ever became extremely wicked all at once.[721:6] Satire ii. 83. Grammarian, orator, geometrician; painter, gymnastic teacher, physician; fortune-teller, rope-dancer, conjuror,—he knew everything.[721:7] Satire iii. 76. Nobility is the one only virtue.[721:8] Satire viii. 20.
[722] MARTIAL. 40-102 a. d. I do not love thee, Sabidius, nor can I say why; this only I can say, I do not love thee.[722:1] Epigram i. 32. The good man prolongs his life; to be able to enjoy one's past life is to live twice.[722:2] Epigram x. 23, 7. The bee enclosed and through the amber shown Seems buried in the juice which was his own.[722:3] Book iv. 32. Neither fear, nor wish for, your last day.[722:4] Book x. 47, 13.
PLUTARCH. 46(?)-120(?) a. d. (From Dryden's translation of Plutarch's Lives, corrected and revised by A. H. Clough.) As geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, and unapproachable bogs.[722:5] Life of Theseus. From Themistocles began the saying, "He is a second Hercules." Life of Theseus. The most perfect soul, says Heraclitus, is a dry light, which flies out of the body as lightning breaks from a cloud. Life of Romulus. Anacharsis coming to Athens, knocked at Solon's door, and told him that he, being a stranger, was come to be his guest, and contract a friendship with him; and Solon replying, "It is better to make friends at home," Anacharsis replied, "Then you that are at home make friendship with me." Life of Solon. [723] Themistocles said that he certainly could not make use of any stringed instrument; could only, were a small and obscure city put into his hands, make it great and glorious. Life of Themistocles. Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, "Strike, if you will; but hear."[723:1] Life of Themistocles. Themistocles said to Antiphales, "Time, young man, has taught us both a lesson." Life of Themistocles. Laughing at his own son, who got his mother, and by his mother's means his father also, to indulge him, he told him that he had the most power of any one in Greece: "For the Athenians command the rest of Greece, I command the Athenians, your mother commands me, and you command your mother."[723:2] Life of Themistocles. "You speak truth," said Themistocles; "I should never have been famous if I had been of Seriphus;[723:3] nor you, had you been of Athens." Life of Themistocles. Themistocles said that a man's discourse was like to a rich Persian carpet, the beautiful figures and patterns of which can be shown only by spreading and extending it out; when it is contracted and folded up, they are obscured and lost.[723:4] Life of Themistocles. [724] When he was in great prosperity, and courted by many, seeing himself splendidly served at his table, he turned to his children and said: "Children, we had been undone, if we had not been undone." Life of Themistocles. Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to practise. Life of Pericles. For ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting solidity or exactness of beauty.[724:1] Life of Pericles. So very difficult a matter is it to trace and find out the truth of anything by history. Life of Pericles. Be ruled by time, the wisest counsellor of all. Life of Pericles. To conduct great matters and never commit a fault is above the force of human nature. Life of Fabius. Menenius Agrippa concluded at length with the celebrated fable: "It once happened that all the other members of a man mutinied against the stomach, which they accused as the only idle, uncontributing part in the whole body, while the rest were put to hardships and the expense of much labour to supply and minister to its appetites." Life of Coriolanus. Knowledge of divine things for the most part, as Heraclitus says, is lost to us by incredulity. Life of Coriolanus. A Roman divorced from his wife, being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, "Was she not chaste? Was she not fair? Was she not fruitful?" holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and well made. "Yet," added he, "none of you can tell where it pinches me." Life of Æmilius Paulus. The saying of old Antigonus, who when he was to fight at Andros, and one told him, "The enemy's ships [725]are more than ours," replied, "For how many then wilt thou reckon me?"[725:1] Life of Pelopidas. Archimedes had stated, that given the force, any given weight might be moved; and even boasted that if there were another earth, by going into it he could remove this. Life of Marcellus. It is a difficult task, O citizens, to make speeches to the belly, which has no ears.[725:2] Life of Marcus Cato. Cato used to assert that wise men profited more by fools than fools by wise men; for that wise men avoided the faults of fools, but that fools would not imitate the good examples of wise men. Life of Marcus Cato. He said that in his whole life he most repented of three things: one was that he had trusted a secret to a woman; another, that he went by water when he might have gone by land; the third, that he had remained one whole day without doing any business of moment. Life of Marcus Cato. Marius said, "I see the cure is not worth the pain."[725:3] Life of Caius Marius. Extraordinary rains pretty generally fall after great battles.[725:4] Life of Caius Marius. Lysander said that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a noise of war. Life of Caius Marius. As it is in the proverb, played Cretan against Cretan.[725:5] Life of Lysander. Did you not know, then, that to-day Lucullus sups with Lucullus? Life of Lucullus. [726] It is no great wonder if in long process of time, while fortune takes her course hither and thither, numerous coincidences should spontaneously occur. If the number and variety of subjects to be wrought upon be infinite, it is all the more easy for fortune, with such an abundance of material, to effect this similarity of results.[726:1] Life of Sertorius. Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little. Life of Sertorius. Agesilaus being invited once to hear a man who admirably imitated the nightingale, he declined, saying he had heard the nightingale itself.[726:2] Life of Agesilaus II. It is circumstance and proper measure that give an action its character, and make it either good or bad. Life of Agesilaus II. The old proverb was now made good, "the mountain had brought forth a mouse."[726:3] Life of Agesilaus II. Pompey bade Sylla recollect that more worshipped the rising than the setting sun.[726:4] Life of Pompey. [727] When some were saying that if CÆsar should march against the city they could not see what forces there were to resist him, Pompey replied with a smile, bidding them be in no concern, "for whenever I stamp my foot in any part of Italy there will rise up forces enough in an instant, both horse and foot." Life of Pompey. The most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men. Life of Alexander. Whenever Alexander heard Philip had taken any town of importance, or won any signal victory, instead of rejoicing at it altogether, he would tell his companions that his father would anticipate everything, and leave him and them no opportunities of performing great and illustrious actions.[727:1] Life of Alexander. Alexander said, "I assure you I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion." Life of Alexander. When Alexander asked Diogenes whether he wanted anything, "Yes," said he, "I would have you stand from between me and the sun." Life of Alexander. When asked why he parted with his wife, CÆsar replied, "I wished my wife to be not so much as suspected."[727:2] Life of CÆsar. For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome.[727:3] Life of CÆsar. Using the proverb frequently in their mouths who enter upon dangerous and bold attempts, "The die is cast," he took the river.[727:4] Life of CÆsar. [728] "And this," said CÆsar, "you know, young man, is more disagreeable for me to say than to do."[728:1] Life of CÆsar. Go on, my friend, and fear nothing; you carry CÆsar and his fortunes in your boat.[728:2] Life of CÆsar. CÆsar said to the soothsayer, "The ides of March are come;" who answered him calmly, "Yes, they are come, but they are not past."[728:3] Life of CÆsar. Even a nod from a person who is esteemed is of more force than a thousand arguments or studied sentences from others. Life of Phocion. Demosthenes told Phocion, "The Athenians will kill you some day when they once are in a rage." "And you," said he, "if they are once in their senses."[728:4] Life of Phocion. Pythias once, scoffing at Demosthenes, said that his arguments smelt of the lamp. Life of Demosthenes. Demosthenes overcame and rendered more distinct his inarticulate and stammering pronunciation by speaking with pebbles in his mouth. Life of Demosthenes. In his house he had a large looking-glass, before which he would stand and go through his exercises. Life of Demosthenes. Cicero called Aristotle a river of flowing gold, and said of Plato's Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to speak, it would be in language like theirs. Life of Cicero. (From Plutarch's Morals. Translated by several hands; corrected and revised by W. W. Goodwin, Ph.D., Harvard University.) For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow.[728:5] Of the Training of Children. [729] It is a true proverb, that if you live with a lame man you will learn to halt. Of the Training of Children. The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in the felicity of lighting on good education. Of the Training of Children. It is indeed a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors. Of the Training of Children. According to the proverb, the best things are the most difficult. Of the Training of Children. To sing the same tune, as the saying is, is in everything cloying and offensive; but men are generally pleased with variety. Of the Training of Children. Children are to be won to follow liberal studies by exhortations and rational motives, and on no account to be forced thereto by whipping. Of the Training of Children. Nothing made the horse so fat as the king's eye. Of the Training of Children. Democritus said, words are but the shadows of actions. Of the Training of Children. 'T is a wise saying, Drive on your own track. Of the Training of Children. It is a point of wisdom to be silent when occasion requires, and better than to speak, though never so well. Of the Training of Children. Eat not thy heart; which forbids to afflict our souls, and waste them with vexatious cares.[729:1] Of the Training of Children. Abstain from beans; that is, keep out of public offices, for anciently the choice of the officers of state was made by beans. Of the Training of Children. When men are arrived at the goal, they should not turn back.[729:2] Of the Training of Children. The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose. Of the Training of Children. An old doting fool, with one foot already in the grave.[729:3] Of the Training of Children. [730] Xenophanes said, "I confess myself the greatest coward in the world, for I dare not do an ill thing." Of Bashfulness. One made the observation of the people of Asia that they were all slaves to one man, merely because they could not pronounce that syllable No. Of Bashfulness. Euripides was wont to say, "Silence is an answer to a wise man." Of Bashfulness. Zeno first started that doctrine that knavery is the best defence against a knave.[730:1] Of Bashfulness. Alexander wept when he heard from Anaxarchus that there was an infinite number of worlds; and his friends asking him if any accident had befallen him, he returns this answer: "Do you not think it a matter worthy of lamentation that when there is such a vast multitude of them, we have not yet conquered one?" On the Tranquillity of the Mind. Like the man who threw a stone at a bitch, but hit his step-mother, on which he exclaimed, "Not so bad!" On the Tranquillity of the Mind. Pittacus said, "Every one of you hath his particular plague, and my wife is mine; and he is very happy who hath this only." On the Tranquillity of the Mind. He was a man, which, as Plato saith, is a very inconstant creature.[730:2] On the Tranquillity of the Mind. The pilot cannot mitigate the billows or calm the winds.[730:3] On the Tranquillity of the Mind. I, for my own part, had much rather people should say of me that there neither is nor ever was such a man as Plutarch, than that they should say, "Plutarch is an unsteady, fickle, froward, vindictive, and touchy fellow." Of Superstition. [731] Scilurus on his death-bed, being about to leave fourscore sons surviving, offered a bundle of darts to each of them, and bade them break them. When all refused, drawing out one by one, he easily broke them,—thus teaching them that if they held together, they would continue strong; but if they fell out and were divided, they would become weak. Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders.[731:1] Scilurus. Dionysius the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, he replied, "God forbid that it should ever befall me!" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Dionysius. A prating barber asked Archelaus how he would be trimmed. He answered, "In silence." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Archelaus. When Philip had news brought him of divers and eminent successes in one day, "O Fortune!" said he, "for all these so great kindnesses do me some small mischief." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Philip. There were two brothers called Both and Either; perceiving Either was a good, understanding, busy fellow, and Both a silly fellow and good for little, Philip said, "Either is both, and Both is neither." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Philip. Philip being arbitrator betwixt two wicked persons, he commanded one to fly out of Macedonia and the other to pursue him. Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Philip. Being about to pitch his camp in a likely place, and hearing there was no hay to be had for the cattle, "What a life," said he, "is ours, since we must live according to the convenience of asses!" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Philip. "These Macedonians," said he, "are a rude and clownish people, that call a spade a spade."[731:2] Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Philip. [732] He made one of Antipater's recommendation a judge; and perceiving afterwards that his hair and beard were coloured, he removed him, saying, "I could not think one that was faithless in his hair could be trusty in his deeds." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Philip. Being nimble and light-footed, his father encouraged him to run in the Olympic race. "Yes," said he, "if there were any kings there to run with me." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Alexander. When Darius offered him ten thousand talents, and to divide Asia equally with him, "I would accept it," said Parmenio, "were I Alexander." "And so truly would I," said Alexander, "if I were Parmenio." But he answered Darius that the earth could not bear two suns, nor Asia two kings. Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Alexander. When he was wounded with an arrow in the ankle, and many ran to him that were wont to call him a god, he said smiling, "That is blood, as you see, and not, as Homer saith, 'such humour as distils from blessed gods.'" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Alexander. Aristodemus, a friend of Antigonus, supposed to be a cook's son, advised him to moderate his gifts and expenses. "Thy words," said he, "Aristodemus, smell of the apron." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Antigonus I. Thrasyllus the Cynic begged a drachm of Antigonus. "That," said he, "is too little for a king to give." "Why, then," said the other, "give me a talent." "And that," said he, "is too much for a Cynic (or, for a dog) to receive." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Antigonus I. Antagoras the poet was boiling a conger, and Antigonus, coming behind him as he was stirring his skillet, said, "Do you think, Antagoras, that Homer boiled congers when he wrote the deeds of Agamemnon?" Antagoras replied, "Do you think, O king, that Agamemnon, when he did such exploits, was a peeping in his army to see who boiled congers?" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Antigonus I. [733] Pyrrhus said, "If I should overcome the Romans in another fight, I were undone." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Pyrrhus. Themistocles being asked whether he would rather be Achilles or Homer, said, "Which would you rather be,—a conqueror in the Olympic games, or the crier that proclaims who are conquerors?" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Themistocles. He preferred an honest man that wooed his daughter, before a rich man. "I would rather," said Themistocles, "have a man that wants money than money that wants a man." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Themistocles. Alcibiades had a very handsome dog, that cost him seven thousand drachmas; and he cut off his tail, "that," said he, "the Athenians may have this story to tell of me, and may concern themselves no further with me." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Alcibiades. Being summoned by the Athenians out of Sicily to plead for his life, Alcibiades absconded, saying that that criminal was a fool who studied a defence when he might fly for it. Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Alcibiades. Lamachus chid a captain for a fault; and when he had said he would do so no more, "Sir," said he, "in war there is no room for a second miscarriage." Said one to Iphicrates, "What are ye afraid of?" "Of all speeches," said he, "none is so dishonourable for a general as 'I should not have thought of it.'" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Iphicrates. To Harmodius, descended from the ancient Harmodius, when he reviled Iphicrates [a shoemaker's son] for his mean birth, "My nobility," said he, "begins in me, but yours ends in you."[733:1] Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Iphicrates. Once when Phocion had delivered an opinion which pleased the people,...he turned to his friend and said, "Have I not unawares spoken some mischievous thing or other?" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Phocion. [734] Phocion compared the speeches of Leosthenes to cypress-trees. "They are tall," said he, "and comely, but bear no fruit." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Phocion. Lycurgus the LacedÆmonian brought long hair into fashion among his countrymen, saying that it rendered those that were handsome more beautiful, and those that were deformed more terrible. To one that advised him to set up a democracy in Sparta, "Pray," said Lycurgus, "do you first set up a democracy in your own house." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Lycurgus. King Agis said, "The LacedÆmonians are not wont to ask how many, but where the enemy are." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Agis. Lysander said, "Where the lion's skin will not reach, it must be pieced with the fox's."[734:1] Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Lysander. To one that promised to give him hardy cocks that would die fighting, "Prithee," said Cleomenes, "give me cocks that will kill fighting." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Cleomenes. When EudÆmonidas heard a philosopher arguing that only a wise man can be a good general, "This is a wonderful speech," said he; "but he that saith it never heard the sound of trumpets." Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. EudÆmonidas. A soldier told Pelopidas, "We are fallen among the enemies." Said he, "How are we fallen among them more than they among us?" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Pelopidas. Cato the elder wondered how that city was preserved wherein a fish was sold for more than an ox. Roman Apophthegms. Cato the Elder. Cato instigated the magistrates to punish all offenders, saying that they that did not prevent crimes when they might, encouraged them.[734:2] Of young men, he liked them that blushed better than those who looked pale. Roman Apophthegms. Cato the Elder. [735] Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils. Roman Apophthegms. Cato the Elder. He said they that were serious in ridiculous matters would be ridiculous in serious affairs. Roman Apophthegms. Cato the Elder. Cicero said loud-bawling orators were driven by their weakness to noise, as lame men to take horse. Roman Apophthegms. Cicero. After the battle in Pharsalia, when Pompey was fled, one Nonius said they had seven eagles left still, and advised to try what they would do. "Your advice," said Cicero, "were good if we were to fight jackdaws." Roman Apophthegms. Cicero. After he routed Pharnaces Ponticus at the first assault, he wrote thus to his friends: "I came, I saw, I conquered."[735:1] Roman Apophthegms. CÆsar. As CÆsar was at supper the discourse was of death,—which sort was the best. "That," said he, "which is unexpected." Roman Apophthegms. CÆsar. As Athenodorus was taking his leave of CÆsar, "Remember," said he, "CÆsar, whenever you are angry, to say or do nothing before you have repeated the four-and-twenty letters to yourself." Roman Apophthegms. CÆsar Augustus. "Young men," said CÆsar, "hear an old man to whom old men hearkened when he was young." Roman Apophthegms. CÆsar Augustus. Remember what Simonides said,—that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken.[735:2] Rules for the Preservation of Health. 7. Custom is almost a second nature.[735:3] Rules for the Preservation of Health. 18. Epaminondas is reported wittily to have said of a good man that died about the time of the battle of Leuctra, "How came he to have so much leisure as to die, when there was so much stirring?" Rules for the Preservation of Health. 25. [736] Have in readiness this saying of Solon, "But we will not give up our virtue in exchange for their wealth." How to profit by our Enemies. Socrates thought that if all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence every one must take an equal portion, most persons would be contented to take their own and depart. Consolation to Apollonius. Diogenes the Cynic, when a little before his death he fell into a slumber, and his physician rousing him out of it asked him whether anything ailed him, wisely answered, "Nothing, sir; only one brother anticipates another,—Sleep before Death." Consolation to Apollonius. About Pontus there are some creatures of such an extempore being that the whole term of their life is confined within the space of a day; for they are brought forth in the morning, are in the prime of their existence at noon, grow old at night, and then die. Consolation to Apollonius. The measure of a man's life is the well spending of it, and not the length. Consolation to Apollonius. For many, as Cranton tells us, and those very wise men, not now but long ago, have deplored the condition of human nature, esteeming life a punishment, and to be born a man the highest pitch of calamity; this, Aristotle tells us, Silenus declared when he was brought captive to Midas. Consolation to Apollonius. There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man's life: "Know thyself,"[736:1] and "Nothing too much;" and upon these all other precepts depend. Consolation to Apollonius. To one commending an orator for his skill in amplifying petty matters, Agesilaus said, "I do not think that [737]shoemaker a good workman that makes a great shoe for a little foot." Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great. "I will show," said Agesilaus, "that it is not the places that grace men, but men the places." Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great. When one asked him what boys should learn, "That," said he, "which they shall use when men." Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great. Agesilaus was very fond of his children; and it is reported that once toying with them he got astride upon a reed as upon a horse, and rode about the room; and being seen by one of his friends, he desired him not to speak of it till he had children of his own. Laconic Apophthegms. Of Agesilaus the Great. When Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue." Laconic Apophthegms. Of Demaratus. Lysander, when Dionysius sent him two gowns, and bade him choose which he would carry to his daughter, said, "She can choose best," and so took both away with him. Laconic Apophthegms. Of Lysander. A physician, after he had felt the pulse of Pausanias, and considered his constitution, saying, "He ails nothing," "It is because, sir," he replied, "I use none of your physic." Laconic Apophthegms. Of Pausanias the Son of Phistoanax. And when the physician said, "Sir, you are an old man," "That happens," replied Pausanias, "because you never were my doctor." Laconic Apophthegms. Of Pausanias the Son of Phistoanax. When one told Plistarchus that a notorious railer spoke well of him, "I 'll lay my life," said he, "somebody hath told him I am dead, for he can speak well of no man living." Laconic Apophthegms. Of Plistarchus. Anacharsis said a man's felicity consists not in the outward and visible favours and blessings of Fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind. The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men. 11. [738] Said Periander, "Hesiod might as well have kept his breath to cool his pottage."[738:1] The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men. 14. Socrates said, "Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live."[738:2] How a Young Man ought to hear Poems. 4. And Archimedes, as he was washing, thought of a manner of computing the proportion of gold in King Hiero's crown by seeing the water flowing over the bathing-stool. He leaped up as one possessed or inspired, crying, "I have found it! Eureka!" Pleasure not attainable according to Epicurus. 11. Said Scopas of Thessaly, "We rich men count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not in those necessary things."[738:3] Of the Love of Wealth. That proverbial saying, "Ill news goes quick and far." Of Inquisitiveness. A traveller at Sparta, standing long upon one leg, said to a LacedÆmonian, "I do not believe you can do as much." "True," said he, "but every goose can." Remarkable Speeches. Spintharus, speaking in commendation of Epaminondas, says he scarce ever met with any man who knew more and spoke less. Of Hearing. 6. It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man's oration,—nay, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome. Of Hearing. 6. Antiphanes said merrily, that in a certain city the cold was so intense that words were congealed as soon [739]as spoken, but that after some time they thawed and became audible; so that the words spoken in winter were articulated next summer.[739:1] Of Man's Progress in Virtue. As those persons who despair of ever being rich make little account of small expenses, thinking that little added to a little will never make any great sum. Of Man's Progress in Virtue. What is bigger than an elephant? But this also is become man's plaything, and a spectacle at public solemnities; and it learns to skip, dance, and kneel. Of Fortune. No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune. Of Fortune. Alexander was wont to say, "Were I not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." Of the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander the Great. When the candles are out all women are fair.[739:2] Conjugal Precepts. Like watermen, who look astern while they row the boat ahead.[739:3] Whether 't was rightfully said, Live Concealed. Socrates said he was not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.[739:4] Of Banishment. Anaximander says that men were first produced in fishes, and when they were grown up and able to help themselves were thrown up, and so lived upon the land. Symposiacs. Book. viii. Question viii. Athenodorus says hydrophobia, or water-dread, was first discovered in the time of Asclepiades. Symposiacs. Book. viii. Question ix. [740] Let us not wonder if something happens which never was before, or if something doth not appear among us with which the ancients were acquainted. Symposiacs. Book viii. Question ix. Why does pouring oil on the sea make it clear and calm? Is it for that the winds, slipping the smooth oil, have no force, nor cause any waves?[740:1] The great god Pan is dead.[740:2] Why the Oracles cease to give Answers. I am whatever was, or is, or will be; and my veil no mortal ever took up.[740:3] Of Isis and Osiris. When Hermodotus in his poems described Antigonus as the son of Helios, "My valet-de-chambre," said he, "is not aware of this."[740:4] Of Isis and Osiris. There is no debt with so much prejudice put off as that of justice. Of those whom God is slow to punish. It is a difficult thing for a man to resist the natural necessity of mortal passions. Of those whom God is slow to punish. He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.[740:5] Of Garrulity. [741] We are more sensible of what is done against custom than against Nature. Of Eating of Flesh. Tract 1. When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of oratory, he answered, "Action;" and which was the second, he replied, "Action;" and which was the third, he still answered, "Action." Lives of the Ten Orators. Xenophon says that there is no sound more pleasing than one's own praises. Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs. Lampis, the sea commander, being asked how he got his wealth, answered, "My greatest estate I gained easily enough, but the smaller slowly and with much labour." Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs. The general himself ought to be such a one as can at the same time see both forward and backward. Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs. Statesmen are not only liable to give an account of what they say or do in public, but there is a busy inquiry made into their very meals, beds, marriages, and every other sportive or serious action. Political Precepts. Leo Byzantius said, "What would you do, if you saw my wife, who scarce reaches up to my knees?...Yet," went he on, "as little as we are, when we fall out with each other, the city of Byzantium is not big enough to hold us." Political Precepts. Cato said, "I had rather men should ask why my statue is not set up, than why it is." Political Precepts. It was the saying of Bion, that though the boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest.[741:1] Which are the most crafty, Water or Land Animals? 7. [742] Both Empedocles and Heraclitus held it for a truth that man could not be altogether cleared from injustice in dealing with beasts as he now does. Which are the most crafty, Water or Land Animals? 7. For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, is at least human.[742:1] Against Colotes. Simonides calls painting silent poetry, and poetry speaking painting. Whether the Athenians were more Warlike or Learned. 3. As Meander says, "For our mind is God;" and as Heraclitus, "Man's genius is a deity." Platonic Questions. i. Pythagoras, when he was asked what time was, answered that it was the soul of this world. Platonic Questions. viii. 4. Footnotes [723:1] "Strike," said he, "but hear me."—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Themistocles.) [723:2] Diophantus, the young son of Themistocles, made his boast often and in many companies, that whatsoever pleased him pleased also all Athens; for whatever he liked, his mother liked; and whatever his mother liked, Themistocles liked; and whatever Themistocles liked, all the Athenians liked.—Of the Training of Children. When the son of Themistocles was a little saucy toward his mother, he said that this boy had more power than all the Grecians; for the Athenians governed Greece, he the Athenians, his wife him, and his son his wife.—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Themistocles.) [723:4] Themistocles said speech was like to tapestry; and like it, when it was spread it showed its figures, but when it was folded up, hid and spoiled them.—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Themistocles.) [725:1] The pilot telling Antigonus the enemy outnumbered him in ships, he said, "But how many ships do you reckon my presence to be worth?" Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Antigonus II.) [725:2] The belly has no ears, nor is it to be filled with fair words.—Rabelais: book iv. chap. lxvii. [725:4] This has been observed in modern times, and attributed to the effect of gunpowder. [725:5] Or cheat against cheat. The Cretans were famous as liars. [726:1] 'T is one and the same Nature that rolls on her course, and whoever has sufficiently considered the present state of things might certainly conclude as to both the future and the past.—Montaigne: Essays, book ii. chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. I shall be content if those shall pronounce my History useful who desire to give a view of events as they did really happen, and as they are very likely, in accordance with human nature, to repeat themselves at some future time,—if not exactly the same, yet very similar.—Thucydides: Historia, i. 2, 2. What is this day supported by precedents will hereafter become a precedent.—Ibid., Annals, xi. 24. [726:2] Agesilaus being exhorted to hear one that imitated the voice of a nightingale, "I have often," said he, "heard nightingales themselves."—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Agesilaus.) [726:4] See Garrick, page 387. He [Tiberius] upbraided Macro in no obscure and indirect terms "with forsaking the setting sun and turning to the rising."—Tacitus: Annals, book iv. c. 47, 20. [727:1] While Alexander was a boy, Philip had great success in his affairs, at which he did not rejoice, but told the children that were brought up with him, "My father will leave me nothing to do."—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Alexander.) [727:2] CÆsar's wife ought to be free from suspicion.—Roman Apophthegms. (CÆsar.) [727:3] I had rather be the first in this town than second in Rome.—Ibid. [727:4] He passed the river Rubicon, saying, "Let every die be thrown."—Ibid. [728:1] CÆsar said to Metellus, "This, young man, is harder for me to say than do."—Roman Apophthegms. (CÆsar.) [728:2] Trust Fortune, and know that you carry CÆsar.—Ibid. [728:4] Demosthenes the orator told Phocion, "If the Athenians should be mad, they would kill you." "Like enough," said he,—"me if they were mad, but you if they were wise."—Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. (Phocion.) [730:1] Set a thief to catch a thief.—Bohn: A Hand-book of Proverbs. [730:2] Man in sooth is a marvellous, vain, fickle, and unstable subject.—Montaigne: Works, book i. chap. i. That Men by various Ways arrive at the same End. [731:1] Rejected by some critics as not a genuine work of Plutarch.—Emerson. [731:2] ?? s??a s??a, t?? s??f?? d? s??f?? ???????.—Aristophanes, as quoted in Lucian, Quom. Hist. sit conscrib. 41. Brought up like a rude Macedon, and taught to call a spade a spade.—Gosson: Ephemerides of Phialo (1579). [733:1] I am my own ancestor.—Junot, Duc d'Abrantes (when asked as to his ancestry). [734:1] Lysander said, "When the lion's skin cannot prevail, a little of the fox's must be used."—Laconic Apophthegms. (Lysander.) [734:2] Pardon one offence, and you encourage the commission of many.—Publius Syrus: Maxim 750. [735:3] See "Of Unknown Authorship," page 707. Also Publius Syrus, page 709. [736:1] See Pope, page 317. Plutarch ascribes this saying to Plato. It is also ascribed to Pythagoras, Chilo, Thales, Cleobulus, Bias, and Socrates; also to PhemonË, a mythical Greek poetess of the ante-Homeric period. Juvenal (Satire xi. 27) says that this precept descended from heaven. [738:1] Spare your breath to cool your porridge.—Rabelais: Works, book v. chap. xxviii. [738:2] See Fielding, page 363. He used to say that other men lived to eat, but that he ate to live.—Diogenes Laertius: Socrates, xiv. [739:1] In the "Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (Rudolphe Erich Raspe), stories gathered from various sources, is found the story of sound being frozen for a time in a post-horn, which when thawed gave a variety of tunes. A somewhat similar account is found in Rabelais, book iv. chaps. lv. lvi., referring to Antiphanes. [740:2] See Mrs. Browning, page 621. Plutarch relates (Isis and Osiris) that a ship well laden with passengers drove with the tide near the Isles of Paxi, when a loud voice was heard by most of the passengers calling unto one Thanus. The voice then said aloud to him, "When you are arrived at Palodes, take care to make it known that the great god Pan is dead." [740:3] I am the things that are, and those that are to be, and those that have been. No one ever lifted my skirts; the fruit which I bore was the sun.—Proclus: On Plato's TimÆus, p. 30 D. (Inscription in the temple of Neith at Sais, in Egypt.) [740:4] No man is a hero to his valet-de-chambre.—Marshal Catinat (1637-1712). Few men have been admired by their domestics.—Montaigne: Essays, book iii. chap. 2. This phrase, "No man is a hero to his valet," is commonly attributed to Madame de SÉvignÉ, but on the authority of Madame AissÉ (Letters, edited by Jules Ravenal, 1853) it really belongs to Madame Cornuel. [741:1] Though this may be play to you, 'T is death to us. Roger L' Estrange: Fables from Several Authors. Fable 398.
EPICTETUS. Circa 60 a. d. (The translation used here is that of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, based on that of Elizabeth Carter (1866).) To a reasonable creature, that alone is insupportable which is unreasonable; but everything reasonable may be supported. Discourses. Chap. ii. Yet God hath not only granted these faculties, by which we may bear every event without being depressed or broken by it, but like a good prince and a true father, hath placed their exercise above restraint, compulsion, or hindrance, and wholly without our own control. Discourses. Chap. vi. In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles. Discourses. Chap. xi. [743] Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle. Discourses. Chap. xii. O slavish man! will you not bear with your own brother, who has God for his Father, as being a son from the same stock, and of the same high descent? But if you chance to be placed in some superior station, will you presently set yourself up for a tyrant? Discourses. Chap. xiii. When you have shut your doors, and darkened your room, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; but God is within, and your genius is within,—and what need have they of light to see what you are doing? Discourses. Chap. xiv. No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. Discourses. Chap. xv. Any one thing in the creation is sufficient to demonstrate a Providence to an humble and grateful mind. Discourses. Chap. xvi. Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan. Discourses. Chap. xvi. Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things, it ought not itself to be left in disorder. Discourses. Chap. xvii. If what the philosophers say be true,—that all men's actions proceed from one source; that as they assent from a persuasion that a thing is so, and dissent from a persuasion that it is not, and suspend their judgment from a persuasion that it is uncertain,—so likewise they seek a thing from a persuasion that it is for their advantage. Discourses. Chap. xviii. Practise yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater. Discourses. Chap. xviii. [744] Every art and every faculty contemplates certain things as its principal objects. Discourses. Chap. xx. Why, then, do you walk as if you had swallowed a ramrod? Discourses. Chap. xxi. When one maintains his proper attitude in life, he does not long after externals. What would you have, O man? Discourses. Chap. xxi. Difficulties are things that show what men are. Discourses. Chap. xxiv. If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled? Discourses. Chap. xxv. In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside. Discourses. Chap. xxvi. Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task. Discourses. Chap. xxvii. The appearance of things to the mind is the standard of every action to man. That we ought not to be angry with Mankind. Chap. xxviii. The essence of good and evil is a certain disposition of the will. Of Courage. Chap. xxix. It is not reasonings that are wanted now; for there are books stuffed full of stoical reasonings. Of Courage. Chap. xxix. For what constitutes a child?—Ignorance. What constitutes a child?—Want of instruction; for they are our equals so far as their degree of knowledge permits. That Courage is not inconsistent with Caution. Book ii. Chap. i. [745] Appear to know only this,—never to fail nor fall. That Courage is not inconsistent with Caution. Book ii. Chap. i. The materials of action are variable, but the use we make of them should be constant. How Nobleness of Mind may be consistent with Prudence. Chap. v. Shall I show you the muscular training of a philosopher? "What muscles are those?"—A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised; careful resolutions; unerring decisions. Wherein consists the Essence of Good. Chap. viii. Dare to look up to God and say, "Make use of me for the future as Thou wilt. I am of the same mind; I am one with Thee. I refuse nothing which seems good to Thee. Lead me whither Thou wilt. Clothe me in whatever dress Thou wilt." That we do not study to make Use of the established Principles concerning Good and Evil. Chap. xvi. What is the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-conceit. For it is impossible for any one to begin to learn what he thinks that he already knows. How to apply general Principles to particular Cases. Chap. xvii. Every habit and faculty is preserved and increased by correspondent actions,—as the habit of walking, by walking; of running, by running. How the Semblances of Things are to be combated. Chap. xviii. Whatever you would make habitual, practise it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practise it, but habituate yourself to something else. How the Semblances of Things are to be combated. Chap. xviii. Reckon the days in which you have not been angry. I used to be angry every day; now every other day; then every third and fourth day; and if you miss it so long as thirty days, offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. How the Semblances of Things are to be combated. Chap. xviii. [746] Be not hurried away by excitement, but say, "Semblance, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you." How the Semblances of Things are to be combated. Chap. xviii. Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them. Concerning the Epicureans. Chap. xx. There are some things which men confess with ease, and others with difficulty. Of Inconsistency. Chap. xxi. Who is there whom bright and agreeable children do not attract to play and creep and prattle with them? Concerning a Person whom he treated with Disregard. Chap. xxiv. Two rules we should always have ready,—that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them. In what Manner we ought to bear Sickness. Book iii. Chap. x. In every affair consider what precedes and what follows, and then undertake it.[746:1] That Everything is to be undertaken with Circumspection. Chap. xv. There is a fine circumstance connected with the character of a Cynic,—that he must be beaten like an ass, and yet when beaten must love those who beat him, as the father, as the brother of all. Of the Cynic Philosophy. Chap. xxii. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Concerning such as read and dispute ostentatiously. Chap. xxiii. Let not another's disobedience to Nature become an ill to you; for you were not born to be depressed and unhappy with others, but to be happy with them. And if any is unhappy, remember that he is so for himself; for God made all men to enjoy felicity and peace. That we ought not to be affected by Things not in our own Power. Chap. xxiv. Everything has two handles,—one by which it may be borne; another by which it cannot. Enchiridion. xliii.
[747] TACITUS. 54-119 a. d. (The Oxford Translation. Bohn's Classical Library.) The images of twenty of the most illustrious families—the Manlii, the Quinctii, and other names of equal splendour—were carried before it [the bier of Junia]. Those of Brutus and Cassius were not displayed; but for that very reason they shone with pre-eminent lustre.[747:1] Annales. iii. 76. 11. He had talents equal to business, and aspired no higher.[747:2] Annales. vi. 39, 17. He [Tiberius] upbraided Macro, in no obscure and indirect terms, "with forsaking the setting sun and turning to the rising."[747:3] Annales. vi. 52 (46). He possessed a peculiar talent of producing effect in whatever he said or did.[747:4] HistoriÆ. ii. 80. Some might consider him as too fond of fame; for the desire of glory clings even to the best men longer than any other passion.[747:5] HistoriÆ. iv. 6. The gods looked with favour on superior courage.[747:6] HistoriÆ. iv. 17. They make solitude, which they call peace.[747:7] Agricola. 30. Think of your ancestors and your posterity.[747:8] Agricola. 32. It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.[747:9] Agricola. 42. Footnotes [747:1] Lord John Russell, alluding to an expression used by him ("Conspicuous by his absence") in his address to the electors of the city of London, said, "It is not an original expression of mine, but is taken from one of the greatest historians of antiquity."
[748] PLINY THE YOUNGER. 61-105 a. d. (Translation by William Melmoth. Bohn's Classical Library.) Modestus said of Regulus that he was "the biggest rascal that walks upon two legs." Letters.[748:1] Book i. Letter v. 14. There is nothing to write about, you say. Well, then, write and let me know just this,—that there is nothing to write about; or tell me in the good old style if you are well. That 's right. I am quite well.[748:2] Letters. Book i. Letter xi. 1. Never do a thing concerning the rectitude of which you are in doubt. Letters. Book i. Letter xviii. 5. The living voice is that which sways the soul. Letters. Book ii. Letter iii. 9. An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit.[748:3] Letters. Book ii. Letter xv. 1. He [Pliny the Elder] used to say that "no book was so bad but some good might be got out of it."[748:4] Letters. Book iii. Letter v. 10. This expression of ours, "Father of a family." Letters. Book v. Letter xix. 2. That indolent but agreeable condition of doing nothing.[748:5] Letters. Book viii. Letter ix. 3. Objects which are usually the motives of our travels by land and by sea are often overlooked and neglected if they lie under our eye....We put off from time to time going and seeing what we know we have an opportunity of seeing when we please. Letters. Book viii. Letter xx. 1. His only fault is that he has no fault.[748:6] Letters. Book ix. Letter xxvi. 1. Footnotes [748:1] Book vi. Letter xvi. contains the description of the eruption of Vesuvius, a. d. 79, as witnessed by Pliny the Elder. [748:2] This comes to inform you that I am in a perfect state of health, hoping you are in the same. Ay, that 's the old beginning.—Colman: The Heir at Law, act iii. sc. 2. [748:4] "There is no book so bad," said the bachelor, "but something good may be found in it."—Cervantes: Don Quixote, part ii. chap. iii. [748:5] Il dolce far niente (The sweet do nothing).—A well known Italian proverb.
[749] MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 121-180 a. d. (Translated by M. H. Morgan, Ph. D., of Harvard University.) This Being of mine, whatever it really is, consists of a little flesh, a little breath, and the part which governs. Meditations. ii. 2. The ways of the gods are full of providence. Meditations. ii. 3. Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.[749:1] Meditations. ii. 5. Thou seest how few be the things, the which if a man has at his command his life flows gently on and is divine. Meditations. ii. 5. Find time still to be learning somewhat good, and give up being desultory. Meditations. ii. 7. No state sorrier than that of the man who keeps up a continual round, and pries into "the secrets of the nether world," as saith the poet, and is curious in conjecture of what is in his neighbour's heart. Meditations. ii. 13. Though thou be destined to live three thousand years and as many myriads besides, yet remember that no man loseth other life than that which he liveth, nor liveth other than that which he loseth. Meditations. ii. 14. For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing. Meditations. ii. 14. [750] As for life, it is a battle and a sojourning in a strange land; but the fame that comes after is oblivion. Meditations. ii. 17. Waste not the remnant of thy life in those imaginations touching other folk, whereby thou contributest not to the common weal. Meditations. iii. 4. The lot assigned to every man is suited to him, and suits him to itself.[750:1] Meditations. iii. 4. Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody. Meditations. iii. 5. A man should be upright, not be kept upright. Meditations. iii. 5. Never esteem anything as of advantage to thee that shall make thee break thy word or lose thy self-respect. Meditations. iii. 7. Respect the faculty that forms thy judgments. Meditations. iii. 9. Remember that man's life lies all within this present, as 't were but a hair's-breadth of time; as for the rest, the past is gone, the future yet unseen. Short, therefore, is man's life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells. Meditations. iii. 10. Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life. Meditations. iii. 11. As surgeons keep their instruments and knives always at hand for cases requiring immediate treatment, so shouldst thou have thy thoughts ready to understand things divine and human, remembering in thy every act, even the smallest, how close is the bond that unites the two. Meditations. iii. 13. The ruling power within, when it is in its natural state, is so related to outer circumstances that it easily [751]changes to accord with what can be done and what is given it to do. Meditations. iv. 1. Let no act be done at haphazard, nor otherwise than according to the finished rules that govern its kind. Meditations. iv. 2. By a tranquil mind I mean nothing else than a mind well ordered. Meditations. iv. 3. Think on this doctrine,—that reasoning beings were created for one another's sake; that to be patient is a branch of justice, and that men sin without intending it. Meditations. iv. 3. The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it. Meditations. iv. 3. Nothing can come out of nothing, any more than a thing can go back to nothing. Meditations. iv. 4. Death, like generation, is a secret of Nature. Meditations. iv. 5. That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within. Meditations. iv. 8. Whatever happens at all happens as it should; thou wilt find this true, if thou shouldst watch narrowly. Meditations. iv. 10. Many the lumps of frankincense on the same altar; one falls there early and another late, but it makes no difference. Meditations. iv. 15. Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good. Meditations. iv. 17. How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy. Meditations. iv. 18. Whatever is in any way beautiful hath its source of beauty in itself, and is complete in itself; praise forms no part of it. So it is none the worse nor the better for being praised. Meditations. iv. 20. [752] Doth perfect beauty stand in need of praise at all? Nay; no more than law, no more than truth, no more than loving kindness, nor than modesty. Meditations. iv. 20. All that is harmony for thee, O Universe, is in harmony with me as well. Nothing that comes at the right time for thee is too early or too late for me. Everything is fruit to me that thy seasons bring, O Nature. All things come of thee, have their being in thee, and return to thee. Meditations. iv. 23. "Let thine occupations be few," saith the sage,[752:1] "if thou wouldst lead a tranquil life." Meditations. iv. 24. Love the little trade which thou hast learned, and be content therewith. Meditations. iv. 31. Remember this,—that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life. Meditations. iv. 32. All is ephemeral,—fame and the famous as well. Meditations. iv. 35. Observe always that everything is the result of a change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and to make new ones like them. Meditations. iv. 36. Search men's governing principles, and consider the wise, what they shun and what they cleave to. Meditations. iv. 38. Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away. Meditations. iv. 43. All that happens is as usual and familiar as the rose in spring and the crop in summer. Meditations. iv. 44. That which comes after ever conforms to that which has gone before. Meditations. iv. 45. [753] Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man,—yesterday in embryo, to-morrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hair's-breadth of time assigned to thee live rationally, and part with life cheerfully, as drops the ripe olive, extolling the season that bore it and the tree that matured it. Meditations. iv. 48. Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past. Meditations. iv. 50. Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason. Meditations. iv. 51. In the morning, when thou art sluggish at rousing thee, let this thought be present; "I am rising to a man's work." Meditations. v. 1. A man makes no noise over a good deed, but passes on to another as a vine to bear grapes again in season. Meditations. v. 6. Flinch not, neither give up nor despair, if the achieving of every act in accordance with right principle is not always continuous with thee. Meditations. v. 9. Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear. Meditations. v. 18. Prize that which is best in the universe; and this is that which useth everything and ordereth everything. Meditations. v. 21. Live with the gods. Meditations. v. 27. Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of a thing nor its worth escape thee. Meditations. vi. 3. The controlling Intelligence understands its own nature, and what it does, and whereon it works. Meditations. vi. 5. Do not think that what is hard for thee to master is impossible for man; but if a thing is possible and proper to man, deem it attainable by thee. Meditations. vi. 19. [754] If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance. Meditations. vi. 21. Death,—a stopping of impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of the cords of motion, and of the ways of thought, and of service to the flesh. Meditations. vi. 28. Suit thyself to the estate in which thy lot is cast. Meditations. vi. 39. What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee. Meditations. vi. 54. How many, once lauded in song, are given over to the forgotten; and how many who sung their praises are clean gone long ago! Meditations. vii. 6. One Universe made up of all that is; and one God in it all, and one principle of Being, and one Law, the Reason, shared by all thinking creatures, and one Truth. Meditations. vii. 9. To a rational being it is the same thing to act according to nature and according to reason. Meditations. vii. 11. Let not thy mind run on what thou lackest as much as on what thou hast already. Meditations. vii. 27. Just as the sand-dunes, heaped one upon another, hide each the first, so in life the former deeds are quickly hidden by those that follow after. Meditations. vii. 34. The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in so far as it stands ready against the accidental and the unforeseen, and is not apt to fall. Meditations. vii. 61. Remember this,—that very little is needed to make a happy life. Meditations. vii. 67. Remember that to change thy mind and to follow him that sets thee right, is to be none the less the free agent that thou wast before. Meditations. viii. 16. [755] Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation. Meditations. viii. 22. A man's happiness,—to do the things proper to man. Meditations. viii. 26. Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought. Meditations. viii. 51. He that knows not what the world is, knows not where he is himself. He that knows not for what he was made, knows not what he is nor what the world is. Meditations. viii. 52. The nature of the universe is the nature of things that are. Now, things that are have kinship with things that are from the beginning. Further, this nature is styled Truth; and it is the first cause of all that is true. Meditations. ix. 1. He would be the finer gentleman that should leave the world without having tasted of lying or pretence of any sort, or of wantonness or conceit. Meditations. ix. 2. Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favour; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills. Meditations. ix. 3. A wrong-doer is often a man that has left something undone, not always he that has done something. Meditations. ix. 5. Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control. Meditations. ix. 7. Things that have a common quality ever quickly seek their kind. Meditations. ix. 9. All things are the same,—familiar in enterprise, momentary in endurance, coarse in substance. All things now are as they were in the day of those whom we have buried. Meditations. ix. 14. The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing. Meditations. ix. 16. [756] Everything is in a state of metamorphosis. Thou thyself art in everlasting change and in corruption to correspond; so is the whole universe. Meditations. ix. 19. Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it....Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle. Meditations. ix. 29. He that dies in extreme old age will be reduced to the same state with him that is cut down untimely. Meditations. ix. 33. Whatever may befall thee, it was preordained for thee from everlasting. Meditations. x. 5. "The earth loveth the shower," and "the holy ether knoweth what love is."[756:1] The Universe, too, loves to create whatsoever is destined to be made. Meditations. x. 21. Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life,—there, if one must speak out, the real man. Meditations. x. 38. No form of Nature is inferior to Art; for the arts merely imitate natural forms. Meditations. xi. 10. If it is not seemly, do it not; if it is not true, speak it not. Meditations. xii. 17. Footnotes [749:1] See Publius Syrus, page 712. A similar saying falls from his lips at another time: "Let every act and speech and purpose be framed as though this moment thou mightest take thy leave of life." [750:1] The translator is in doubt about this passage. Commentators differ in regard to it, and the text may be corrupt. [752:1] Democritus apud Senecam: De Ira, iii. 6; De Animi Tranquillitate, 13. [756:1] Fragmenta Euripidis, apud Aristotelem, N. A. viii. 1, 6.
TERTULLIAN. 160-240 a. d. See how these Christians love one another. Apologeticus. c. 39. Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Apologeticus. c. 50. It is certain because it is impossible.[756:2] De Carne Christi. c. 5. He who flees will fight again.[756:3] De Fuga in Persecutione. c. 10. Footnotes [756:2] Certum est, quia impossibile est. This is usually misquoted, "Credo quia impossibile" (I believe it because it is impossible). [756:3] See Butler, pages 215, 216.
[757] DIOGENES LAERTIUS. Circa 200 a. d. (From "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers." Translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A., with occasional corrections. Bohn's Classical Library.) AlcÆus mentions Aristodemus in these lines:— 'T is money makes the man; and he who 's none Is counted neither good nor honourable. Thales. vii. Thales said there was no difference between life and death. "Why, then," said some one to him, "do not you die?" "Because," said he, "it does make no difference." Thales. ix. When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, "To know one's self." And what was easy, "To advise another." Thales. ix. He said that men ought to remember those friends who were absent as well as those who were present. Thales. ix. The apophthegm "Know thyself" is his.[757:1] Thales. xiii. Writers differ with respect to the apophthegms of the Seven Sages, attributing the same one to various authors. Thales. xiv. Solon used to say that speech was the image of actions;... that laws were like cobwebs,—for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast; while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off. Solon. x. Solon gave the following advice: "Consider your honour, as a gentleman, of more weight than an oath. Never tell a lie. Pay attention to matters of importance." Solon. xii. As some say, Solon was the author of the apophthegm, "Nothing in excess."[757:2] Solon. xvi. [758] Chilo advised, "not to speak evil of the dead."[758:1] Chilo. ii. Pittacus said that half was more than the whole.[758:2] Pittacus. ii. Heraclitus says that Pittacus, when he had got AlcÆus into his power, released him, saying, "Forgiveness is better than revenge."[758:3] Pittacus. iii. One of his sayings was, "Even the gods cannot strive against necessity."[758:4] Pittacus. iv. Another was, "Watch your opportunity." Pittacus. vii. Bias used to say that men ought to calculate life both as if they were fated to live a long and a short time, and that they ought to love one another as if at a future time they would come to hate one another; for that most men were bad. Bias. v. Ignorance plays the chief part among men, and the multitude of words;[758:5] but opportunity will prevail. Cleobulus. iv. The saying, "Practice is everything," is Periander's.[758:6] Periander. vi. Anarcharsis, on learning that the sides of a ship were four fingers thick, said that "the passengers were just that distance from death."[758:7] Anarcharsis. v. He used to say that it was better to have one friend of great value than many friends who were good for nothing. Anarcharsis. v. [759] It was a common saying of Myson that men ought not to investigate things from words, but words from things; for that things are not made for the sake of words, but words for things. Myson. iii. Epimenides was sent by his father into the field to look for a sheep, turned out of the road at mid-day and lay down in a certain cave and fell asleep, and slept there fifty-seven years; and after that, when awake, he went on looking for the sheep, thinking that he had been taking a short nap.[759:1] Epimenides. ii. There are many marvellous stories told of Pherecydes. For it is said that he was walking along the seashore at Samos, and that seeing a ship sailing by with a fair wind, he said that it would soon sink; and presently it sank before his eyes. At another time he was drinking some water which had been drawn up out of a well, and he foretold that within three days there would be an earthquake; and there was one. Pherecydes. ii. Anaximander used to assert that the primary cause of all things was the Infinite,—not defining exactly whether he meant air or water or anything else. Anaximander. ii. Anaxagoras said to a man who was grieving because he was dying in a foreign land, "The descent to Hades is the same from every place." Anaxagoras. vi. Aristophanes turns Socrates into ridicule in his comedies, as making the worse appear the better reason.[759:2] Socrates. v. Often when he was looking on at auctions he would say, "How many things there are which I do not need!" Socrates. x. Socrates said, "Those who want fewest things are nearest to the gods." Socrates. xi. [760] He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; and one only evil, namely, ignorance. Socrates. xiv. He declared that he knew nothing, except the fact of his ignorance. Socrates. xvi. Being asked whether it was better to marry or not, he replied, "Whichever you do, you will repent it." Socrates. xvi. He used to say that other men lived to eat, but that he ate to live.[760:1] Socrates. xvi. Aristippus being asked what were the most necessary things for well-born boys to learn, said, "Those things which they will put in practice when they become men." Aristippus. iv. Aristippus said that a wise man's country was the world.[760:2] Aristippus. xiii. Like sending owls to Athens, as the proverb goes. Plato. xxxii. Plato affirmed that the soul was immortal and clothed in many bodies successively. Plato. xl. Time is the image of eternity. Plato. xli. That virtue was sufficient of herself for happiness.[760:3] Plato. xlii. That the gods superintend all the affairs of men, and that there are such beings as dÆmons. Plato. xlii. There is a written and an unwritten law. The one by which we regulate our constitutions in our cities is the written law; that which arises from custom is the unwritten law. Plato. li. Plato was continually saying to Xenocrates, "Sacrifice to the Graces."[760:4] Xenocrates. iii. [761] Arcesilaus had a peculiar habit while conversing of using the expression, "My opinion is," and "So and so will not agree to this." Arcesilaus. xii. Bion used to say that the way to the shades below was easy; he could go there with his eyes shut. Bion. iii. Once when Bion was at sea in the company of some wicked men, he fell into the hands of pirates; and when the rest said, "We are undone if we are known,"—"But I," said he, "am undone if we are not known." Bion. iii. Of a rich man who was niggardly he said, "That man does not own his estate, but his estate owns him." Bion. iii. Bion insisted on the principle that "The property of friends is common."[761:1] Bion. ix. Very late in life, when he was studying geometry, some one said to Lacydes, "Is it then a time for you to be learning now?" "If it is not," he replied, "when will it be?" Lacydes. v. Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he, "That when they speak truth they are not believed." Aristotle. xi. The question was put to him, what hope is; and his answer was, "The dream of a waking man."[761:2] Aristotle. xi. He used to say that personal beauty was a better introduction than any letter;[761:3] but others say that it was Diogenes who gave this description of it, while Aristotle called beauty "the gift of God;" that Socrates called it "a short-lived tyranny;" Theophrastus, "a silent deceit;" Theocritus, "an ivory mischief;" Carneades, "a sovereignty which stood in need of no guards." Aristotle. xi. [762] On one occasion Aristotle was asked how much educated men were superior to those uneducated: "As much," said he, "as the living are to the dead."[762:1] Aristotle. xi. It was a saying of his that education was an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity. Aristotle. xi. He was once asked what a friend is, and his answer was, "One soul abiding in two bodies."[762:2] Aristotle. xi. Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered, "To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws." Aristotle. xi. The question was once put to him, how we ought to behave to our friends; and the answer he gave was, "As we should wish our friends to behave to us." Aristotle. xi. He used to define justice as "a virtue of the soul distributing that which each person deserved." Aristotle. xi. Another of his sayings was, that education was the best viaticum of old age. Aristotle. xi. The chief good he has defined to be the exercise of virtue in a perfect life. Aristotle. xiii. He used to teach that God is incorporeal, as Plato also asserted, and that his providence extends over all the heavenly bodies. Aristotle. xiii. It was a favourite expression of Theophrastus that time was the most valuable thing that a man could spend.[762:3] Theophrastus. x. Antisthenes used to say that envious people were devoured by their own disposition, just as iron is by rust. Antisthenes. iv. [763] When he was praised by some wicked men, he said, "I am sadly afraid that I must have done some wicked thing."[763:1] Antisthenes. iv. When asked what learning was the most necessary, he said, "Not to unlearn what you have learned." Antisthenes. iv. Diogenes would frequently praise those who were about to marry, and yet did not marry. Diogenes. iv. "Bury me on my face," said Diogenes; and when he was asked why, he replied, "Because in a little while everything will be turned upside down." Diogenes. vi. One of the sayings of Diogenes was that most men were within a finger's breadth of being mad; for if a man walked with his middle finger pointing out, folks would think him mad, but not so if it were his forefinger. Diogenes. vi. All things are in common among friends.[763:2] Diogenes. vi. "Be of good cheer," said Diogenes; "I see land." Diogenes. vi. Plato having defined man to be a two-legged animal without feathers, Diogenes plucked a cock and brought it into the Academy, and said, "This is Plato's man." On which account this addition was made to the definition,—"With broad flat nails." Diogenes. vi. A man once asked Diogenes what was the proper time for supper, and he made answer, "If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if you are a poor man, whenever you can."[763:3] Diogenes. vi. Diogenes lighted a candle in the daytime, and went round saying, "I am looking for a man."[763:4] Diogenes. vi. [764] When asked what he would take to let a man give him a blow on the head, he said, "A helmet." Diogenes. vi. Once he saw a youth blushing, and addressed him, "Courage, my boy! that is the complexion of virtue."[764:1] Diogenes. vi. When asked what wine he liked to drink, he replied, "That which belongs to another." Diogenes. vi. Asked from what country he came, he replied, "I am a citizen of the world."[764:2] Diogenes. vi. When a man reproached him for going into unclean places, he said, "The sun too penetrates into privies, but is not polluted by them."[764:3] Diogenes. vi. Diogenes said once to a person who was showing him a dial, "It is a very useful thing to save a man from being too late for supper." Menedemus. iii. When Zeno was asked what a friend was, he replied, "Another I."[764:4] Zeno. xix. They say that the first inclination which an animal has is to protect itself. Zeno. lii. One ought to seek out virtue for its own sake, without being influenced by fear or hope, or by any external influence. Moreover, that in that does happiness consist.[764:5] Zeno. liii. The Stoics also teach that God is unity, and that he is called Mind and Fate and Jupiter, and by many other names besides. Zeno. lxviii. They also say that God is an animal immortal, rational, perfect, and intellectual in his happiness, unsusceptible of any kind of evil, having a foreknowledge of [765]the universe and of all that is in the universe; however, that he has not the figure of a man; and that he is the creator of the universe, and as it were the Father of all things in common, and that a portion of him pervades everything. Zeno. lxxii. But Chrysippus, Posidonius, Zeno, and BoËthus say, that all things are produced by fate. And fate is a connected cause of existing things, or the reason according to which the world is regulated. Zeno. lxxiv. Apollodorus says, "If any one were to take away from the books of Chrysippus all the passages which he quotes from other authors, his paper would be left empty." Chrysippus. iii. One of the sophisms of Chrysippus was, "If you have not lost a thing, you have it." Chrysippus. xi. Pythagoras used to say that he had received as a gift from Mercury the perpetual transmigration of his soul, so that it was constantly transmigrating and passing into all sorts of plants or animals. Pythagoras. iv. He calls drunkenness an expression identical with ruin.[765:1] Pythagoras. vi. Among what he called his precepts were such as these: Do not stir the fire with a sword. Do not sit down on a bushel. Do not devour thy heart.[765:2] Pythagoras. xvii. In the time of Pythagoras that proverbial phrase "Ipse dixit"[765:3] was introduced into ordinary life. Pythagoras. xxv. Xenophanes was the first person who asserted...that the soul is a spirit. Xenophanes. iii. It takes a wise man to discover a wise man. Xenophanes. iii. Protagoras asserted that there were two sides to every question, exactly opposite to each other. Protagoras. iii. [766] Nothing can be produced out of nothing.[766:1] Diogenes of Apollonia. ii. Xenophanes speaks thus:— And no man knows distinctly anything, And no man ever will. Pyrrho. viii. Democritus says, "But we know nothing really; for truth lies deep down." Pyrrho. viii. Euripides says,— Who knows but that this life is really death, And whether death is not what men call life? Pyrrho. viii. The mountains, too, at a distance appear airy masses and smooth, but seen near at hand, they are rough.[766:2] Pyrrho. ix. If appearances are deceitful, then they do not deserve any confidence when they assert what appears to them to be true. Pyrrho. xi. The chief good is the suspension of the judgment, which tranquillity of mind follows like its shadow. Pyrrho. xi. Epicurus laid down the doctrine that pleasure was the chief good. Epicurus. vi. He alludes to the appearance of a face in the orb of the moon. Epicurus. xxv. Fortune is unstable, while our will is free. Epicurus. xxvii. Footnotes [758:1] De mortuis nil nisi bonum (Of the dead be nothing said but what is good.)—Of unknown authorship. [758:3] Quoted by Epictetus (Fragment lxii.), "Forgiveness is better than punishment; for the one is the proof of a gentle, the other of a savage nature." [758:5] In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin.—Proverbs x. 19. [758:7] "How thick do you judge the planks of our ship to be?" "Some two good inches and upward," returned the pilot. "It seems, then, we are within two fingers' breadth of damnation."—Rabelais: book iv. chap. xxiii. [759:1] The story of Rip Van Winkle. [760:3] See Walton, page 207. In that [virtue] does happiness consist.—Zeno (page 764). [761:1] All things are in common among friends.—Diogenes (page 763). [762:1] Quoted with great warmth by Dr. Johnson (Boswell).—Langton: Collectanea. [763:3] The rich when he is hungry, the poor when he has anything to eat.—Rabelais: book iv. chap. lxiv. [765:3] ??t?? ?fa (The master said so).
ATHENÆUS. Circa 200 a. d. (Translation by C. D. Yonge, B. A.) It was a saying of Demetrius Phalereus, that "Men having often abandoned what was visible for the sake of what was uncertain, have not got what they expected, and have lost what they had,—being unfortunate by an enigmatical sort of calamity."[766:3] The Deipnosophists. vi. 23. [767] Every investigation which is guided by principles of Nature fixes its ultimate aim entirely on gratifying the stomach.[767:1] The Deipnosophists. vii. 11. Dorion, ridiculing the description of a tempest in the "Nautilus" of Timotheus, said that he had seen a more formidable storm in a boiling saucepan.[767:2] The Deipnosophists. viii. 19. On one occasion some one put a very little wine into a wine-cooler, and said that it was sixteen years old. "It is very small for its age," said GnathÆna. The Deipnosophists. xiii. 47. Goodness does not consist in greatness, but greatness in goodness.[767:3] The Deipnosophists. xiv. 46. Footnotes [766:3] Said with reference to mining operations. [767:2] Tempest in a teapot.—Proverb.
SAINT AUGUSTINE. 354-430. When I am here, I do not fast on Saturday; when at Rome, I do fast on Saturday.[767:4] Epistle 36. To Casulanus. The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light,—although it passes among the impure, it is not polluted.[767:5] Works. Vol. iii. In Johannis Evangelum, c. tr. 5, Sect. 15.
ALI BEN ABI TALEB.[767:6] —— -660. Believe me, a thousand friends suffice thee not; In a single enemy thou hast more than enough.[767:7] Footnotes [767:6] Ali Ben Abi Taleb, son-in-law of Mahomet, and fourth caliph, who was for his courage called "The Lion of God," was murdered a. d. 660. He was the author of a "Hundred Sayings." [767:7] Translated by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and wrongly called by him a translation from Omar KhayyÁm. Found in Dr. Hermann Tolowiez's "Polyglotte der Orientalischen Poesie." Translated by James Russell Lowell thus:— He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.
[768] OMAR KHAYYÁM. —— -1123. (Translated by Edward Fitzgerald.) I sometimes think that never blows so red The Rose as where some buried CÆsar bled; That every Hyacinth the Garden wears Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head. RubÁiyÁt. Stanza xix. A Moment's Halt—a momentary taste Of Being from the Well amid the Waste— And, Lo! the phantom Caravan has reach'd The Nothing it set out from. Oh, make haste! RubÁiyÁt. Stanza xlviii. Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill'd Desire, And Hell the Shadow of a Soul on fire. RubÁiyÁt. Stanza lxvii. The Moving Finger writes; and having writ, Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. RubÁiyÁt. Stanza lxxi. And this I know: whether the one True Light Kindle to Love, or Wrath-consume me quite, One Flash of It within the Tavern caught Better than in the Temple lost outright. RubÁiyÁt. Stanza lxxvii. And when like her, O SÁki, you shall pass Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass, And in your blissful errand reach the spot Where I made One—turn down an empty Glass. RubÁiyÁt. Stanza ci.
ALPHONSO THE WISE. 1221-1284. Had I been present at the creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe.[768:1] Footnotes [768:1] Carlyle says, in his "History of Frederick the Great," book ii. chap. vii. that this saying of Alphonso about Ptolemy's astronomy, "that it seemed a crank machine; that it was pity the Creator had not taken advice," is still remembered by mankind,—this and no other of his many sayings.
[769] DANTE. 1265-1321. All hope abandon, ye who enter here. Hell. Canto iii. Line 9. The wretched souls of those who lived Without or praise or blame. Hell. Canto iii. Line 34. No greater grief than to remember days Of joy when misery is at hand.[769:1] Hell. Canto v. Line 121.
FRANÇOIS VILLON. Circa 1430-1484. Where are the snows of last year?[769:2] Des Dames du Temps jadis. i. I know everything except myself. Autre Ballade. i. Good talkers are only found in Paris. Des Femmes de Paris. ii. Footnotes [769:2] But where is last year's snow? This was the greatest care that Villon, the Parisian poet, took.—Rabelais: book ii. chap. xiv.
MICHELANGELO. 1474-1564. (Translation by Mrs. Henry Roscoe.) As when, O lady mine! With chiselled touch The stone unhewn and cold Becomes a living mould. The more the marble wastes, The more the statue grows. Sonnet.
[770] MARTIN LUTHER. 1483-1546. A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our helper He amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing. Psalm. Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (trans. by Frederic H. Hedge). Tell your master that if there were as many devils at Worms as tiles on its roofs, I would enter.[770:1] Here I stand; I can do no otherwise. God help me. Amen! Speech at the Diet of Worms. For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.[770:2] Table-Talk. lxvii. A faithful and good servant is a real godsend; but truly 't is a rare bird in the land. Table-Talk. clvi. Footnotes [770:1] On the 16th of April, 1521, Luther entered the imperial city [of Worms]....On his approach...the Elector's chancellor entreated him, in the name of his master, not to enter a town where his death was decided. The answer which Luther returned was simply this.—Bunsen: Life of Luther. I will go, though as many devils aim at me as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses.—Ranke: History of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 533 (Mrs. Austin's translation).
FRANCIS RABELAIS. 1495-1553. I am just going to leap into the dark.[770:3] Motteux's Life. Let down the curtain: the farce is done. Motteux's Life. He left a paper sealed up, wherein were found three articles as his last will: "I owe much; I have nothing; I give the rest to the poor." Motteux's Life. One inch of joy surmounts of grief a span, Because to laugh is proper to the man. To the Reader. [771] To return to our wethers.[771:1] Works. Book i. Chap. i. n. 2. I drink no more than a sponge. Works. Book i. Chap. v. Appetite comes with eating, says Angeston.[771:2] Works. Book i. Chap. v. Thought the moon was made of green cheese. Works. Book i. Chap. xi. He always looked a given horse in the mouth.[771:3] Works. Book i. Chap. xi. By robbing Peter he paid Paul,[771:4]...and hoped to catch larks if ever the heavens should fall.[771:5] Works. Book i. Chap. xi. He laid him squat as a flounder. Works. Book i. Chap. xxvii. Send them home as merry as crickets. Works. Book i. Chap. xxix. Corn is the sinews of war.[771:6] Works. Book i. Chap. xlvi. How shall I be able to rule over others, that have not full power and command of myself? Works. Book i. Chap. lii. Subject to a kind of disease, which at that time they called lack of money. Works. Book ii. Chap. xvi. He did not care a button for it. Works. Book ii. Chap. xvi. How well I feathered my nest. Works. Book ii. Chap. xvii. So much is a man worth as he esteems himself. Works. Book ii. Chap. xxix. A good crier of green sauce. Works. Book ii. Chap. xxxi. Then I began to think that it is very true which is commonly said, that the one half of the world knoweth not how the other half liveth. Works. Book ii. Chap. xxxii. This flea which I have in mine ear. Works. Book iii. Chap. xxxi. You have there hit the nail on the head.[771:7] Works. Book iii. Chap. xxxiv. Above the pitch, out of tune, and off the hinges. Works. Book iv. Chap. xix. [772] I 'll go his halves. Works. Book iv. Chap. xxiii. The Devil was sick,—the Devil a monk would be; The Devil was well,—the devil a monk was he. Works. Book iv. Chap. xxiv. Do not believe what I tell you here any more than if it were some tale of a tub. Works. Book iv. Chap. xxxviii. I would have you call to mind the strength of the ancient giants, that undertook to lay the high mountain Pelion on the top of Ossa, and set among those the shady Olympus.[772:1] Works. Book iv. Chap. xxxviii. Which was performed to a T.[772:2] Works. Book iv. Chap. xli. He that has patience may compass anything. Works. Book iv. Chap. xlviii. We will take the good will for the deed.[772:3] Works. Book iv. Chap. xlix. You are Christians of the best edition, all picked and culled. Works. Book iv. Chap. l. Would you damn your precious soul? Works. Book iv. Chap. liv. Let us fly and save our bacon. Works. Book iv. Chap. lv. Needs must when the Devil drives.[772:4] Works. Book iv. Chap. lvii. Scampering as if the Devil drove them. Works. Book iv. Chap. lxii. He freshly and cheerfully asked him how a man should kill time. Works. Book iv. Chap. lxii. The belly has no ears, nor is it to be filled with fair words.[772:5] Works. Book iv. Chap. lxii. Whose cockloft is unfurnished.[772:6] Works. The Author's Prologue to the Fifth Book. Speak the truth and shame the Devil.[772:7] Works. The Author's Prologue to the Fifth Book. Plain as a nose in a man's face.[772:8] Works. The Author's Prologue to the Fifth Book. [773] Like hearts of oak.[773:1] Works. Prologue to the Fifth Book. You shall never want rope enough. Works. Prologue to the Fifth Book. Looking as like...as one pea does like another.[773:2] Works. Book v. Chapter ii. Nothing is so dear and precious as time.[773:3] Works. Book v. Chapter v. And thereby hangs a tale.[773:4] Works. Book v. Chapter iv. It is meat, drink,[773:5] and cloth to us. Works. Book v. Chapter vii. And so on to the end of the chapter. Works. Book v. Chapter x. What is got over the Devil's back is spent under the belly.[773:6] Works. Book v. Chapter xi. We have here other fish to fry.[773:7] Works. Book v. Chapter xii. What cannot be cured must be endured.[773:8] Works. Book v. Chapter xv. Thought I to myself, we shall never come off scot-free. Works. Book v. Chapter xv. It is enough to fright you out of your seven senses.[773:9] Works. Book v. Chapter xv. Necessity has no law.[773:10] Works. Book v. Chapter xv. Panurge had no sooner heard this, but he was upon the high-rope. Works. Book v. Chapter xviii. We saw a knot of others, about a baker's dozen. Works. Book v. Chapter xxii. Others made a virtue of necessity.[773:11] Works. Book v. Chapter xxii. Spare your breath to cool your porridge.[773:12] Works. Book v. Chapter xxviii. I believe he would make three bites of a cherry. Works. Book v. Chapter xxviii. Footnotes [770:3] Je m'en vay chercher un grand peut-estre. [771:1] "Revenons À nos moutons,"—a proverb taken from the French farce of "Pierre Patelin," edition of 1762, p. 90. [771:2] My appetite comes to me while eating.—Montaigne: Book iii. chap. ix. Of Vanity. [773:3] See Franklin, page 361. Also Diogenes Laertius, page 762. [773:6] Isocrates was in the right to insinuate that what is got over the Devil's back is spent under his belly.—Le Sage: Gil Blas, book viii. chap. ix. [773:7] I have other fish to fry.—Cervantes: Don Quixote, part ii. chap. xxxv.
[774] MICHAEL DE MONTAIGNE. 1533-1592. (Works.[774:1] Cotton's translation, revised by Hazlitt and Wight.) Man in sooth is a marvellous, vain, fickle, and unstable subject.[774:2] Book i. Chap. i. That Men by various Ways arrive at the same End. All passions that suffer themselves to be relished and digested are but moderate.[774:3] Book i. Chap. ii. Of Sorrow. It is not without good reason said, that he who has not a good memory should never take upon him the trade of lying.[774:4] Book i. Chap. ix. Of Liars. He who should teach men to die would at the same time teach them to live.[774:5] Book i. Chap. xviii. That Men are not to judge of our Happiness till after Death. The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from custom. Book i. Chap. xxii. Of Custom. Accustom him to everything, that he may not be a Sir Paris, a carpet-knight,[774:6] but a sinewy, hardy, and vigorous young man. Book i. Chap. xxv. Of the Education of Children. We were halves throughout, and to that degree that methinks by outliving him I defraud him of his part. Book i. Chap. xxvii. Of Friendship. There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.[774:7] Book i. Chap. xxx. Of Cannibals. [775] Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know. Book i. Chap. xxxi. Of Divine Ordinances. A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself. Book i. Chap. xxxviii. Of Solitude. Even opinion is of force enough to make itself to be espoused at the expense of life. Book i. Chap. xl. Of Good and Evil. Plato says, "'T is to no purpose for a sober man to knock at the door of the Muses;" and Aristotle says "that no excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of folly."[775:1] Book ii. Chap. ii. Of Drunkenness. For a desperate disease a desperate cure.[775:2] Book ii. Chap. iii. The Custom of the Isle of Cea. And not to serve for a table-talk.[775:3] Book ii. Chap. iii. The Custom of the Isle of Cea. To which we may add this other Aristotelian consideration, that he who confers a benefit on any one loves him better than he is beloved by him again.[775:4] Book ii. Chap. viii. Of the Affection of Fathers. The middle sort of historians (of which the most part are) spoil all; they will chew our meat for us. Book ii. Chap. x. Of Books. The only good histories are those that have been written by the persons themselves who commanded in the affairs whereof they write. Book ii. Chap. x. Of Books. She [virtue] requires a rough and stormy passage; she will have either outward difficulties to wrestle with,[775:5]... or internal difficulties. Book ii. Chap. xi. Of Cruelty. There is, nevertheless, a certain respect and a general duty of humanity that ties us, not only to beasts that have life and sense, but even to trees and plants. Book ii. Chap. xi. Of Cruelty. [776] Some impose upon the world that they believe that which they do not; others, more in number, make themselves believe that they believe, not being able to penetrate into what it is to believe. Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. When I play with my cat, who knows whether I do not make her more sport than she makes me? Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. 'T is one and the same Nature that rolls on her course, and whoever has sufficiently considered the present state of things might certainly conclude as to both the future and the past.[776:1] Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. The souls of emperors and cobblers are cast in the same mould....The same reason that makes us wrangle with a neighbour causes a war betwixt princes. Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens. Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. Why may not a goose say thus: "All the parts of the universe I have an interest in: the earth serves me to walk upon, the sun to light me; the stars have their influence upon me; I have such an advantage by the winds and such by the waters; there is nothing that yon heavenly roof looks upon so favourably as me. I am the darling of Nature! Is it not man that keeps and serves me?"[776:2] Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. Arts and sciences are not cast in a mould, but are formed and perfected by degrees, by often handling and polishing, as bears leisurely lick their cubs into form.[776:3] Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. He that I am reading seems always to have the most force. Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. [777] Apollo said that every one's true worship was that which he found in use in the place where he chanced to be.[777:1] Book ii. Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond. How many worthy men have we seen survive their own reputation![777:2] Book ii. Chap. xvi. Of Glory. The mariner of old said to Neptune in a great tempest, "O God! thou mayest save me if thou wilt, and if thou wilt thou mayest destroy me; but whether or no, I will steer my rudder true."[777:3] Book ii. Chap. xvi. Of Glory. One may be humble out of pride. Book ii. Chap. xvii. Of Presumption. I find that the best virtue I have has in it some tincture of vice. Book ii. Chap. xx. That we taste nothing pure. Saying is one thing, doing another. Book ii. Chap. xxxi. Of Anger. Is it not a noble farce, wherein kings, republics, and emperors have for so many ages played their parts, and to which the whole vast universe serves for a theatre?[777:4] Book ii. Chap. xxxvi. Of the most Excellent Men. Nature forms us for ourselves, not for others; to be, not to seem. Book ii. Chap. xxxvii. Of the Resemblance of Children to their Brothers. There never was in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.[777:5] Book ii. Chap. xxxvii. Of the Resemblance of Children to their Fathers. The public weal requires that men should betray and lie and massacre. Book iii. Chap. i. Of Profit and Honesty. Like rowers, who advance backward.[777:6] Book iii. Chap. i. Of Profit and Honesty. I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little the more as I grow older. Book iii. Chap ii. Of Repentance. [778] Few men have been admired by their own domestics.[778:1] Book iii. Chap. ii. Of Repentance. It happens as with cages: the birds without despair to get in, and those within despair of getting out.[778:2] Book iii. Chap. v. Upon some Verses of Virgil. And to bring in a new word by the head and shoulders, they leave out the old one. Book iii. Chap. v. Upon some Verses of Virgil. All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me. Book iii. Chap. v. Upon some Verses of Virgil. 'T is so much to be a king, that he only is so by being so. The strange lustre that surrounds him conceals and shrouds him from us; our sight is there broken and dissipated, being stopped and filled by the prevailing light.[778:3] Book iii. Chap. vii. Of the Inconveniences of Greatness. We are born to inquire after truth; it belongs to a greater power to possess it. It is not, as Democritus said, hid in the bottom of the deeps, but rather elevated to an infinite height in the divine knowledge.[778:4] Book iii. Chap. viii. Of the Art of Conversation. I moreover affirm that our wisdom itself, and wisest consultations, for the most part commit themselves to the conduct of chance.[778:5] Book iii. Chap. viii. Of the Art of Conversation. What if he has borrowed the matter and spoiled the form, as it oft falls out?[778:6] Book iii. Chap. viii. Of the Art of Conversation. The oldest and best known evil was ever more supportable than one that was new and untried.[778:7] Book iii. Chap. ix. Of Vanity. [779] Not because Socrates said so,...I look upon all men as my compatriots. Book iii. Chap. ix. Of Vanity. My appetite comes to me while eating.[779:1] Book iii. Chap. ix. Of Vanity. There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life. Book iii. Chap. ix. Of Vanity. Saturninus said, "Comrades, you have lost a good captain to make him an ill general." Book iii. Chap. ix. Of Vanity. A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.[779:2] Book iii. Chap. ix. Of Vanity. Habit is a second nature.[779:3] Book iii. Chap. x. We seek and offer ourselves to be gulled. Book iii. Chap. xi. Of Cripples. I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself. Book iii. Chap. xi. Of Cripples. Men are most apt to believe what they least understand. Book iii. Chap. xi. Of Cripples. I have here only made a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own but the thread that ties them together. Book iii. Chap. xii. Of Physiognomy. Amongst so many borrowed things, I am glad if I can steal one, disguising and altering it for some new service.[779:4] Book iii. Chap. xii. Of Physiognomy. I am further of opinion that it would be better for us to have [no laws] at all than to have them in so prodigious numbers as we have. Book iii. Chap. xiii. Of Experience. There is more ado to interpret interpretations than to interpret the things, and more books upon books than upon all other subjects; we do nothing but comment upon one another. Book iii. Chap. xiii. Of Experience. [780] For truth itself has not the privilege to be spoken at all times and in all sorts. Book iii. Chap. xiii. Of Experience. The diversity of physical arguments and opinions embraces all sorts of methods. Book iii. Chap. xiii. Of Experience. Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we. Book iii. Chap. xiii. Of Experience. I have ever loved to repose myself, whether sitting or lying, with my heels as high or higher than my head. Book iii. Chap. xiii. Of Experience. I, who have so much and so universally adored this ???st?? ?t???, "excellent mediocrity,"[780:1] of ancient times, and who have concluded the most moderate measure the most perfect, shall I pretend to an unreasonable and prodigious old age? Book iii. Chap. xiii. Of Experience. Footnotes [774:1] This book of Montaigne the world has indorsed by translating it into all tongues, and printing seventy-five editions of it in Europe.—Emerson: Representative Men. Montaigne. [774:3] See Raleigh, page 25. Curae leves loquuntur ingentes stupent (Light griefs are loquacious, but the great are dumb).—Seneca: Hippolytus, ii. 3, 607. [774:4] See Sidney, page 264. Mendacem memorem esse oportere (To be a liar, memory is necessary).—Quintilian: iv. 2, 91. [777:1] Xenophon: Mem. Socratis, i. 3, 1. [778:4] Lactantius: Divin. Instit. iii. 28. [778:5] Although men flatter themselves with their great actions, they are not so often the result of great design as of chance.—Rochefoucauld: Maxim 57.
DU BARTAS. 1544-1590. (From his "Divine Weekes and Workes," translated by J. Sylvester.) The world 's a stage[780:2] where God's omnipotence, His justice, knowledge, love, and providence Do act the parts. First Week, First Day. And reads, though running,[780:3] all these needful motions. First Week, First Day. Mercy and justice, marching cheek by joule. First Week, First Day. Not unlike the bear which bringeth forth In the end of thirty dayes a shapeless birth; But after licking, it in shape she drawes, And by degrees she fashions out the pawes, The head, and neck, and finally doth bring To a perfect beast that first deformed thing.[780:4] First Week, First Day. [781] What is well done is done soon enough. First Week, First Day. And swans seem whiter if swart crowes be by. First Week, First Day. Night's black mantle covers all alike.[781:1] First Week, First Day. Hot and cold, and moist and dry.[781:2] First Week, Second Day. Much like the French (or like ourselves, their apes), Who with strange habit do disguise their shapes; Who loving novels, full of affectation, Receive the manners of each other nation.[781:3] First Week, Second Day. With tooth and nail. First Week, Second Day. From the foure corners of the worlde doe haste.[781:4] First Week, Second Day. Oft seen in forehead of the frowning skies.[781:5] First Week, Second Day. From north to south, from east to west.[781:6] First Week, Second Day. Bright-flaming, heat-full fire, The source of motion.[781:7] First Week, Second Day. Not that the earth doth yield In hill or dale, in forest or in field, A rarer plant.[781:8] First Week, Third Day. 'T is what you will,—or will be what you would. First Week, Third Day. Or savage beasts upon a thousand hils.[781:9] First Week, Third Day. [782] To man the earth seems altogether No more a mother, but a step-dame rather.[782:1] First Week, Third Day. For where 's the state beneath the firmament That doth excel the bees for government?[782:2] First Week, Fifth Day, Part i. A good turn at need, At first or last, shall be assur'd of meed. First Week, Sixth Day. There is no theam more plentifull to scan Than is the glorious goodly frame of man.[782:3] First Week, Sixth Day. These lovely lamps, these windows of the soul.[782:4] First Week, Sixth Day. Or almost like a spider, who, confin'd In her web's centre, shakt with every winde, Moves in an instant if the buzzing flie Stir but a string of her lawn canapie.[782:5] First Week, Sixth Day. Even as a surgeon, minding off to cut Some cureless limb,—before in ure he put His violent engins on the vicious member, Bringeth his patient in a senseless slumber, And grief-less then (guided by use and art), To save the whole, sawes off th' infested part. First Week, Sixth Day. Two souls in one, two hearts into one heart.[782:6] First Week, Sixth Day. Which serves for cynosure[782:7] To all that sail upon the sea obscure. First Week, Seventh Day. [783] Yielding more wholesome food than all the messes That now taste-curious wanton plenty dresses.[783:1] Second Week, First Day, Part i. Turning our seed-wheat-kennel tares, To burn-grain thistle, and to vaporie darnel, Cockle, wild oats, rough burs, corn-cumbring Tares.[783:2] Second Week, First Day, Part iii. In every hedge and ditch both day and night We fear our death, of every leafe affright.[783:3] Second Week, First Day, Part iii. Dog, ounce, bear, and bull, Wolfe, lion, horse.[783:4] Second Week, First Day, Part iii. Apoplexie and lethargie, As forlorn hope, assault the enemy. Second Week, First Day, Part iii. Living from hand to mouth. Second Week, First Day, Part iv. In the jaws of death.[783:5] Second Week, First Day, Part iv. Did thrust as now in others' corn his sickle.[783:6] Second Week, Second Day, Part ii. Will change the pebbles of our puddly thought To orient pearls.[783:7] Second Week, Third Day, Part i. Soft carpet-knights, all scenting musk and amber.[783:8] Second Week, Third Day, Part i. The will for deed I doe accept.[783:9] Second Week, Third Day, Part ii. [784] Only that he may conform To tyrant custom.[784:1] Second Week, Third Day, Part ii. Sweet grave aspect.[784:2] Second Week, Fourth Day, Book i. Who breaks his faith, no faith is held with him. Second Week, Fourth Day, Book ii. Who well lives, long lives; for this age of ours Should not be numbered by years, daies, and hours.[784:3] Second Week, Fourth Day, Book ii. My lovely living boy, My hope, my hap, my love, my life, my joy.[784:4] Second Week, Fourth Day, Book ii. Out of the book of Natur's learned brest.[784:5] Second Week, Fourth Day, Book ii. Flesh of thy flesh, nor yet bone of thy bone. Second Week, Fourth Day, Book ii. Through thick and thin, both over hill and plain.[784:6] Second Week, Fourth Day, Book iv. Weakened and wasted to skin and bone.[784:7] Second Week, Fourth Day, Book iv. I take the world to be but as a stage, Where net-maskt men do play their personage.[784:8] Dialogue, between Heraclitus and Democritus. Made no more bones. The Maiden Blush. Footnotes [781:1] Come, civil night,...with thy black mantle.—Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, act iii. sc. 2. [781:3] Report of fashions in proud Italy, Whose manners still our apish nation Limps after in base imitation. Shakespeare: Richard II. act ii. sc. 1. [781:6] From north to south, from east to west.—Shakespeare: Winter's Tale, act i. sc. 2. [781:7] Heat considered as a Mode of Motion (title of a treatise, 1863).—John Tyndall. [781:9] The cattle upon a thousand hills.—Psalm i. 10. [782:2] So work the honey-bees, Creatures that by a rule in Nature teach The act of order to a peopled kingdom. Shakespeare: Henry V. act i. sc. 3. [782:4] Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes.—Shakespeare: Richard III. act v. sc. 3. [783:2] Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, With burdocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow In our sustaining corn. Shakespeare: Lear, act iv. sc. 4. [783:4] Lion, bear, or wolf, or bull.—Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 1. [783:7] See Milton, page 234. Orient pearls.—Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream, act iv. sc. 1. [784:4] My fair son! My life, my joy, my food, my all the world. Shakespeare: King John, act iii. sc. 4. [784:5] The book of Nature is that which the physician must read; and to do so he must walk over the leaves.—Paracelsus, 1490-1541. (From the EncyclopÆdia Britannica, ninth edition, vol. xviii. p. 234.)
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES. 1547-1616. Don Quixote. (Lockhart's Translation.) I was so free with him as not to mince the matter. Don Quixote. The Author's Preface. They can expect nothing but their labour for their pains.[784:9] Don Quixote. The Author's Preface. [785] As ill-luck would have it.[785:1] Don Quixote. Part i. Book i. Chap. ii. The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works.[785:2] Don Quixote. Part i. Book i. Chap. iv. Which I have earned with the sweat of my brows. Don Quixote. Part i. Book i. Chap. iv. Can we ever have too much of a good thing?[785:3] Don Quixote. Part i. Book i. Chap. vi. The charging of his enemy was but the work of a moment. Don Quixote. Part i. Book i. Chap. viii. And had a face like a blessing.[785:4] Don Quixote. Part i. Book ii. Chap. iv. It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. i. Fortune leaves always some door open to come at a remedy. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. i. Fair and softly goes far. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. ii. Plain as the nose on a man's face.[785:5] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. iv. Let me leap out of the frying-pan into the fire;[785:6] or, out of God's blessing into the warm sun.[785:7] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. iv. You are taking the wrong sow by the ear.[785:8] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. iv. Bell, book, and candle. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. iv. Let the worst come to the worst.[785:9] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. v. You are come off now with a whole skin. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. v. Fear is sharp-sighted, and can see things under ground, and much more in the skies. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vi. Ill-luck, you know, seldom comes alone.[785:10] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vi. [786] Why do you lead me a wild-goose chase? Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vi. I find my familiarity with thee has bred contempt.[786:1] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vi. The more thou stir it, the worse it will be. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vi. Now had Aurora displayed her mantle over the blushing skies, and dark night withdrawn her sable veil. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vi. I tell thee, that is Mambrino's helmet. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vii. Give me but that, and let the world rub; there I 'll stick. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vii. Sure as a gun.[786:2] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. vii. Sing away sorrow, cast away care. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. Thank you for nothing. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. After meat comes mustard; or, like money to a starving man at sea, when there are no victuals to be bought with it. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. Of good natural parts and of a liberal education. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. Would puzzle a convocation of casuists to resolve their degrees of consanguinity. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. Let every man mind his own business. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. Murder will out.[786:3] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. Thou art a cat, and a rat, and a coward. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. viii. It is the part of a wise man to keep himself to-day for to-morrow, and not to venture all his eggs in one basket. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. ix. I know what 's what, and have always taken care of the main chance.[786:4] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. ix. The ease of my burdens, the staff of my life. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. ix. [787] I am almost frighted out of my seven senses.[787:1] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. ix. Within a stone's throw of it. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. ix. Let us make hay while the sun shines.[787:2] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. xi. I never thrust my nose into other men's porridge. It is no bread and butter of mine; every man for himself, and God for us all.[787:3] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. xi. Little said is soonest mended.[787:4] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. xi. A close mouth catches no flies. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. xi. She may guess what I should perform in the wet, if I do so much in the dry. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. xi. You are a devil at everything, and there is no kind of thing in the 'versal world but what you can turn your hand to. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. xi. It will grieve me so to the heart, that I shall cry my eyes out. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iii. Chap. xi. Delay always breeds danger.[787:5] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. ii. They must needs go whom the Devil drives.[787:6] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. iv. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.[787:7] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. iv. More knave than fool.[787:8] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. iv. I can tell where my own shoe pinches me; and you must not think, sir, to catch old birds with chaff. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. v. I never saw a more dreadful battle in my born days. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. viii. Here is the devil-and-all to pay. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. x. I begin to smell a rat.[787:9] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. x. [788] I will take my corporal oath on it. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. x. It is past all controversy that what costs dearest is, and ought to be, most valued. Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. xi. I would have nobody to control me; I would be absolute: and who but I? Now, he that is absolute can do what he likes; he that can do what he likes can take his pleasure; he that can take his pleasure can be content; and he that can be content has no more to desire. So the matter's over; and come what will come, I am satisfied.[788:1] Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. xxiii. When the head aches, all the members partake of the pain.[788:2] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. ii. He has done like Orbaneja, the painter of Ubeda, who, being asked what he painted, answered, "As it may hit;" and when he had scrawled out a misshapen cock, was forced to write underneath, in Gothic letters, "This is a cock."[788:3] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. iii. There are men that will make you books, and turn them loose into the world, with as much dispatch as they would do a dish of fritters. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. iii. "There is no book so bad," said the bachelor, "but something good may be found in it."[788:4] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. iii. Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. iv. [789] Spare your breath to cool your porridge.[789:1] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. v. A little in one's own pocket is better than much in another man's purse. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. vii. Remember the old saying, "Faint heart never won fair lady."[789:2] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. x. There is a remedy for all things but death, which will be sure to lay us out flat some time or other. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. x. Are we to mark this day with a white or a black stone? Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. x. Let every man look before he leaps.[789:3] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xiv. The pen is the tongue of the mind. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xvi. There were but two families in the world, Have-much and Have-little. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xx. He has an oar in every man's boat, and a finger in every pie. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxii. Patience, and shuffle the cards. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxiii. Comparisons are odious.[789:4] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxiii. Tell me thy company, and I will tell thee what thou art. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxiii. The proof of the pudding is the eating. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxiv. He is as like one, as one egg is like another.[789:5] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxvii. You can see farther into a millstone than he.[789:6] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxviii. [790] Sancho Panza by name, is my own self, if I was not changed in my cradle. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxx. "Sit there, clod-pate!" cried he; "for let me sit wherever I will, that will still be the upper end, and the place of worship to thee."[790:1] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxi. Building castles in the air,[790:2] and making yourself a laughing-stock. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxi. It is good to live and learn. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxii. He is as mad as a March hare.[790:3] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. I must follow him through thick and thin.[790:4] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. There is no love lost between us.[790:5] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. In the night all cats are gray.[790:6] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. All is not gold that glisters.[790:7] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. I can look sharp as well as another, and let me alone to keep the cobwebs out of my eyes. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. Honesty is the best policy. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. Time ripens all things. No man is born wise. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. A good name is better than riches.[790:8] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. An honest man's word is as good as his bond. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiii. Heaven's help is better than early rising. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxiv. I have other fish to fry.[790:9] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxv. [791] There is a time for some things, and a time for all things; a time for great things, and a time for small things.[791:1] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxv. But all in good time. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxvi. Matters will go swimmingly. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxvi. Many go out for wool, and come home shorn themselves. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxvii. They had best not stir the rice, though it sticks to the pot. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxvii. Good wits jump;[791:2] a word to the wise is enough. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xxxvii. You may as well expect pears from an elm.[791:3] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xl. Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.[791:4] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xlii. You cannot eat your cake and have your cake;[791:5] and store 's no sore.[791:6] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xliii. Diligence is the mother of good fortune. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xliii. What a man has, so much he is sure of. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xliii. When a man says, "Get out of my house! what would you have with my wife?" there is no answer to be made. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xliii. The pot calls the kettle black. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. xliii. This peck of troubles. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. liii. When thou art at Rome, do as they do at Rome.[791:7] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. liv. Many count their chickens before they are hatched; and where they expect bacon, meet with broken bones. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lv. [792] My thoughts ran a wool-gathering; and I did like the countryman who looked for his ass while he was mounted on his back. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lvii. Liberty...is one of the most valuable blessings that Heaven has bestowed upon mankind. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lviii. As they use to say, spick and span new.[792:1] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lviii. I think it a very happy accident.[792:2] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lviii. I shall be as secret as the grave. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxii. Now, blessings light on him that first invented this same sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, even.[792:3] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxviii. Rome was not built in a day.[792:4] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxxi. The ass will carry his load, but not a double load; ride not a free horse to death. Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxxi. Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last.[792:5] Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxxiv. Don't put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted. The Little Gypsy (La Gitanilla). My heart is wax moulded as she pleases, but enduring as marble to retain.[792:6] The Little Gypsy (La Gitanilla). Footnotes [785:4] He had a face like a benediction.—Jarvis's translation. [788:1] I would do what I pleased; and doing what I pleased, I should have my will; and having my will, I should be contented; and when one is contented, there is no more to be desired; and when there is no more to be desired, there is an end of it.—Jarvis's translation. [788:2] For let our finger ache, and it endues Our other healthful members even to that sense Of pain.—Othello, act iii. sc. 4. [788:3] The painter Orbaneja of Ubeda, if he chanced to draw a cock, he wrote under it, "This is a cock," lest the people should take it for a fox.—Jarvis's translation. [789:2] Spenser: Britain's Ida, canto v. stanza 1. Ellerton: George a-Greene (a Ballad). Whetstone: Rocke of Regard. Burns: To Dr. Blacklock. Colman: Love Laughs at Locksmiths, act i. [790:1] Sit thee down, chaff-threshing churl! for let me sit where I will, that is the upper end to thee.—Jarvis's translation. This is generally placed in the mouth of Macgregor: "Where Macgregor sits, there is the head of the table." Emerson quotes it, in his "American Scholar," as the saying of Macdonald, and Theodore Parker as the saying of the Highlander. [791:1] To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose.—Ecclesiastes iii. 1. [792:3] Blessing on him who invented sleep,—the mantle that covers all human thoughts, the food that appeases hunger, the drink that quenches thirst, the fire that warms cold, the cold that moderates heat, and, lastly, the general coin that purchases all things, the balance and weight that equals the shepherd with the king, and the simple with the wise.—Jarvis's translation.
[793] BARTHOLOMEW SCHIDONI. 1560-1616. I, too, was born in Arcadia.[793:1] Footnotes [793:1] Goethe adopted this motto for his "Travels in Italy."
JOHN SIRMOND. 1589(?)-1649. If on my theme I rightly think, There are five reasons why men drink,— Good wine, a friend, because I 'm dry, Or lest I should be by and by, Or any other reason why.[793:2] CausÆ Bibendi. Footnotes [793:2] These lines are a translation of a Latin epigram (erroneously ascribed to Henry Aldrich in the "Biographia Britannica," second edition, vol. i. p. 131), which Menage and De la Monnoye attribute to PÈre Sirmond: Si bene commemini, causÆ sunt quinque bibendi: Hospitis adventus; prÆsens sitis atque futura; Et vini bonitas, et quÆlibet altera causa. Menagiana, vol. i. p. 172.
FRIEDRICH VON LOGAU. 1604-1655. Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;[793:3] Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all. Retribution. (Sinngedichte.) Man-like is it to fall into sin, Fiend-like is it to dwell therein; Christ-like is it for sin to grieve, God-like is it all sin to leave. Sin. (Sinngedichte.) Footnotes [793:3] See Herbert, page 206. ??? ?e?? ???? ?????s? t? ?ept?? ??e????.—Oracula Sibylliana, liber viii. line 14. ??? ?e?? ?????s? ????, ?????s? d? ?ept?.—Leutsch and Schneidewin: Corpus Paroemiographorum GrÆcorum, vol. i. p. 444. Sextus Empiricus is the first writer who has presented the whole of the adage cited by Plutarch in his treatise "Concerning such whom God is slow to punish."
[794] ISAAC DE BENSERADE. 1612-1691. In bed we laugh, in bed we cry; And, born in bed, in bed we die. The near approach a bed may show Of human bliss to human woe.[794:1] Footnotes [794:1] Translated by Samuel Johnson.
FRANCIS, DUC DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. 1613-1680. (Reflections, or Sentences and Moral Maxims.) Our virtues are most frequently but vices disguised.[794:2] We have all sufficient strength to endure the misfortunes of others. Maxim 19. Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils; but present evils triumph over it.[794:3] Maxim 22. We need greater virtues to sustain good than evil fortune. Maxim 25. Neither the sun nor death can be looked at with a steady eye. Maxim 26. Interest speaks all sorts of tongues, and plays all sorts of parts, even that of disinterestedness. Maxim 39. We are never so happy or so unhappy as we suppose. Maxim 49. There are few people who would not be ashamed of being loved when they love no longer. Maxim 71. [795] True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen. Maxim 76. The love of justice is simply, in the majority of men, the fear of suffering injustice. Maxim 78. Silence is the best resolve for him who distrusts himself. Maxim 79. Friendship is only a reciprocal conciliation of interests, and an exchange of good offices; it is a species of commerce out of which self-love always expects to gain something. Maxim 83. A man who is ungrateful is often less to blame than his benefactor. Maxim 96. The understanding is always the dupe of the heart. Maxim 102. Nothing is given so profusely as advice. Maxim 110. The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others. Maxim 127. Usually we praise only to be praised. Maxim 146. Our repentance is not so much regret for the ill we have done as fear of the ill that may happen to us in consequence. Maxim 180. Most people judge men only by success or by fortune. Maxim 212. Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue. Maxim 218. Too great haste to repay an obligation is a kind of ingratitude. Maxim 226. There is great ability in knowing how to conceal one's ability. Maxim 245. The pleasure of love is in loving. We are happier in the passion we feel than in that we inspire.[795:1] Maxim 259. [796] We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire. Maxim 294. The gratitude of most men is but a secret desire of receiving greater benefits.[796:1] Maxim 298. Lovers are never tired of each other, though they always speak of themselves. Maxim 312. We pardon in the degree that we love. Maxim 330. We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us.[796:2] Maxim 347. The greatest fault of a penetrating wit is to go beyond the mark. Maxim 377. We may give advice, but we cannot inspire the conduct. Maxim 378. The veracity which increases with old age is not far from folly. Maxim 416. In their first passion women love their lovers, in all the others they love love.[796:3] Maxim 471. Quarrels would not last long if the fault was only on one side. Maxim 496. In the adversity of our best friends we often find something that is not exactly displeasing.[796:4] Footnotes [794:2] This epigraph, which is the key to the system of La Rochefoucauld, is found in another form as No. 179 of the Maxims of the first edition, 1665; it is omitted from the second and third, and reappears for the first time in the fourth edition at the head of the Reflections.—Aime Martin. [796:2] "That was excellently observed," say I when I read a passage in another where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, then I pronounce him to be mistaken.—Swift: Thoughts on Various Subjects. [796:4] This reflection, No. 99 in the edition of 1665, the author suppressed in the third edition. In all distresses of our friends We first consult our private ends; While Nature, kindly bent to ease us, Points out some circumstance to please us. Dean Swift: A Paraphrase of Rochefoucauld's Maxim.
[797] J. DE LA FONTAINE. 1621-1695. The opinion of the strongest is always the best. The Wolf and the Lamb. Book i. Fable 10. By the work one knows the workman. The Hornets and the Bees. Fable 21. It is a double pleasure to deceive the deceiver. The Cock and the Fox. Book ii. Fable 15. It is impossible to please all the world and one's father. Book iii. Fable 1. In everything one must consider the end.[797:1] The Fox and the Gnat. Fable 5. "They are too green," he said, "and only good for fools."[797:2] The Fox and the Grapes. Fable 11. Help thyself, and God will help thee.[797:3] Book vi. Fable 18. The fly of the coach. Book vii. Fable 9. The sign brings customers. The Fortune-Tellers. Fable 15. Let ignorance talk as it will, learning has its value. The Use of Knowledge. Book viii. Fable 19. No path of flowers leads to glory. Book x. Fable 14. Footnotes [797:1] Remember the end, and thou shalt never do amiss.—Ecclesiasticus iii. 36.
JEAN BAPTISTE MOLIÈRE. 1622-1673. The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair. L'École des Femmes. Act ii. Sc. 6. There are fagots and fagots. Le MÉdecin malgrÉ lui. Act i. Sc. 6. We have changed all that. Le MÉdecin malgrÉ lui. Act ii. Sc. 6. Although I am a pious man, I am not the less a man. Le Tartuffe. Act iii. Sc. 3. [798] The real Amphitryon is the Amphitryon who gives dinners.[798:1] Amphitryon. Act iii. Sc. 5. Ah that I— You would have it so, you would have it so; George Dandin, you would have it so! This suits you very nicely, and you are served right; you have precisely what you deserve. George Dandin. Act i. Sc. 19. Tell me to whom you are addressing yourself when you say that. I am addressing myself—I am addressing myself to my cap. L'Avare. Act i. Sc. 3. The beautiful eyes of my cash-box. L'Avare. Act v. Sc. 3. You are speaking before a man to whom all Naples is known. L'Avare. Act v. Sc. 5. My fair one, let us swear an eternal friendship.[798:2] Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Act iv. Sc. 1. I will maintain it before the whole world. Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Act iv. Sc. 5. What the devil did he want in that galley?[798:3] Les Fourberies de Scapin. Act ii. Sc. 11. Grammar, which knows how to control even kings.[798:4] Les Femmes savantes. Act ii. Sc. 6. Ah, there are no longer any children! Le Malade Imaginaire. Act ii. Sc. 11. Footnotes [798:3] Borrowed from Cyrano de Bergerac's "PÉdant jouÉ," act ii. sc. 4. [798:4] Sigismund I. at the Council of Constance, 1414, said to a prelate who had objected to his Majesty's grammar, "Ego sum rex Romanus, et supra grammaticam" (I am the Roman emperor, and am above grammar).
BLAISE PASCAL. 1623-1662. (Translated by O. W. Wight.) Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. Thoughts. Chap. ii. 10. It is not permitted to the most equitable of men to be a judge in his own cause. Thoughts. Chap. iv. 1. [799] Montaigne[799:1] is wrong in declaring that custom ought to be followed simply because it is custom, and not because it is reasonable or just. Thoughts. Chap. iv. 6. Thus we never live, but we hope to live; and always disposing ourselves to be happy, it is inevitable that we never become so.[799:2] Thoughts. Chap. v. 2. If the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter, the whole face of the earth would have been changed. Thoughts. Chap. viii. 29. The last thing that we find in making a book is to know what we must put first. Thoughts. Chap. ix. 30. Rivers are highways that move on, and bear us whither we wish to go. Thoughts. Chap. ix. 38. What a chimera, then, is man! what a novelty, what a monster, what a chaos, what a subject of contradiction, what a prodigy! A judge of all things, feeble worm of the earth, depositary of the truth, cloaca of uncertainty and error, the glory and the shame of the universe![799:3] Thoughts. Chap. x. 1. We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart. Thoughts. Chap. x. 1. For as old age is that period of life most remote from infancy, who does not see that old age in this universal man ought not to be sought in the times nearest his birth, but in those most remote from it?[799:4] Preface to the Treatise on Vacuum.
NICHOLAS BOILEAU-DESPREAUX. 1636-1711. Happy who in his verse can gently steer From grave to light, from pleasant to severe.[799:5] The Art of Poetry. Canto i. Line 75. [800] Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways. The Art of Poetry. Canto iii. Line 374. He [MoliÈre] pleases all the world, but cannot please himself. Satire 2. "There, take," says Justice, "take ye each a shell; We thrive at Westminster on fools like you. 'T was a fat oyster! live in peace,—adieu."[800:1] EpÎtre ii.
ALAIN RENÉ LE SAGE. 1668-1747. It may be said that his wit shines at the expense of his memory.[800:2] Gil Blas. Book iii. Chap. xi. I wish you all sorts of prosperity with a little more taste. Gil Blas. Book vii. Chap. iv. Isocrates was in the right to insinuate, in his elegant Greek expression, that what is got over the Devil's back is spent under his belly.[800:3] Gil Blas. Book viii. Chap. ix. Facts are stubborn things.[800:4] Gil Blas. Book x. Chap. i. Plain as a pike-staff.[800:5] Gil Blas. Book xii. Chap. viii.
FRANCIS M. VOLTAIRE. 1694-1778. If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.[800:6] EpÎtre À l'Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs. cxi. The king [Frederic] has sent me some of his dirty linen to wash; I will wash yours another time.[800:7] Reply to General Manstein. Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.[800:8] Dialogue xiv. Le Chapon et la Poularde (1763). [801] History is little else than a picture of human crimes and misfortunes.[801:1] L'IngÉnu. Chap. x. (1767.) The first who was king was a fortunate soldier: Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.[801:2] Merope. Act i. Sc. 3. In the best of possible worlds the chÂteau of monseigneur the baron was the most beautiful of chÂteaux, and madame the best of possible baronesses. Candide. Chap. i. In this country [England] it is well to kill from time to time an admiral to encourage the others. Candide. Chap. xxiii. The superfluous, a very necessary thing. Le Mondain. Line 21. Crush the infamous thing. Letter to d'Alembert, June 23, 1760. There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times. Letter to Cardinal de Bernis, April 23, 1761. The proper mean.[801:3] Letter to Count d'Argental, Nov. 28, 1765. It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.[801:4] Letter to M. le Riche, Feb. 6, 1770. Love truth, but pardon error. Discours sur l'Homme. Discours 3. Footnotes [800:7] Voltaire writes to his niece Dennis, July 24, 1752, "VoilÀ le roi qui m'envoie son linge À blanchir." [801:2] See Scott, page 494. Borrowed from Lefranc de Pompignan's "Didon." [801:4] See Gibbon, page 430. Bussy Rabutin: Lettres, iv. 91. SÉvignÉ: Lettre À sa Fille, p. 202. Tacitus: Historia, iv. 17. Terence: Phormio, i. 4. 26.
MADAME DU DEFFAND. 1697-1784. He [Voltaire] has invented history.[801:5] It is only the first step which costs.[801:6] In reply to the Cardinal de Polignac. Footnotes [801:5] Fournier: L'Esprit dans l'Histoire, p. 191. [801:6] Voltaire writes to Madame du Deffand, January, 1764, that one of her bon-mots is quoted in the notes of "La Pucelle," canto 1: "Il n'y a que le premier pas qui coÛte."
[802] JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU. 1712-1778. Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array,— Days of absence, I am weary: She I love is far away. Days of Absence.
GESTA ROMANORUM.[802:1] We read of a certain Roman emperor who built a magnificent palace. In digging the foundation, the workmen discovered a golden sarcophagus ornamented with three circlets, on which were inscribed, "I have expended; I have given; I have kept; I have possessed; I do possess; I have lost; I am punished. What I formerly expended, I have; what I gave away, I have."[802:2] Tale xvi. See how the world rewards its votaries.[802:3] Tale xxxvi. If the end be well, all is well.[802:4] Tale lxvii. Whatever you do, do wisely, and think of the consequences. Tale ciii. Footnotes [802:1] The "Gesta Romanorum" is a collection of one hundred and eighty-one stories, first printed about 1473. The first English version appeared in 1824, translated by the Rev. C. Swan. (Bohn's Standard Library.) [802:2] Richard Gough, in the "Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain," gives this epitaph of Robert Byrkes, which is to be found in Doncaster Church, "new cut" upon his tomb in Roman capitals:— Howe: Howe: who is heare: I, Robin of Doncaster, and Margaret my feare. That I spent, that I had; That I gave, that I have; That I left, that I lost. A. D. 1579. The following is the epitaph of Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire, according to Cleaveland's "Genealogical History of the Family of Courtenay," p. 142:— What we gave, we have; What we spent, we had; What we left, we lost. [802:3] Ecce quomodo mundus suis servitoribus reddit mercedem (See how the world its veterans rewards).—Pope: Moral Essays, epistle 1, line 243. [802:4] Si finis bonus est, totum bonum erit.—Probably the origin of the proverb, "All 's well that ends well."
[803] VAUVENARGUES (Marquis of). 1715-1747. Great thoughts come from the heart.[803:1] Maxim cxxvii.
MICHEL JEAN SEDAINE. 1717-1797. O Richard! O my king! The universe forsakes thee! Sung at the Dinner given to the French Soldiers in the Opera Salon at Versailles, Oct. 1, 1789.
PRINCE DE LIGNE. 1735-1814. The congress of Vienna does not walk, but it dances.[803:2] Footnotes [803:2] On of the Prince de Ligne's speeches that will last forever.—Edinburgh Review, July 1890, p. 244.
GOETHE. 1749-1832. Who never ate his bread in sorrow, Who never spent the darksome hours Weeping, and watching for the morrow,— He knows ye not, ye gloomy Powers. Wilhelm Meister. Book ii. Chap. xiii. Know'st thou the land where the lemon-trees bloom, Where the gold orange glows in the deep thicket's gloom, Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows, And the groves of laurel and myrtle and rose?[803:3] Wilhelm Meister. Book iii. Chap. i. Art is long, life short;[803:4] judgment difficult, opportunity transient. Wilhelm Meister. Book vii. Chap. ix. The sagacious reader who is capable of reading between these lines what does not stand written in them, but is nevertheless implied, will be able to form some conception. Autobiography. Book xviii. Truth and Beauty.
[804] MADAME ROLAND. 1754-1793. O Liberty! Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name![804:1] Footnotes [804:1] Macaulay: Essay on Mirabeau.
BERTRAND BARÈRE. 1755-1841. The tree of liberty only grows when watered by the blood of tyrants. Speech in the Convention Nationale, 1792. It is only the dead who do not return. Speech, 1794.
SCHILLER. 1759-1805. Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain. The Maid of Orleans. Act iii. Sc. 6. The richest monarch in the Christian world; The sun in my own dominions never sets.[804:2] Don Carlos. Act i. Sc. 6.
JOSEPH ROUGET DE L'ISLE. 1760- ——. Ye sons of France, awake to glory! Hark! hark! what myriads bid you rise! Your children, wives, and grandsires hoary, Behold their tears and hear their cries! The Marseilles Hymn. To arms! to arms! ye brave! The avenging sword unsheathe! March on! march on! all hearts resolved On victory or death! The Marseilles Hymn.
[805] A. F. F. VON KOTZEBUE. 1761-1819. There is another and a better world.[805:1] The Stranger. Act i. Sc. 1. Footnotes [805:1] Translated by N. Schink, London, 1799.
J. G. VON SALIS. 1762-1834. Into the silent land! Ah, who shall lead us thither? The Silent Land. Who in life's battle firm doth stand Shall bear hope's tender blossoms Into the silent land! The Silent Land.
JOSEPH FOUCHÉ. 1763-1820. "It is more than a crime; it is a political fault,"[805:2]—words which I record, because they have been repeated and attributed to others. Memoirs of FouchÉ. Death is an eternal sleep. Inscription placed by his orders on the Gates of the Cemeteries in 1794. Footnotes [805:2] Commonly quoted, "It is worse than a crime,—it is a blunder," and attributed to Talleyrand.
J. M. USTERI. 1763-1827. Life let us cherish, while yet the taper glows, And the fresh flow'ret pluck ere it close; Why are we fond of toil and care? Why choose the rankling thorn to wear? Life let us cherish.
[806] H. B. CONSTANT. 1767-1830. I am not the rose, but I have lived near the rose.[806:1] Footnotes [806:1] This saying, "Je ne suis pas la rose, mais j'ai vÉcu avec elle," is assigned to Constant by A. Hayward in his Introduction to the "Autobiography and Letters" of Mrs. Piozzi.
JUNOT, DUC D'ABRANTES. 1771-1813. I know nothing about it; I am my own ancestor.[806:2] (When asked as to his ancestry.) Footnotes [806:2] See Plutarch, page 733. Curtius Rufus seems to me to be descended from himself. (A saying of Tiberius).—Tacitus: Annals, book xi. c. xxi. 16.
JOHANN L. UHLAND. 1787-1862. Take, O boatman, thrice thy fee,— Take, I give it willingly; For, invisible to thee, Spirits twain have crossed with me. The Passage. Edinburgh Review, October, 1832.
VON MÜNCH BELLINGHAUSEN. 1806-1871. Two souls with but a single thought, Two hearts that beat as one.[806:3] Ingomar the Barbarian.[806:4] Act ii. Footnotes [806:3] See Pope, page 340. Zwei Seelen und ein Gedanke, Zwei Herzen und ein Schlag. [806:4] Translated by Maria Lovell.
[807] MISCELLANEOUS TRANSLATIONS. Absolutism tempered by assassination.[807:1] Appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober.[807:5] Architecture is frozen music.[807:6] [808] Boldness, again boldness, and ever boldness.[808:2] Dead on the field of honour.[808:3] Defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies.[808:4] Hell is full of good intentions.[808:6] I am here: I shall remain here.[808:8] It is magnificent, but it is not war.[808:10] [809] Nothing is changed in France; there is only one Frenchman more.[809:4] [810] Talk of nothing but business, and despatch that business quickly.[810:3] The guard dies, but never surrenders.[810:5] The king reigns, but does not govern.[810:6] [811] The style is the man himself.[811:1] "There is no other royal path which leads to geometry," said Euclid to Ptolemy I.[811:2] There is nothing new except what is forgotten.[811:3] They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.[811:4] We are dancing on a volcano.[811:5] Who does not love wine, women, and song Remains a fool his whole life long.[811:6] God is on the side of the strongest battalions.[811:7] Terrible he rode alone, With his Yemen sword for aid; Ornament it carried none But the notches on the blade. The Death Feud. An Arab War-song.[811:8] Footnotes [807:1] Count MÜnster, Hanoverian envoy at St. Petersburg, discovered that Russian civilization is "merely artificial," and first published to Europe the short description of the Russian Constitution,—that it is "absolutism tempered by assassination." [807:2] A Greek proverb. A Cadmean victory was one in which the victors suffered as much as their enemies. S??s???t?? d? t? ?a?a???, ?ade?? t?? ???? t??s? F??a?e?s? ????et?.—Herodotus: i. 166. Where two discourse, if the one's anger rise, The man who lets the contest fall is wise. Euripides: Fragment 656. Protesilaus. [807:3] On the authority of Madame de Hausset ("MÉmoires," p. 19), this phrase is ascribed to Madame de Pompadour. Larouse ("Fleurs Historiques") attributes it to Louis XV. [807:4] It was from the imperial camp near Pavia that Francis I., before leaving for Pizzighettone, wrote to his mother the memorable letter which, thanks to tradition, has become altered to the form of this sublime laconism: "Madame, tout est perdu fors l'honneur." The true expression is, "Madame, pour vous faire savoir comme se porte le reste de mon infortune, de toutes choses ne m'est demeurÉ que l'honneur et la vie qui est sauvÉ."—Martin: Histoire de France, tome viii. The correction of this expression was first made by Sismondi, vol. xvi. pp. 241, 242. The letter itself is printed entire in Dulaure's "Histoire de Paris": "Pour vous avertir comment se porte le ressort de mon infortune, de toutes choses ne m'est demeurÉ que l'honneur et la vie,—qui est sauvÉ." [807:5] Inserit se tantis viris mulier alienigeni sanguinis: quÆ a Philippo rege temulento immerenter damnata, Provocarem ad Philippum, inquit, sed sobrium.—Valerius Maximus: Lib. vi. c. 2. [807:6] Since it [architecture] is music in space, as it were a frozen music.... If architecture in general is frozen music.—Schelling: Philosophie der Kunst, pp. 576, 593. La vue d'un tel monument est comme une musique continuelle et fixÉe.—Madame de StaËl: Corinne, livre iv. chap. 3. [808:1] Fournier asserts, on the written authority of Talleyrand's brother, that the only breviary used by the ex-bishop was "L'Improvisateur FranÇais," a compilation of anecdotes and bon-mots, in twenty-one duo-decimo volumes. Whenever a good thing was wandering about in search of a parent, he adopted it; amongst others, "C'est le commencement de la fin." See Shakespeare, page 59. [808:2] De l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace-Danton: Speech in the Legislative Assembly, 1792. See Spenser, page 28. [808:3] This was the answer given in the roll-call of La Tour d'Auvergne's regiment after his death. [808:5] Les extrÊmes se touchent.—Mercier: Tableaux de Paris (1782), vol. iv. title of chap. 348. [808:8] The reply of Marshal MacMahon, in the trenches before the Malakoff, in the siege of Sebastopol, September, 1855, to the commander-in-chief, who had sent him word to beware of an explosion which might follow the retreat of the Russians. [808:9] Dulaure (History of Paris, 1863, p. 387) asserts that Louis XIV. interrupted a judge who used the expression, "The king and the state," by saying, "I am the state." [808:10] Said by General Pierre Bosquet of the charge of the Light Brigade at the battle of Balaklava. [809:1] Euripides: HeracleidÆ, 1002. This may be traced to a response of the Delphic oracle given to Polycrates, as the best means of finding a treasure buried by Xerxes' general, Mardonius, on the field of PlatÆa. The oracle replied, ???ta ????? ???e?, "Turn every stone."—Leutsch and Schneidewin: Corpus ParÆmiographorum GrÆcorum, vol. i. p. 146. [809:2] This phrase, "Laissez faire, laissez passer!" is attributed to Gournay, Minister of Commerce at Paris, 1751; also to Quesnay, the writer on political economy. It is quoted by Adam Smith in the "Wealth of Nations." [809:3] Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes.—Diodorus Siculus: i. 49, 3. [809:4] According to the "Contemporary Review," February, 1854, this phrase formed the opening of an address composed in the name of Comte d'Artois by Count Beugnot, and published in the "Moniteur," April 12, 1814. [809:5] General Sebastiani announced the fall of Warsaw in the Chamber of Deputies, Sept. 16, 1831: "Des lettres que je reÇois de Pologne m'annoncent que la tranquillitÉ rÈgne À Varsovie."—Dumas: MÉmoires, Second Series, vol. iv. chap. iii. [809:6] See Ovid, page 707. They were setting on Ossa upon Olympus, and upon Steep Ossa leavy Pelius. Chapman: Homer's Odyssey, book xi. 426. Heav'd on Olympus tott'ring Ossa stood; On Ossa Pelion nods with all his wood. Pope: Odyssey, book xi. 387. Ossa on Olympus heave, on Ossa roll Pelion with all his woods; so scale the starry pole. Sotheby: Odyssey, book xi. 315. To the Olympian summit they essay'd To heave up Ossa, and to Ossa's crown Branch-waving Pelion. Cowper: Odyssey, book xi. 379. They on Olympus Ossa fain would roll; On Ossa Pelion's leaf-quivering hill. Worsley: Odyssey, book xi. 414. To fling Ossa upon Olympus, and to pile Pelion with all its growth of leafy woods On Ossa. Bryant: Odyssey, book xi. 390. Ossa they pressed down with Pelion's weight, And on them both impos'd Olympus' hill. Fitz-Geffrey: The Life and Death of Sir Francis Drake, stanza 99 (1596). Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam.—Virgil: Georgics, i. 281. [810:2] See Rabelais, page 771. Æschines (Adv. Ctesiphon, c. 53) ascribes to Demosthenes the expression ?p?t?t?ta? t? ?e??a t?? p?a??t??, "The sinews of affairs are cut." Diogenes Laertius, in his Life of Bion (lib. iv. c. 7, sect. 3), represents that philosopher as saying, t?? p???t?? e??a? ?e??a p?a??t??,—"Riches were the sinews of business," or, as the phrase may mean, "of the state." Referring perhaps to this maxim of Bion, Plutarch says in his Life of Cleomenes (c. 27), "He who first called money the sinews of the state seems to have said this with special reference to war." Accordingly we find money called expressly t? ?e??a t?? p?????, "the sinews of war," in Libanius, Orat. xlvi. (vol. ii. p. 477, ed. Reiske), and by the scholiast on Pindar, Olymp. i. 4 (compare Photius, Lex. s. v. ?e??????? p???t??). So Cicero, Philipp. v. 2, "nervos belli, infinitam pecuniam." [810:3] A placard of Aldus on the door of his printing-office.—Dibdin: Introduction, vol. i. p. 436. [810:4] This saying occurs in Louis Napoleon's speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Bordeaux, Oct. 9, 1852. [810:5] Words engraved upon the monument erected to Cambronne at Nantes. This phrase, attributed to Cambronne, who was made prisoner at Waterloo, was vehemently denied by him. It was invented by Rougemont, a prolific author of mots, two days after the battle, in the "IndÉpendant."—Fournier: L' Esprit dans l' Histoire. [810:6] A motto adopted by Thiers for the "Nationale," July 1, 1803. In the beginning of the seventeenth century Jan Zamoyski in the Polish parliament said, "The king reigns, but does not govern." [811:1] Buffon: Discours de RÉception (Recueil de l'AcadÉmie, 1753). See Burton, page 186. [811:2] Proclus: Commentary on Euclid's Elements, book ii. chap. iv. [811:3] Attributed to Mademoiselle Bertin, milliner to Marie Antoinette. "There is nothing new except that which has become antiquated,"—motto of the "Revue RÉtrospective." [811:4] This saying is attributed to Talleyrand. In a letter of the Chevalier de Panat to Mallet du Pan, January, 1796, it occurs almost literally,—"No one is right; no one could forget anything, nor learn anything." [811:5] Words uttered by Comte de Salvandy (1796-1856) at a fete given by the Duke of Orleans to the King of Naples, 1830. [811:6] Attributed to Luther, but more probably a saying of J. H. Voss (1751-1826), according to Redlich, "Die poetischen BeitrÄge zum Waudsbecker Bothen," Hamburg, 1871, p. 67.—King: Classical and Foreign Quotations (1887). [811:7] See Gibbon, page 430. Napoleon said, "Providence is always on the side of the last reserve." [811:8] Anonymous translation from "Tait's Magazine," July, 1850. The poem is of an age earlier than that of Mahomet.
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