Book of Wise Sayings | Page 4

lover starts; His garb is changed for, lo! a beggar's rags; Then he's a
merchant with full money-bags; Anon, an aged sire, wrinkled and lean;
At last Death drops the curtain on the scene.[5]
Bhartrihari.
[5] Cf. Shakspeare:
"All the world's a stage," etc.--As You Like It, Act II, sc. 7.
38.
Through avarice a man loses his understanding, and by his thirst for
wealth he gives pain to the inhabitants of both worlds.
Hitopadesa.

39.
Men soon the faults of others learn, A few their virtues, too, find out;
But is there one--I have a doubt-- Who can his own defects discern?
Sanskrit.
40.
In learning, age and youth go for nothing; the best informed take the
precedence.
Chinese.
41.
Mention not a blemish which is thy own in detraction of a neighbour.
Talmud.
42.
Affairs succeed by patience, and he that is hasty falleth headlong.
Sa'dí.
43.
A man who has learnt little grows old like an ox: his flesh grows, but
his knowledge does not grow.
Dhammapada.
44.
Unsullied poverty is always happy, while impure wealth brings with it
many sorrows.
Chinese.

45.
Both white and black acknowledge women's sway, So much the better
and the wiser too, Deeming it most convenient to obey, Or possibly
they might their folly rue.[6]
Persian.
[6] Cf. Pope:
Would men but follow what the sex advise, All things would prosper,
all the world grow wise.
46.
We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are
dissatisfied with ourselves.
Hazlitt.
47.
No one is more profoundly sad than he who laughs too much.
Richter.
48.
The heaven that rolls around cries aloud to you while it displays its
eternal beauties, and yet your eyes are fixed upon the earth alone.
Dante.
49.
This world is a beautiful book, but of little use to him who cannot read
it.
Goldoni.

50.
Sorrows are like thunder-clouds: in the distance they look black, over
our heads, hardly gray.
Richter.
51.
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected
without trials.
Chinese.
52.
Health is the greatest gift, contentedness the best riches.
Dhammapada.
53.
Great and unexpected successes are often the cause of foolish rushing
into acts of extravagance.
Demosthenes.
54.
Let none with scorn a suppliant meet, Or from the door untended spurn
A dog; an outcast kindly treat; And so thou shalt be blest in turn.
Mahábhárata.
55.
Choose knowledge, if thou desirest a blessing from the Universal
Provider; for the ignorant man cannot raise himself above the earth, and
it is by knowledge that thou must render thy soul praiseworthy.

Firdausí.
56.
Good fortune is a benefit to the wise, but a curse to the foolish.
Chinese.
57.
In this thing one man is superior to another, that he is better able to bear
adversity and prosperity.
Philemon.
58.
The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colourless when
unbroken.
Longfellow.
59.
There are three things which, in great quantity, are bad, and, in little,
very good: leaven, salt, and liberality.
Talmud.
60.
Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at
mediocrity will be far short of it.
Burmese.
61.
Keep thy heart afar from sorrow, and be not anxious about the trouble

which is not yet come.
Firdausí.
62.
If thy garments be clean and thy heart be foul, thou needest no key to
the door of hell.
Sa'dí.
63.
We ought never to mock the wretched, for who can be sure of being
always happy?
La Fontaine.
64.
To those who err in judgment, not in will, anger is gentle.
Sophocles.
65.
Not only is the old man twice a child, but also the man who is drunk.
Plato.
66.
Wrapt up in error is the human mind, And human bliss is ever insecure;
Know we what fortune yet remains behind? Know we how long the
present shall endure?
Pindar.
67.

A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to
the vessel that contains it.
Chinese.
68.
He who formerly was reckless and afterwards became sober brightens
up this world like the moon when freed from clouds.
Dhammapada.
69.
When a base fellow cannot vie with another in merit he will attack him
with malicious slander.
Sa'dí.
70.
If a man be not so happy as he desires, let this be his comfort--he is not
so wretched as he deserves.
R. Chamberlain.
71.
In conversation humour is more than wit, easiness, more than
knowledge; few desire to learn, or to think they need it; all desire to be
pleased, or, if not, to be easy.
Sir W. Temple.
72.
The greatest men sometimes overshoot themselves, but then their very
mistakes are so many lessons of instruction.

Tom Browne.
73.
We may be as good as we please, if we please to be good.