Book of Wise Sayings | Page 6

out, in his Illustrations of Sterne, how these
passages from Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy have been boldly
plagiarised in the introduction to the fragment on Whiskers in Tristram
Shandy: "Shall we for ever make new books as apothecaries make new

mixtures, by only pouring out of one vessel into another? Are we for
ever to be twisting and untwisting the same rope?" And Dr. Johnson,
who was a great admirer of Burton, adopts the illustration of the
plundering Romans in his Rambler, No. 143.
97.
It is our follies that make our lives uncomfortable. Our errors of
opinion, our cowardly fear of the world's worthless censure, and our
eagerness after unnecessary gold have hampered the way of virtue, and
made it far more difficult than, in itself, it is.
Feltham.
98.
There is not half so much danger in the desperate sword of a known foe
as in the smooth insinuations of a pretended friend.
R. Chamberlain.
99.
Nothing is so oppressive as a secret; it is difficult for ladies to keep it
long, and I know even in this matter a good number of men who are
women.
La Fontaine.
100.
All kinds of beauty do not inspire love: there is a kind of it which
pleases only the sight, but does not captivate the affections.
Cervantes.
101.
Contentment consisteth not in heaping more fuel, but in taking away

some fire.
Fuller.
102.
It is difficult to personate and act a part long, for where truth is not at
the bottom Nature will always be endeavouring to return, and will peep
out and betray herself one time or other.
Tillotson.
103.
The truest characters of ignorance Are vanity, pride, and arrogance; As
blind men use to bear their noses higher Than those that have their eyes
and sight entire.
Butler.
104.
It is better to be well deserving without praise than to live by the air of
undeserved commendation.
R. Chamberlain.
105.
He travels safe and not unpleasantly who is guarded by poverty and
guided by love.
Sir P. Sidney.
106.
Never put thyself in the way of temptation: even David could not resist
it.

Talmud.
107.
Pride is a vice which pride itself inclines every man to find in others
and overlook in himself.
Johnson.
108.
By six qualities may a fool be known: anger, without cause; speech,
without profit; change, without motive; inquiry, without an object; trust
in a stranger; and incapacity to discriminate between friend and foe.
Arabic.
109.
Men are not to be judged by their looks, habits, and appearances, but by
the character of their lives and conversations. 'Tis better that a man's
own works than another man's words should praise him.
Sir R. L'Estrange.
110.
To exert his power in doing good is man's most glorious task.
Sophocles.
111.
Those who are skilled in archery bend their bow only when they are
prepared to use it; when they do not require it they allow it to remain
unbent, for otherwise it would be unserviceable when the time for using
it arrived. So it is with man. If he were to devote himself unceasingly to
a dull round of business, without breaking the monotony by cheerful
amusements, he would fall imperceptibly into idiotcy, or be struck with

paralysis.
Herodotus.
112.
Blinded by self-conceit and knowing nothing, Like elephant infatuate
with passion, I thought within myself, I all things knew; But when by
slow degrees I somewhat learnt By aid of wise preceptors, my conceit,
Like some disease, passed off; and now I live In the plain sense of what
a fool I am.
Bhartrihari.
113.
Time is the most important thing in human life, for what is pleasure
after the departure of time? and the most consolatory, since pain, when
pain has passed, is nothing. Time is the wheel-track in which we roll on
towards eternity, conducting us to the Incomprehensible. In its progress
there is a ripening power, and it ripens us the more, and the more
powerfully, when we duly estimate it. Listen to its voice, do not waste
it, but regard it as the highest finite good, in which all finite things are
resolved.
Von Humboldt.
114.
All that we are is made up of our thoughts; it is founded on our
thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speak or act with a
pure thought, happiness will follow him, like a shadow that never
leaves him.
Dhammapada.
115.
Depend not on another, rather lean Upon thyself; trust to thine own

exertions: Subjection to another's will gives pain; True happiness
consists in self-reliance.
Manu.
116.
If the friendship of the good be interrupted, their minds admit of no
long change; as when the stalks of a lotus are broken the filaments
within them are more visibly cemented.
Hitopadesa.
117.
Anger that has