Book of Wise Sayings Part 1

BOOK OF WISE SAYINGS.

BY W. A. CLOUSTON.

PREFACE.

Cynics may ask, how many have profited by the innumerable proverbs and maxims of prudence which have been current in the world time out of mind? They will say that their only use is to repeat them after some unhappy wight has "gone wrong." When, for instance, a man has played "ducks and drakes" with his money, the fact at once calls up the proverb which declares that "wilful waste leads to woful want"; but did not the "waster" know this well-worn saying from his early years downwards? What good, then, did it do him? Again, how many have been benefited by the saying of the ancient Greek poet, that "evil communications corrupt good manners"?--albeit they had it frequently before them in their school "copy-books." Are the maxims of morality useless, then, because they are so much disregarded?

When a man has reached middle-age he generally feels with tenfold force the truth of those "sayings of the wise" which he learned in his early years, and has cause to regret, as well as wonder, that he had not all along followed their wholesome teaching. For it is to the young, who are about to cross the threshold of active life, that such terse convincing sentences are more especially addressed, and, spite of the proverbial heedlessness of youth, there will be found many who are not deaf to this kind of instruction, if their moral environment be favourable. But, even after the spring-time of youth is past, there are occasions when the mind is peculiarly susceptible to the force of a pithy maxim, which may tend to the reforming of one's way of life. There is commonly more practical wisdom in a striking aphorism than in a round dozen of "goody" books--that is to say, books which are not good in the highest sense, because their themes are overlaid with commonplace and wearisome reflections.

May we not find the "whole duty of man" condensed into a few brief sentences, which have been expressed by thoughtful men in all ages and in countries far apart?--such as: "Love thy neighbour as thyself," "Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you." The chief themes of all teachers of morality are: benevolence and beneficence; tolerance of the opinions of others; self-control; the acquisition of knowledge--that jewel beyond price; the true uses of wealth; the advantages of resolute, manly exertion; the dignity of labour; the futility of worldly pleasures; the fugacity of time; man's individual insignificance. They are never weary of inculcating taciturnity in preference to loquacity, and the virtues of patience and resignation. They iterate and reiterate the fact that true happiness is to be found only in contentment; and they administer consolation and infuse hope by reminding us that as dark days are followed by bright days, so times of bitter adversity are followed by seasons of sweet prosperity; and thus, like the immortal Sir Hudibras, when "in doleful dumps", we may "cheer ourselves with ends of verse, and sayings of philosophers."

In the following small selection of aphorisms, a considerable proportion are drawn from Eastern literature. Indian wisdom is represented by pa.s.sages from the great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesa, two Sanskrit versions of the famous collection of apologues known in Europe as the Fables of Bidpa, or Pilpay; the Dharma-sastra of Manu; Bharavi, Magha, Bhartrihari, and other Hindu poets. Specimens of the mild teachings of Buddha and his more notable followers are taken from the Dhammapada (Path of Virtue) and other canonical works; pregnant sayings of the Jewish Fathers, from the Talmud; Moslem moral philosophy is represented by extracts from Arabic and Persian writers (among the great poets of Persia are, Firdausi, Sa'di, Hafiz, Nizami, Omar Khayyam, Jami); while the proverbial wisdom of the Chinese and the didactic writings of the sages of Burmah are also occasionally cited.

The ordinary reader will probably be somewhat surprised to discover in the aphorisms of the ancient Greeks and Hindus several close parallels to the doctrines of the Old and New Testaments, and he will have reasoned justly if he conclude that the so-called "heathens" could have derived their spiritual light only from the same Source as that which inspired the Hebrew prophets and the Christian apostles.

Among English writers of aphorisms Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, is pre-eminent, but none of his pithy sentences find place here, because they are procurable in many inexpensive forms, (e.g., Counsels from my Lord Bacon, 1892), and must be familiar to what is termed "the average general reader." The Enchiridion of Frances Quarles and the Resolves of Owen Feltham are, however, laid under contribution, as also Robert Chamberlain, an author who is probably unknown to many pluming themselves on their thorough acquaintance with English literature, some of whose aphorisms (published in 1638, under the t.i.tle of Nocturnal Lucubrations) I have deemed worthy of reproduction.

In more modern times, with the sole exception of William Hazlitt, our country has produced no very successful writer of aphorisms. Colton's Lacon; or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think, went through several editions soon after its first publication in 1820; it is described by Mr. John Morley--and not unfairly--as being "so vapid, so wordy, so futile as to have a place among those books which dispense with parody"; it is "an awful example to anyone who is tempted to try his hand at an aphorism." Mr. Morley is hardly less severe in speaking of the "Thoughts" in Theophrastus Such: "the most insufferable of all deadly-lively prosing in our sublunary world." However this may be, a.s.suredly other works of the author of Adam Bede will be found to furnish many examples of admirable apothegms.

It only remains to add that, bearing in mind that a great collection of gravities commonly proves quite as wearisome reading as a large compilation of gaieties, or facetiae, I have confined my selection of "sayings of the wise" within the limits of a pocket-volume.

W. A. C.

BOOK OF WISE SAYINGS.

1.

The enemies which rise within the body, hard to be overcome--thy evil pa.s.sions--should manfully be fought: he who conquers these is equal to the conquerors of worlds.

Bharavi.

2.

If pa.s.sion gaineth the mastery over reason, the wise will not count thee amongst men.

Firdausi.

3.

Knowledge is destroyed by a.s.sociating with the base; with equals equality is gained, and with the distinguished, distinction.

Hitopadesa.

4.

Dost thou desire that thine own heart should not suffer, redeem thou the sufferer from the bonds of misery.

Sa'di.

5.

To friends and eke to foes true kindness show; No kindly heart unkindly deeds will do; Harshness will alienate a bosom friend. And kindness reconcile a deadly foe.

Omar Khayyam.

6.

There is no greater grief in misery than to turn our thoughts back to happier times.[1]

Dante.

[1] Cf. Goldsmith: O Memory! thou fond deceiver, Still importunate and vain; To former joys recurring ever, And turning all the past to pain.

7.

We in reality only know when we doubt a little. With knowledge comes doubt.

Goethe.

8.

In the hour of adversity be not without hope, for crystal rain falls from black clouds.

Nizami.

9.

One common origin unites us all, but every sort of wood does not give the perfume of the lignum aloes.

Arabic.

10.

I asked an experienced elder who had profited by his knowledge of the world, "What course should I pursue to obtain prosperity?" He replied, "Contentment--if you are able, practise contentment."

Selman.

11.

Every moment that a man may be in want of employment, than such I hold him to be far better who is forced to labour for nothing.

Afghan.

12.

The foolish undertake a trifling act, and soon desist, discouraged; wise men engage in mighty works, and persevere.

Magha.

13.

Those who wish well towards their friends disdain to please them with words which are not true.

Bharavi.

14.

Reason is captive in the hands of the pa.s.sions, as a weak man in the hands of an artful woman.

Sa'di.

15.

Like an earthen pot, a bad man is easily broken, and cannot readily be restored to his former situation; but a virtuous man, like a vase of gold, is broken with difficulty, and easily repaired.

Hitopadesa.

16.

The son who delights his father by his good actions; the wife who seeks only her husband's good; the friend who is the same in prosperity and adversity--these three things are the reward of virtue.

Bhartrihari.

17.

Let us not overstrain our abilities, or we shall do nothing with grace. A clown, whatever he may do, will never pa.s.s for a gentleman.

La Fontaine.

18.

To abstain from speaking is regarded as very difficult. It is not possible to say much that is valuable and striking.[2]

Mahabharata.

[2] Cf. James, III, 8.

19.

PaG.o.das are, like mosques, true houses of prayer; 'Tis prayer that church bells waft upon the air; Kaaba and temple, rosary and cross, All are but divers tongues of world-wide prayer.

Omar Khayyam.

20.

In no wise ask about the faults of others, for he who reporteth the faults of others will report thine also.

Firdausi.

21.

He that holds fast the golden mean, And lives contentedly between The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, Embittering all his state.

Horace.

22.

Nothing is more becoming a man than silence. It is not the preaching but the practice which ought to be considered as the more important. A profusion of words is sure to lead to error.

Talmud.

23.

Consider, and you will find that almost all the transactions of the time of Vespasian differed little from those of the present day. You there find marrying and giving in marriage, educating children, sickness, death, war, joyous holidays, traffic, agriculture, flatterers, insolent pride, suspicions, laying of plots, longing for the death of others, newsmongers, lovers, misers, men canva.s.sing for consulship--yet all these pa.s.sed away, and are nowhere.

M. Aurelius.

24.

The friendship of the bad is like the shade of some precipitous bank with crumbling sides, which, falling, buries him who is beneath.

Bharavi.

25.

His action no applause invites Who simply good with good repays; He only justly merits praise Who wrongful deeds with kind requites.[3]

Panchatantra.

[3] Matt. V, 43, 44.

26.

Death comes, and makes a man his prey, A man whose powers are yet unspent; Like one on gathering flowers intent, Whose thoughts are turned another way.

Begin betimes to practise good, Lest fate surprise thee unawares Amid thy round of schemes and cares; To-morrow's task to-day conclude.[4]

Mahabharata.

[4] Eccles. IX, 10; XII, 1.

27.

Let a man's talents or virtues be what they may, we feel satisfaction in his society only as he is satisfied in himself. We cannot enjoy the good qualities of a friend if he seems to be none the better for them.