Book of Wise Sayings Part 4

If you injure a harmless person, the evil will fall back upon you, like light dust thrown up against the wind.

Buddhist.

127.

In the life of every man there are sudden transitions of feeling, which seem almost miraculous. At once, as if some magician had touched the heavens and the earth, the dark clouds melt into the air, the wind falls, and serenity succeeds the storm. The causes which produce these changes may have been long at work within us, but the changes themselves are instantaneous, and apparently without sufficient cause.

Longfellow.

128.

Man is an intellectual animal, therefore an everlasting contradiction to himself. His senses centre in himself, his ideas reach to the ends of the universe; so that he is torn in pieces between the two without the possibility of its ever being otherwise. A mere physical being or a pure spirit can alone be satisfied with itself.

Hazlitt.

129.

The pure in heart, who fear to sin, The good, kindly in word and deed-- These are the beings in the world Whose nature should be called divine.

Buddhist.

130.

If thou desirest that the pure in heart should praise thee, lay aside anger; be not a man of many words; and parade not thy virtues in the face of others.

Firdausi.

131.

A wise man takes a step at a time; he establishes one foot before he takes up the other: an old place should not be forsaken recklessly.

Sanskrit.

132.

The fish dwell in the depths of the waters, and the eagles in the sides of heaven; the one, though high, may be reached with the arrow, and the other, though deep, with the hook; but the heart of man at a foot's distance cannot be known.[9]

Burmese.

[9] Cf. Proverbs, XXV, 3.

133.

The life of man is the incessant walk of nature, wherein every moment is a step towards death. Even our growing to perfection is a progress to decay. Every thought we have is a sand running out of the gla.s.s of life.

Feltham.

134.

I have observed that as long as a man lives and exerts himself he can always find food and raiment, though, it may be, not of the choicest description.

Goethe.

135.

There are no riches like the sweetness of content, nor poverty comparable to the want of patience.

R. Chamberlain.

136.

'Tis not for gain, for fame, from fear That righteous men injustice shun, And virtuous men hold virtue dear: An inward voice they seem to hear, Which tells them duty must be done.

Mahabharata.

137.

As far and wide the vernal breeze Sweet odours waft from blooming trees, So, too, the grateful savour spreads To distant lands of virtuous deeds.

Sanskrit.

138.

In this world, however little happiness may have been our portion, yet have we no desire to die. Whether he can speak of life as cheerful and delicate, or as full of pain, anxiety, and sorrow, never yet have I seen one who wished to die.

Firdausi.

139.

When morning silvers the dark firmament, Why shrills the bird of dawning his lament? It is to show in dawn's bright looking-gla.s.s How of thy careless life a night is spent.

Omar Khayyam.

140.

Be thou generous, and gentle, and forgiving; as G.o.d hath scattered upon thee, scatter thou upon others.

Sa'di.

141.

In the body restraint is good; good is restraint in speech; in thought restraint is good: good is restraint in all things.

Dhammapada.

142.

Men say that everyone is naturally a lover of himself, and that it is right that it should be so. This is a mistake; for in fact the cause of all the blunders committed by man arises from this excessive self-love. For the lover is blinded by the object loved, so that he pa.s.ses a wrong judgment upon what is just, good, and beautiful, thinking that he ought always to honour what belongs to himself, in preference to truth. For he who intends to be a great man ought to love neither himself nor his own things, but only what is just, whether it happens to be done by himself or by another.

Plato.

143.

A man eminent in learning has not even a little virtue if he fears to practise it. What precious things can be shown to a blind man when he holds a lamp in his hand?

Hitopadesa.

144.

The first forty years of our life give the text, the next thirty furnish the commentary upon it, which enables us rightly to understand the true meaning and connection of the text with its moral and its beauties.

Schopenhauer.

145.

Good actions lead to success, as good medicines to a cure: a healthy man is joyful, and a diligent man attains learning; a just man gains the reward of his virtue.

Hitopadesa.

146.

Purpose without power is mere weakness and deception; and power without purpose is mere fatuity.

Sa'di.

147.

Suffering is the necessary consequence of sin, just as when you eat a sour fruit a stomach complaint ensues.

Burmese.

148.

Riches disclose in a man's character the bad qualities formerly concealed in his poverty.

Arabic.

149.

Whate'er the work a man performs, The most effective aid to its completion-- The most prolific source of true success-- Is energy, without despondency.

Ramayana.

150.

Humility is a virtue all preach, none practise, and yet everybody is content to hear. The master thinks it good doctrine for his servant, the laity for the clergy, and the clergy for the laity.

Selden.

151.

Authority intoxicates, And makes mere sots of magistrates; The fumes of it invade the brain, And make men giddy, proud, and vain; By this the fool commands the wise, The n.o.ble with the base complies, The sot a.s.sumes the rule of wit, And cowards make the base submit.

Butler.

152.

No man learns to know his inmost nature by introspection, for he rates himself sometimes too low, and often too high, by his own measurement. Man knows himself only by comparing himself with other men; it is life that touches his genuine worth.

Goethe.

153.

Increase in goodness as long as thou art here, that, when thou departest, in that thou mayest still be joyful. According to our words and deeds in this life will be the remembrance of us in the world.

Firdausi.

154.

Parents' affection is best shown by their teaching their children industry and self-denial.

Burmese.

155.

There are three things to beware of through life: when a man is young, let him beware of his appet.i.tes; when he is middle-aged, of his pa.s.sions; and when old, of covetousness, especially.

Confucius.

156.

He who has given satisfaction to the best of his time has lived for ages.

Schiller.

157.

I never yet found pride in a n.o.ble nature nor humility in an unworthy mind.

Feltham.

158.

Worldly fame is but a breath of wind, that blows now this way, now that, and changes name as it changes sides.

Dante.

159.