sees and the World shall see why should'st thou then be shie to make the discovery sooner it were a folly for a known offendor to stand upon his vindication pleading guilty sometimes procures a pardon if I cannot clear I were better accuse my self and cry peccavi I will plead mercy where I cannot plead merit and implore his favour whom I have offended LXXVI Think not too well of thy self lest others think worse of thee be not wise in thy own conceit a conceited fool is so much more a fool there is little hope of him who cannot teach nor will learn he that knows most knows he knows little to what he does not know I will not reckon I know enough till I know all why should I think much to learn while there is more to know and others know more LXXVII Be careful in the choice of thy company as they are so art thou let them be as thou wouldst be like will to like birds of a feather will flock together associate thy self with such society as are not come to such a pass to be past shame take heed lest thy acquaintance bring thee either into punishment or repentance this is the advantage of good company it will make thee good or at least so esteemed LXXVIII Hath any wronged thee forgive the person and forget the wrong it is a poor patience that cannot out-live the others injury do not dispute but despise to contemn is the way to conquer pass by affronts with a scorn why should it trouble thee that Asses kick and Dogs bark see what they are and slight what they do it is not for thee to concern thy self with that which doth no more concern thee am I injured perchance the man is belovv my anger or to be angry is belovv me LXXIX There is no remedy where the wound is mortal the dart of death is deadly he strikes once and strikes not again no salve can cure that sore the blow being given life is gone and when all is done the man is dead still I will endeavour to do that well which I can do but once and seeing I must dye I will prepare for what I cannot prevent and do that willingly which I cannot avoid that what necessity forces others may be matter of choice to me and when the fatal message comes I will go merrily away with the messenger knowing he is sent by my father to fetch his child home LXXX He knows not what is sweet that knows not what is soure there must be a difference or there can be no distinguishing we understand things best by comparing them with their contraries the night shews the day health is best known by sickness and wealth by want what though it be ill at present it may serve but for a foyle to set forth the future by remembring what I was I may know what I am LXXXI He gives well that gives willingly when the heart goes with the hand what is forced is not kindly and deserves neither thanks nor praise the manner is as considerable as the matter and the giver as the gift that courtesie is to be contemned which comes by constraint the worth lies in the will and I will do as I would be done to what I give shall be both quick and free LXXXII Wise men say least wisdom lies not in words a hollow Vessel gives the greatesâ— sound and the shallow stream makes the mosâ— noise he knows how to speak that knows how to be silent it is the puddle that appears most the spring lies low and hid it requires time to aim to hit the mark but a fools bolt is soon shot and flies at rovers I ever thought them the wisest who say not most but to the most purpose who will not lose a word and strike seldom but strike home why should I give another advantage over me or lose my own advantage besides I learn by another not by my self LXXXIII So love thy friend as to hate his faults the vice is no part of the man the Wen is a blemish to the body so is sin to the soul the succors do but spoil the Tree and what injury to him I love to hate what harms him LXXXIV Strike while the Iron is hot delays are dangerous it is good making Hay while the Sun shines to take the benefit of time and tyde do with all thy might what thou hast to do lest Night come on and it be left undone why shall I defer till to morrow what may be dispatched to day especially in what imports me and run a hazard and need not besides he that is unfit to day may be more unfit to morrow I will not sleep till I have cast up my Account and made my peace a short reckoning is soonest cleared and the smallest Sute the easiest granted LXXXV No Creature comfort can give content Husks are a windy food they swell but do not satisfie he that hath most hath still too little there is something wanting still a globe will not fill a triangle God is the only adequate and commensurate good other things though patch't and peeced and put all together are yet too short and scanty I can drink dry all but the Ocean and go away dry there is no quenching my thirst in sipping aâ— the stream all to me is nothing to him who is all in all LXXXVI Peril produceth pleasure after the greatest danger is most delight we value the conquest by the combat our comforts by what they cost us far fetch 't and dear bought want for no price how shall I esteem the Victory after the fight is over how shall I prize my Crown purchased by sweat and blood after a tyresom Journey home will then be home the more weary rest will be the more welcom LXXXVII He that is not devout in his devotion though he say his prayers he does not pray and how can he think God should hear him that does not hear himself lip-labour is buâ— lost-labour if the heart goes not with the tongue well may the hand be empty he thaâ— asks he knows not what may expect an answeâ— he knows not when I will not be rash in my requests lest I beg what may do me harm nor yet cold lest I teach denial LXXXVIII It was a good saying of Seneca So live with men as if God saw thee so speak to God as if men heard thee regulate thy actions by this golden Rule then shalt thou acquit thy self to God and men and hereby comply with both either out of fear or shame LXXXIX He hath no profit by his pains where Providence does not prosper if God doth not succeed all is labour in vain early up and never the near the Race is not to the swift nor the Battel to the strong what strange disappointments have I seen and as strange success I have known a man whose eyes have been in his head to catch nothing when a blind man hath caught the Hare it is not the
may remove to my house in Heaven IV. Few care how well they live but how long they reckon their lives by the time they tarry as if they came into the World for nothing to go out as they came not considering he hath the greatest applause not that acts most but best I believe I have more business here than only to look on it behoves me to bestir my self lest before I dispatch my task death should dispatch me V. Divinity teaches doing not saying to live great things not to speak great words ayrie notions make a noise but that which is solid does not sound the deepest Waters are the most silent when the Sun is highest it casts the least shadow thorns make the greatest crackling profession lies in practice in the life is the life of Religion I like example better than precept when the person proves the president VI. He that sutes with his Estate is a rich man Wealth consists not so much in quantity as in the quality of the professor he that hath less may have enough and he that hath most can have no more a lesser Ship needs lesser Sail there can be no poverty where there is proportion sutableness is the ground of satisfaction a Cottage will content a Codrus it is not what I have but what I am less will serve a dwarfe than a Gyant and me perchance than another man I do not want what I can be without Water may quench my thirst and a few grains may serve my turn as well as a Granary I need no more in my Journey than will bear my charges the rest will be supplied at home VII Felicity is an unquiet thing Alexander weeps there were no more Worlds to conquer how projective is prosperity how restless is the man through care and contrivance he beats his brain and every vein works he sees something he still lacks and leaves no stone unturned to attain it which when he hath he is unhappy still and perchance in greater torment he is never satisfied full nor fasting for when he knows not what he wants he wants he knows not what VIII He is not poor that hath not much but he who would have more want lies in wishing he lacks most that longs most none so rich as he that does not covet but contemn he hath all that desires nothing he hath content and content is all I will not judge of the man by his money but by his mind and he who thinks a little is not enough will think enough too little IX There is no torture to a tormenting Conscience better the body wrackâ— than the mind a wounded spirit who can bear this is a Hell on this side Hell how do the flames of that infernal fire scorch and singe a poor soul reflecting upon its sins and sentencing of its self dreadful is the doom of a condemning Conscience no storm like that which is raised by the Wind that riseth out of the bottomless Pit Lord let it blow and beat and what it will so the Vessel be tite and there be but a calm within let the Bird in my breast sing though in a Winter-season I had rather the World were against me than be against my self X. Men speak evil of thee but they are evil men the tongue does but declare what the heartendites from bad thou canst not expect better what is filthy in the fountain cannot be fair in the stream no wonder thou hast not a good word from such as these likeness produceth love I will suspect my self if any speak well of me of whom I cannot speak well neither will I value the yelping of every Curre no more than the Moon the Dogs barking that serves for a foyle to set me forth which sets forth their folly XI Study to please the best not the most respect the nature rather than the number the quality not the quantity gold is tryed by the touchstone not by the balance wise men judge of things as they are not as they seem and there are few which are competent Judges who can think himself the wifer for pleasing fools XII If thou wilt be happy resolve to despise and to be despised slight what thou canst not shun and endure what thou canst not cure stand upon thy guard and let nothing get within thee keep what thou canst in thine own keeping and trust none but thy self see not with anothers eyes but alwayes have thiâ—â— about thee think thy present state still the best if not in it self yet for thee look not upon that as good which cannot make thee better have nothing in admiration and be sure have as low thoughts of thy self as others can have of thee prepare for the worst but make the best of what befalls thee resolve thy will into the Will of God and thou needest not be troubled at any thing XIII Let not the Authority of the Speaker move thee mind what is said not who speaks there is no man but may erre Homer himself sometimes sleeps I will not pin my faith upon anothers sleeve nor take the position from the person whoever is my friend I am more a friend to truth and if the Devil be in the right I should wrong him not to believe him an enemy may by chance give good counsel honey from a Weed is not worse than that drawn from a flovver a blind man may hit the mark and a better Archer miss it XIV Bear chearfully vvhere there is no remedy patience is the only prudence make a vertue of necessity vvhat must be vvhy not vvillingly to sit dovvn and cry vvill not lessen our burden or our vvay to pore upon our grief makes it the more grievous that is not a trouble vvhich vve do not think of give me the man that can both smart and smile that sleeps svveetly in a storm and carries his Crosses as unconcerned vvho notvvithstanding the greatest difficulties goes merrily about his vvork and is jogging on all vveathers I vvill mind my duty more than my danger and fear nothing but to offend I vvill assent to vvhat I cannot prevent and do nothing by constraint but by choice it vvere a shame for me to sigh for sorrovv or to startle at any blovv vvhat pleases God shall please me XV. Think every day thy last thou couldest never yet call to morrovv thine there is no necessity thou shouldest have a day to dye in as much may be done in a moment the stroak is soon given look not for death before thee the Serjeant comes behind the time past is dead and gone the present upon departing I have been long dying and cannot look to live long there vvill be a last day and this may be my last XVI He values not his labour that overcomes neither pain nor peril is reckoned by him that gets the prize the end makes amends for the means he that vvins the race never repents the running vvhat though Heaven cost me hot vvater it vvill be richly vvorth
only friendship which is stronger than death and those the friends whose fortunes are embarqued in the same bottom who are resolved to sink and swim together XX. My friend is as it were my self there is but one soul in two bodies neither am I more my own than my friends I have nothing but what is his what I have he hath if he will he may command both me and mine XXI Whatever thou dost do quickly it may be too late to tarry for leasure want of a power follows want of will delayes are dangerous what thou art unfit for to day perchance to morrow thou wilt be more unfit besides who can call another moment his I will dispatch what I have to do lest something be left undone I had rather want work than time and finish too soon than be surprized XXII There are many not worthy of light on whom the Sun shines prosperity is oft-times the portion of the basest of men there is no judging by appearance all is not gold that glisters a Dunghil will stink still let me be a flower though I grow in the shade Providence appoints the place what is good for others may be bad for me XXIII Necessity is no friend to freedom there is no liberty where there is no remedy I will come under the least obligation possible and act by choice not constraint what is forced is not thank-worthy that which is free is only kindly I will have my hand observe my heart then shall I do what I will while I will but what I do XXIV As the Furnace tryes the Gold so misery proves the man his suffering shews his strength troubles are the only tryals the resolution is known by the opposition the patience by the pain XXV I never thought him happy who thought himself miserable the mind is the man if another hath what I can be without what is he the better or I the worse while he wants more and I less he is not happy that enjoyes but that doth not desire Satisfaction lies not in Addition but Substraction A Monarch may be miserable but content is more than a Kingdom I can be what I will while I will be what I can XXVI Socrates passing through the Market cryes out How much is here I do not need Nature is content with little Grace with less Poverty lies in opinion what is needful is soon provided and enough is as good as a Feast I am worth what I do not want my occasions being supplied what would I do with more XXVII The fear of Death is worse than Death it self it is better to be dead than alwayes dying give me the man that dares to dye that opens his breast boldly and bids to Death defiance that can welcom the King of Terrors and look him in the face with a smile I will account my last enemy my best friend who shews me my Crown when almost spent and helps me to what I fought for XXVIII They may kill but cannot hurt 'T was the saying of Seneca when doomed to dye and it argued a brave Heroick spirit Whom need a Christian fear whose life is hid with Christ he is out of Gun-shot the reach of men and Devils whatever happens nothing harms him to kill him is the greatest kindness you send him but to Heaven the sooner XXIX I have read of a Phylosopher that being pounded in a Morter bid his Tormentors in derision beat on the Sack of Anaxarchus he looked on the body but as the bag and knew the treasure was secure it matters not what becomes of the Casket when the Jewel 's safe and what though the shell be crack't when the kernel is whole and untoucht it were below me to shrink or look pale at any thing when Heathens can bear torments with a smooth brow if they can be so valiant it were a shame for a Christian to be a Coward XXX He fights with a shadow that fights with a Saint who can neither be hit nor hurt a Christian walks invisible and is invulnerable you strike at you know not what the stone falls short it never comes near him XXXI In living as in swimming the lesser luggage the better why should I then repine to be eased of what doth hinder perchance if I had not lost I had been lost it is a mercy in a shipwrack to escape naked what I lament might have drowned me XXXII Opportunity comes neither often nor continues long it is good striking while the Iron is hot to lose the occasion is the loss of all I will endeavour to take the fittest time for every action lest I should slip the season I cannot promise my self any other opportunity than the present I will hoise Sail while the wind is fair XXXIII Fortune does often favour the most daring Nothing venture nothing have desperate designs many times succeed and things beyond hope happen I have known strange results of a resolution while some have sought death they have found both life and glory I will look before I leap then leap at all he is a Coward that will shun the Combat where the Crown countervails the Conquest XXXIV It is uncertain how the Evening proves who knows whether the Sun will shine at setting it sometimes goes down clear and sometimes in a cloud there is no depending on what is doubtful since I cannot foresee what may fall out I will provide for that I cannot prevent that I may bring my mind to my condition when I cannot my condition to my mind XXXV Divine wrath proceeds to punish by degrees but makes amends for its slowness with its severity the longer the blow is fetching the sorer is the stroke abused patience turns to fury forbearance is no acquittance I had rather fear before I feel than feel before I fear XXXVI He hath every thing that desires nothing a contented mind is richer than Croesus or then the Indies this turns all we touch to gold and is the only pearle of price more worth than a World He is the happy man that can see and scorn who does not covet but contemns and hath at home what others seek abroad what doth he not enjoy who enjoyes himself XXXVII Satisfaction lies in proportion and in propriety without both there can be no content what is not fit or not our own will never make us happy that serves best that sutes best is most comfortable and most comely I will shape my Last to my foot a Shooe too big is uneasie and too little pinches what matches the mind must likewise be the mans or all is nothing I may starve for famine while another hath food to spare what is that to me which is not mine XXXVIII That which is ill-gotten is usually ill-spent a covetous Father hath commonly a prodigal son what the one rakes the other scatters he that knows not how to get knows not how to keep lightly come will lightly go what is gained by ill means is spent in an ill manner