Part 3
He who has wealth has friends; he who has wealth has relations; he who has wealth is a hero among the people; he who has wealth is even a sage.
_Hitopadesa._
211.
Like a beautiful flower, full of colour but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly.
_Dhammapada._
212.
When men are doubtful of the true state of things, their wishes lead them to believe in what is most agreeable.
_Arrianus._
213.
Most men the good they have despise, And blessings which they have not prize: In winter, wish for summer's glow, In summer, long for winter's snow.
_Sanskrit._
214.
The best conduct a man can adopt is that which gains him the esteem of others without depriving him of his own.
_Talmud._
215.
Whoso associates with the wicked will be accused of following their ways, though their principles may have made no impression upon him; just as if a person were in the habit of frequenting a tavern, he would not be supposed to go there for prayer, but to drink intoxicating liquor.
_Sa'dí._
216.
The loss of a much-prized treasure is only half felt when we have not regarded its tenure as secure.
_Goethe._
217.
The dull-hued turkey apes the gait Of lordly peacock, richly plumed; And thus the poetaster shows When he would fain his verse recite.
_Hindu Poetess._
218.
Knowledge acquired by a man of low degree places him on a level with a prince, as a small river attains the irremeable ocean; and his fortune is then exalted.
_Hitopadesa._
219.
An evil-minded man is quick to see His neighbour's faults, though small as mustard seed; But when he turns his eyes towards his own, Though large as _bilva_ fruit, he none descries.
_Mahábhárata._
220.
Two persons die remorseful: he who possessed and enjoyed not, and he who knew but did not practise.
_Sa'dí._
221.
With regard to a secret divulged and kept concealed, there is an excellent proverb, that the one is an arrow still in our possession, the other is an arrow sent from the bow.
_Jámí._
222.
The thing we want eludes our grasp, Some other thing is given; sometimes Our wish is gained, and gifts unsought Are ours; these all are God's own work.
_Hindu Poetess._
223.
If a man conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, and if another conquer himself, he is the greater of conquerors.[10]
_Dhammapada._
[10] Cf. Prov. XVI, 32.
224.
The man who is in the highest state of prosperity, and who thinks his fortune is most secure, knows not if it will remain unchanged till the evening.
_Demosthenes._
225.
Amongst all possessions knowledge appears pre-eminent. The wise call it supreme riches, because it can never be lost, has no price, and can at no time be destroyed.
_Hitopadesa._
226.
The shadows of the mind are like those of the body. In the morning of life they all lie behind us, at noon we trample them under foot, and in the evening they stretch long, broad, and deepening before us.
_Longfellow._
227.
He who is full of faith and modesty, who shrinks from sin, and is full of learning, who is diligent, unremiss, and full of understanding--he, being replete with these seven things, is esteemed a wise man.
_Burmese._
228.
If your foot slip, you may recover your balance, but if your tongue slip, you cannot recall your words.
_Telugu._
229.
A vacant mind is open to all suggestions, as the hollow mountain returns all sounds.
_Chinese._
230.
Women are ever masters when they like, And cozen with their kindness; they have spells Superior to the wand of the magicians; And from their lips the words of wisdom fall, Like softest music on the listening ear.
_Firdausí._
231.
A man cannot possess anything that is better than a good wife, or anything that is worse than a bad one.
_Simonides._
232.
The wife of bad conduct--constantly pleased with quarrelling--she is known by wise men to be cruel Old Age in the form of a wife.
_Panchatantra._
233.
I have often thought that the cause of men's good or ill fortune depends on whether they make their actions fit with the times. A man having prospered by one mode of acting can never be persuaded that it may be well for him to act differently, whence it is that a man's Fortune varies, because she changes her times and he does not his ways.
_Machiavelli._
234.
By nature all men are alike, but by education very different.
_Chinese._
235.
Whilom, ere youth's conceit had waned, methought Answers to all life's problems I had wrought; But now, grown old and wise, too late I see My life is spent, and all my lore is nought.
_Omar Khayyám._
236.
Weak men gain their object when allied with strong associates: the brook reaches the ocean by the river's aid.
_Mágha._
237.
A swan is out of place among crows, a lion among bulls, a horse among asses, and a wise man among fools.
_Burmese._
238.
Whosoever does not persecute them that persecute him; whosoever takes an offence in silence; he who does good because of love; he who is cheerful under his sufferings--these are the friends of God, and of them the Scripture says, "They shall shine forth like the sun at noontide."
_Talmud._
239.
It is intolerable that a silly fool, with nothing but empty birth to boast of, should in his insolence array himself in the merits of others, and vaunt an honour which does not belong to him.
_Boileau._
240.
Ask not a man who his father was but make trial of his qualities, and then conciliate or reject him accordingly. For it is no disgrace to new wine, if only it be sweet, as to its taste, that it was the juice [or daughter] of sour grapes.
_Arabic._
241.
The sun opens the lotuses, the moon illumines the beds of water-lilies, the cloud pours forth its water unasked: even so the liberal of their own accord are occupied in benefiting others.
_Bhartrihari._
242.
We blame equally him who is too proud to put a proper value on his own merit and him who prizes too highly his spurious worth.
_Goethe._
243.
Men are so simple, and yield so much to necessity, that he who will deceive may always find him that will lend himself to be deceived.
_Machiavelli._
244.
Obstinate silence implies either a mean opinion of ourselves, or a contempt for our company; and it is the more provoking, as others do not know to which of these causes to attribute it--whether humility or pride.
_Hazlitt._
245.
If thou desire not to be poor, desire not to be too rich. He is rich, not that possesses much, but he that covets no more; and he is poor, not that enjoys little, but he that wants too much. The contented mind wants nothing which it hath not; the covetous mind wants, not only what it hath not, but likewise what it hath.
_Quarles._
246.
Those noble men who falsehood dread In wealth and glory ever grow, As flames with greater brightness glow With oil in ceaseless flow when fed.
But like to flames with water drenched, Which, faintly flickering, die away, So liars day by day decay, Till all their lustre soon is quenched.
_Sanskrit._
247.
Watch over thy expenditure, for he who through vain glory spendeth uselessly what he hath on empty follies, will receive neither return nor praise from anyone.
_Firdausí._
248.
If thou art a man, speak not much about thine own manliness, for not every champion driveth the ball to the goal.
_Sa'dí._
249.
The potter forms what he pleases with soft clay, so a man accomplishes his works by his own act.
_Hitopadesa._
250.
No man of high and generous spirit is ever willing to indulge in flattery; the good may feel affection for others, but will not flatter them.
_Aristotle._
251.
An ass will with his long ears fray The flies that tickle him away; But man delights to have his ears Blown maggots in by flatterers.
_Butler._
252.
Books are pleasant, but if by being over-studious we impair our health and spoil our good humour, two of the best things we have, let us give it over. I, for my part, am one of those who think no fruit derived from them can recompense so great a loss.
_Montaigne._
253.
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.
_Goethe._
254.
If with a stranger thou discourse, first learn, By strictest observation, to discern If he be wiser than thyself, if so, Be dumb, and rather choose by him to know; But if thyself perchance the wiser be, Then do thou speak, that he may learn by thee.
_Randolph._
255.
Being continually in people's sight, by the satiety which it creates, diminishes the reverence felt for great characters.
_Livy._
256.
There is a great difference between one who can feel ashamed before his own soul and one who is only ashamed before his fellow men.
_Talmud._
257.
By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint and control the wise man may make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm.
_Dhammapada._
258.
The best way to make ourselves agreeable to others is by seeming to think them so. If we appear fully sensible of their good qualities they will not complain of the want of them in us.
_Hazlitt._
259.
To form a judgment intuitively is the privilege of few; authority and example lead the rest of the world. They see with the eyes of others, they hear with the ears of others. Therefore it is very easy to think as all the world now think; but to think as all the world will think thirty years hence is not in the power of every one.
_Schopenhauer._
260.
Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She is a friend of solitude; fountains entertain her, meadows console her, woods free her from ennui, flowers delight her; in short, she gives pleasure and instruction to all with whom she communicates.
_Cervantes._
261.
How can we learn to know ourselves? By reflection, never, but by our actions. Attempt to do your duty, and you will immediately find what is in you.
_Goethe._
262.
Man is supreme lord and master Of his own ruin and disaster, Controls his fate, but nothing less In ordering his own happiness: For all his care and providence Is too feeble a defence To render it secure and certain Against the injuries of Fortune; And oft, in spite of all his wit, Is lost by one unlucky hit, And ruined with a circumstance, And mere punctilio of a chance.
_Butler._
263.
There is nothing in this world which a resolute man, who exerts himself, cannot attain.
_Somadeva._
264.
Ere need be shown, some men will act, As trees may fruit without a flower; To some you speak with no result, As seeds may die, and yield no grain.
_Hindu Poetess._
265.
Seven things characterise the wise man, and seven the blockhead. The wise man speaks not before those who are his superiors, either in age or wisdom. He interrupts not others in the midst of their discourse. He replies not hastily. His questions are relevant to the subject, his answers, to the purpose. In delivering his sentiments he taketh the first in order first, the last, last. What he understands not he says, "I understand not." He acknowledges his error, and is open to conviction. The reverse of all this characterises the blockhead.
_Talmud._
266.
How absolute and omnipotent is the silence of the night! And yet the stillness seems almost audible. From all the measureless depths of air around us comes a half sound, a half whisper, as if we could hear the crumbling and falling away of the earth and all created things in the great miracle of nature--decay and reproduction--ever beginning, never ending--the gradual lapse and running of the sand in the great hour-glass of Time.
_Longfellow._
267.
What avails your wealth, if it makes you arrogant to the poor?
_Arabic._
268.
All confidence is dangerous unless it is complete; there are few circumstances in which it is not better either to hide all or to tell all.
_La Bruyère._
269.
It is well that there is no one without a fault, for he would not have a friend in the world: he would seem to belong to a different species.
_Hazlitt._
270.
The mind alike, Vigorous or weak, is capable of culture, But still bears fruit according to its nature. 'Tis not the teacher's skill that rears the scholar: The sparkling gem gives back the glorious radiance It drinks from other light, but the dull earth Absorbs the blaze, and yields no gleam again.
_Bhavabhúti._
271.
One man envies the success in life of another, and hates him in secret; nor is he willing to give him good advice when he is consulted, except it be by some wonderful effort of good feeling, and there are, alas, few such men in the world. A real friend, on the other hand, exults in his friend's happiness, rejoices in all his joys, and is ready to afford him the best advice.
_Herodotus._
272.
This body is a tent which for a space Does the pure soul with kingly presence grace; When he departs, comes the tent-pitcher, Death, Strikes it, and moves to a new halting-place.
_Omar Khayyám._
273.
Speak but little, and that little only when thy own purposes require it. Heaven has given thee two ears but only one tongue, which means: listen to two things, but be not the first to propose one.
_Háfiz._
274.
The natural hostility of beasts is laid aside when flying from pursuers; so also when danger is impending the enmity of rivals is ended.
_Bháravi._
275.
He who toils with pain will eat with pleasure.
_Chinese._
276.
A day of fortune is like a harvest-day, we must be busy when the corn is ripe.
_Goethe._
277.
The fame of good men's actions seldom goes beyond their own doors, but their evil deeds are carried a thousand miles' distance.
_Chinese._
278.
A subtle-witted man is like an arrow, which, rending little surface, enters deeply, but they whose minds are dull resemble stones dashing with clumsy force, but never piercing.
_Mágha._
279.
It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in, and flighty, rushing wheresoever it listeth: a tamed mind brings blessings.
_Dhammapada._
280.
The man who every sacred science knows, Yet has not strength to keep in check the foes That rise within him, mars his Fortune's fame, And brings her by his feebleness to shame.
_Bháravi._
281.
What a rich man gives and what he consumes, that is his real worth.
_Hitopadesa._
282.
He who does not think too much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines.
_Goethe._
283.
It is a kind of policy in these days to prefix a fantastical title to a book which is to be sold; for as larks come down to a day-net, many vain readers will tarry and stand gazing, like silly passengers, at an antic picture in a painter's shop that will not look at a judicious piece.
_Burton._
284.
With many readers brilliancy of style passes for affluence of thought: they mistake buttercups in the grass for immeasurable gold mines under the ground.
_Longfellow._
285.
The doctrine that enters only into the ear is like the repast one takes in a dream.
_Chinese._
286.
Adorn thy mind with knowledge, for knowledge maketh thy worth.
_Firdausí._
287.
Men hail the rising sun with glee, They love his setting glow to see, But fail to mark that every day In fragments bears their life away.
All Nature's face delight to view, As changing seasons come anew; None sees how each revolving year Abridges swiftly man's career.
_Ramáyána._
288.
The good man shuns evil and follows good; he keeps secret that which ought to be hidden; he makes his virtues manifest to all; he does not forsake one in adversity; he gives in season: such are the marks of a worthy friend.
_Bhartrihari._
289.
No one hath come into the world for a continuance save him who leaveth behind him a good name.[11]
_Sa'dí._
[11] Cf. 29.
290.
Gross ignorance produces a dogmatic spirit. He who knows nothing thinks he can teach others what he has himself just been learning. He who knows much scarcely believes that what he is saying is unknown to others, and consequently speaks with more hesitation.
_La Bruyère._
291.
When you see a man elated with pride, glorying in his riches and high descent, rising even above fortune, look out for his speedy punishment; for he is only raised the higher that he may fall with a heavier crash.
_Menander._
292.
The ridiculous is produced by any defect that is unattended by pain, or fatal consequences; thus, an ugly and deformed countenance does not fail to cause laughter, if it is not occasioned by pain.
_Aristotle._
293.
Happy the man who early learns the difference between his wishes and his powers.
_Goethe._
294.
There is nothing more pitiable in the world than an irresolute man vacillating between two feelings, who would willingly unite the two, and who does not perceive that nothing can unite them.
_Goethe._
295.
Beauty in a modest woman is like fire at a distance, or like a sharp sword: neither doth the one burn nor the other wound him that comes not too near them.
_Cervantes._
296.
We are more sociable and get on better with people by the heart than the intellect.
_La Bruyère._
297.
A good man may fall, but he falls like a ball [and rebounds]; the ignoble man falls like a lump of clay.
_Bhartrihari._
298.
Do not anxiously expect what is not yet come; do not vainly regret what is already past.
_Chinese._
299.
The way to subject all things to thyself is to subject thyself to reason; thou shalt govern many if reason govern thee. Wouldst thou be a monarch of a little world, command thyself.
_Quarles._
300.
If our inward griefs were written on our brows, how many who are envied now would be pitied. It would seem that they had their deadliest foe in their own breast, and their whole happiness would be reduced to mere seeming.
_Metastasio._
301.
There are many who talk on from ignorance rather than from knowledge, and who find the former an inexhaustible fund of conversation.
_Hazlitt._
302.
Whoever brings cheerfulness to his work, and is ever active, dashes through the world's labours.
_Tieck._
303.
Grossness is not difficult to define: it is obtrusive and objectionable pleasantry.
_Theophrastus._
304.
Do not consider any vice as trivial, and therefore practise it; do not consider any virtue as unimportant, and therefore neglect it.
_Chinese._
305.
To bad as well as good, to all, A generous man compassion shows; On earth no mortal lives, he knows, Who does not oft through weakness fall.
_Rámáyana._
306.
The good extend their loving care To men, however mean or vile; E'en base Chándálas'[12] dwellings share Th' impartial sunbeam's silver smile.
_Hitopadesa._
[12] Chándálas, or Pariahs, are the lowest, or of no caste.
307.
Let a man accept with confidence valuable knowledge even from a person of low degree, good instruction regarding duty even from a humble man, and a jewel of a wife even from an ignoble family.
_Manu._
308.
We cannot too soon convince ourselves how easily we may be dispensed with in the world. What important personages we imagine ourselves to be! We think that we alone are the life of the circle in which we move; in our absence, we fancy that life, existence, breath will come to a general pause, and, alas, the gap which we leave is scarcely perceptible, so quickly is it filled again; nay, it is often the place, if not of something better, at least for something more agreeable.
_Goethe._
309.
The friendships formed between good and evil men differ. The friendship of the good, at first faint like the morning light, continually increases; the friendship of the evil at the very beginning is like the light of midday, and dies away like the light of evening.[13]
_Bhartrihari._
[13] In many parts of the East there is practically no twilight.
310.
A hundred long leagues is no distance for him who would quench the thirst of covetousness; but a contented mind has no solicitude for grasping wealth.
_Hitopadesa._
311.
The noble-minded dedicate themselves to the promotion of the happiness of others--even of those who injure them. True happiness consists in making happy.
_Bháravi._
312.
A benefit given to the good is like characters engraven on a stone; a benefit given to the evil is like a line drawn on water.
_Buddhist._
313.
The undertaking of a careless man succeeds not, though he use the right expedients: a clever hunter, though well placed in ambush, kills not his quarry if he falls asleep.
_Bháravi._
314.
All love, at first, like generous wine, Ferments and frets until 'tis fine; But when 'tis settled on the lee, And from th' impurer matter free, Becomes the richer still the older, And proves the pleasanter the colder.
_Butler._
315.
Safe in thy breast close lock up thy intents, For he that knows thy purpose best prevents.
_Randolph._
316.
Frugality should ever be practised, but not excessive parsimony.
_Hitopadesa._
317.
He who receives a favour must retain a recollection of it for all time to come; but he who confers should at once forget it, if he is not to show a sordid and ungenerous spirit. To remind a man of a kindness conferred on him, and to talk of it, is little different from a reproach.
_Demosthenes._
318.
Pride not thyself on thy religious works, Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts: By pride religious merit melts away, The merit of thy alms, by ostentation.
_Manu._
319.
The empty beds of rivers fill again; Trees leafless now renew their vernal bloom; Returning moons their lustrous phase resume; But man a second youth expects in vain.[14]
_Somadeva._
[14] Cf. Job, XIV, 7.
320.
Shall He to thee His aid refuse Who clothes the swan in dazzling white, Who robes in green the parrot bright, The peacocks decks in rainbow hues?[15]
_Hitopadesa._
[15] Cf. Matt. VI, 25, 26.
321.
A bad man is as much pleased as a good man is distressed to speak ill of others.
_Mahábhárata._
322.
Every bird has its decoy, and every man is led and misled in his own peculiar way.
_Goethe._
323.
There is such a grateful tickling in the mind of man in being commended that even when we know the praises which are bestowed on us are not our due, we are not angry with the author's insincerity.
_Feltham._
324.
Too much to lament a misery is the next way to draw on a remediless mischief.
_R. Chamberlain._
325.
There is no remembrance which time doth not obliterate, nor pain which death doth not put an end to.
_Cervantes._
326.
Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear, and with a manly heart.
_Longfellow._
327.
Plans that are wise and prudent in themselves are rendered vain when the execution of them is carried on negligently and with imprudence.
_Guicciardini._
328.
Every man stamps his value on himself. The price we challenge for ourselves is given us. Man is made great or little by his own will.
_Schiller._
329.