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BOOK OF

WISE SAYINGS

W. A. CLOUSTON

"Concise sentences, like darts, fly abroad and make impressions, while long discourses are tedious and not regarded."--BACON.

"Many are the sayings of the wise, In ancient and in modern books enrolled."--MILTON.

LONDON PUBLISHED BY HUTCHINSON & CO.

AT 34 PATERNOSTER ROW 1893

PRINTED AT NIMEGUEN BY H. C. A. THIEME OF NIMEGUEN

AND

TALBOT HOUSE, ARUNDEL STREET LONDON, W.C.

FRANCIS THORNTON BARRETT,

CHIEF LIBRARIAN, MITCHELL LIBRARY, GLASGOW,

THIS LITTLE BOOK,

WITH FRIENDLY GREETINGS,

IS INSCRIBED.

PREFACE

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."

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.

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.

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

If passion gaineth the mastery over reason, the wise will not count thee amongst men.

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

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

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.

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

Cf. Goldsmith:

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

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

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

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

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."

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Pagodas 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.

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

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.

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.

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 canvassing for consulship--yet all these passed away, and are nowhere.

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

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

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