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It is not the light of the Sun, but the shade, which points out to us the hour of the day.

Virtue, like the Sun, retains its resplendence, though frequently obscured by clouds.

Virtue dwells not on the tongue, but fixes its abode in the heart.

but they Misfortunes are often unavoidable; may be disarmed of their bitterness by virtue and sound philosophy.

Precept is the nurse of understanding.

A good conscience is not only the testimony of a good life, but the reward of it.

All men love Virtue; and yet, alas! how few take her to their bosoms.

Sin is its own tormentor: and the dread of vengeance will even overtake those who escape its stroke.

There is nothing more unworthy the dignity of human nature, than to insult the calamities of the unfortunate.

Travellers, who really go in search of improvement, will always increase in knowledge the further they make their excursions from home': as a river increases its stream, the further it flows from its source.

The belief of a particular Providence is the most animating persuasion that the mind of man can embrace: it gives strength to our hopes, and firmness to our resolutions; it subdues the insolence of prosperity, and draws out the sting of affliction; like the golden branch to which Virgil's hero was directed, it affords the only secure passport through the regions of darkness and sorrow. We should have less reason to complain of the

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inconstancy of friends, if we were in general more cautious how we formed connections; but the misfortune is, our friendships are apt to be too forward, and thus either fall off in the blossom, or never arrive at just maturity.

Counterfeit virtues are the most successful

vices.

Society gives strength to our reason, as well as polish to our manners.

He who has not cultivated his reason when young, will be utterly unable to improve it when old.

No man suffers by bad fortune, but he who has been deceived by good.

The art of criticism, like the art of physic, has been frequently productive of much mischief; but it has been as often attended with great benefit to mankind.

If we would persuade, we must first learn to please.

The source of most of the ill habits of life arises from our unhappy affectation of being wise rather than honest, witty than good-natured.

When modesty ceases to be the chief ornament of one sex, and integrity of the other, society is upon a wrong basis.

The chief concern of wise men is to retrench the evils of life by the reasonings of philosophy; the employment of fools, to multiply them by the sentiments of superstition.

Nothing is so pernicious as wit, when it is not tempered with virtue and humanity.

The preservation of life should be only a secondary concern; the direction of it the principal

Nothing is so much admired, and so little understood, as wit.

Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery.

The countenance is frequently more expressive than the tongue.

The hours of a wise man are lengthened by his ideas, and those of a fool by his passions.

Men should dress, not to be fops, but to be respected.

There is nothing more unworthy of a man, or that argues a greater want of understanding, than wishing one's self younger: if we have lived well, we have lived long enough; if not, we have lived too long. A good actor merits applause, in whatever scene of the play he makes his exit.

A little negligence can spoil us, but great industry is necessary to improve us.

A man should direct all his studies and endeavours at making himself easy now, and happy hereafter.

The mind that hath any propensity to devotion, naturally flies to it in affliction.

Justice seems most agreeable to the nature of God, and mercy to that of man.

There is nothing more odious, nor indeed more ridiculous, than a rigid, severe temper, in a worthless man.

Those who live above their present circumstances are in great danger of soon living much below them.

Nothing can be more unjust, or ridiculous, than to be angry with others because they are not of our opinion.

The inquisitive are the funnels of conversation; they do not take in any thing for their own use, but merely to pass it to others.

Modesty is as well a guard as an ornament to virtue.

Thrift, diligence, and method in business, are three necessary qualifications to make a man rich. It is far from greatness of spirit to persist in errour; perfection is not the attribute of man.

The court hypocrite endeavours to appear more vicious than he really is; the city hypocrite more virtuous.

A friend exaggerates a man's virtues; an enemy aggravates his crimes.

It is below the character of men of humanity and good manners, to be capable of mirth while there is any one of the company in pain.

To a worthy man the best perquisites of a place are the advantages which it gives him of doing good.

A man who defers doing what ought to be done, is guilty of injustice so long as he defers it.

The dispatch of a good office is very often as beneficial as the good office itself.

It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them.

There is nothing more difficult than the art of making advice agreeable.

We should ever be careful not to polish ourselves out of our veracity, nor to refine our behaviour to the prejudice of our virtue.

There cannot be a greater instance of a weak and pusillanimous temper than for a man to pass

his whole life in opposition to his own sentiments, not daring to be what he thinks he ought to be.

Virtue is a good of so noble a kind, that it grows by communication; it so little resembles earthly riches, that the more hands it is lodged in, the greater is every man's stock.

Imitation is a kind of artless flattery, and mightily favours the powerful principle of selflove.

It is with knowledge as with wealth; the pleasure of which lies more in making endless additions, than in making a review of our old store.

Our happiness, in this world, proceeds from the suppression of our desires; but, in the next, it will be derived from the gratification of them.

Pride obstructs gratitude; for the man who hardly ever thinks he receives a favour, will not be likely to think of acknowledging or repaying

one.

Virtue is the brightest proof of understanding, and the only solid basis of greatness; vice begins in errour, and ends in ignominy.

Irregular desires will produce licentious practices.

Those who would govern their actions by the laws of virtue, must regulate their thoughts by those of reason.

He who considers how soon he must close his life, will find nothing of so much importance as to close it well.

Every man, who proposes to grow eminent by learning, should carry in his mind at once the difficulty of excellence and the force of industry;

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