He that would have a thing done quickly and well, must do it himself. He who knows most is the least presuming or confident. 'Tis more noble to make yourself great, than to be born so. The beginning of an amour (or gallantry) is fear, the middle sin, and the end sorrow or repent ance. A fair promise catches the fool. Promising is not with design to give, but to please fools. Give no great credit to a great promiser. Prosperity is the worst enemy men usually have. Proverbs bear age, and he who would do well may view himself in them as in a looking-glass. A proverb is the child of experience. He that makes no reckoning of a farthing, will not be worth an halfpenny. Avoid carefully the first ill or mischief, for that will breed an hundred more. Reason governs the wise man, and a cudgel the fool. Suffering is the monitor of fools, reason of wise men. If you would be as happy as any king, consider not the few that are before, but the many that come behind you. Our religion and our language we suck in with our milk. Good husbandry is the first step towards riches. A stock once gotten, wealth grows up of its own accord. Wealth hides many a great fault. The fool's estate is the first spent. Wealth is his that enjoys it, and the world is his who scrambles for it. A father with very great wealth, and a son with no virtue at all. Little wealth, and little care and trouble. The Roman conquers, by sitting still at home. He is learned enough, who knows how to live well. The more a man knows, the less credulous he is. There is no harm in desiring to be thought wise by others, but a great deal in a man's thinking himself to be so. Losing much breeds bad blood. Health without any money is half sickness. When a man is tumbling down, every saint lends a hand. He that unseasonably plays the wise man is a fool. He that pretends too much to wisdom is counted a fool. A wise man never sets his heart upon what he cannot have. That crown is well spent which saves ten. If you would have a thing kept secret, never tell it to any one; and if you would not have a thing known of you, never do it. Whatever you are going to do or say, think well first what may be the consequence of it. They are always selling wit to others, who have least of it for themselves. He that gains time gains a great point. The favour of the court is like fair weather in winter. A man never loses by doing good offices to others. Ignorance and prosperity make men bold and confident. He who employs one servant in any business, hath him all there; who employs two, hath half a servant; who three, hath never a one. Either a civil grant, or a civil denial. The covetous man is the bailiff, not the master, of his own estate. Trouble not your head about the weather, or the government. Like with like looks well, and lasts long. All worldly joy is but a short-lived dream. That is a cursed pleasure, that makes a man a fool. The soldier is well paid for doing mischief. A soldier, fire, and water, soon make room for themselves. A considering, careful man is half a conjurer. A man would not be alone even in Paradise. He that will maintain every thing must have his sword always ready drawn. That house is in an ill case, where the distaff commands the sword. He that speaks ill of other men, burns his own tongue. He that is most liberal where he should be so, is the best husband. He is gainer enough, who gives over a vain hope. A mighty hope is a mighty cheat. Hope is a pleasant kind of deceit. A man cannot leave his experience or wisdom to his heirs. Fools learn to live at their own cost, the wise at other men's. He is master of the whole world, who hath no value for it. One enemy is too much for a man in a great post, and an hundred friends are too few. Men toil and take pains in order to live easily at last. He that takes no care of himself, must not expect it from others. Industry makes a gallant man, and breaks ill fortune. Study, like a staff of cotton, beats without noise. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are a tempest and hail-storm. If pride were a deadly disease how many would be now in their graves! He who cannot hold his peace will never lie at ease. A fool will be always talking, right or wrong. Pray hold your peace, or you will make me fall asleep. The table, a secret thief, sends his master to the hospital. Begin your web, and God will supply you with thread. Too much fear is an enemy to good deliberation. Time is a file that wears, and makes no noise. Nothing is so hard to bear well as prosperity. Patience, time, and money, set every thing to rights. The true art of making gold is to have a good estate, and to spend but little of it. Abate two-thirds of all the reports you hear. A fair face, or a fine head, and very little brains in it. He who lives wickedly lives always in fear. If three know it, all the world will know it too. Many hath too much, but nobody hath enough. An honest man hath half as much more brains as he needs, a knave hath not half enough. A wise man changes his mind when there is reason for it. From hearing comes wisdom; and from speaking, repentance. Old age is an evil desired by all men, and youth an advantage which no young man understands. Would you be revenged on your enemy? live as you ought, and you have done it to purpose. He that will revenge every affront, either falls from a good post, or never gets up to it. Truth is an inhabitant of heaven. That which seems probable is the greatest enemy to the truth. A thousand probabilities cannot make one truth. "Tis no great pains to speak the truth. That is most true which we least care to hear. Truth hath the plague in his house (i.e. is carefully avoided). A wise man will not tell such a truth as every one will take for a lie. Long voyages occasion great lies. The world makes men drunk as much as wine doth. Wine and youth are fire upon fire. Enrich your younger age with virtue's lore. |