Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

be done. If not prudent, though just, it is not advisable. He that loses by getting, had better lose than get.

Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment the treasurer, of a wise man.

He that has more knowledge than judgment, is made for another man's use, more than his own.

Where judgment has wit to express it, there is the best orator.

If thou wouldst be obeyed, being a father, being a son, be obedient.

It were endless to dispute upon everything that is disputable.

Rarely promise. But, if lawful, constantly perform. Be not fancifully jealous; for that is foolish: as, to be reasonably so, is wise.

If we would amend the world, we should mend ourselves; and teach our children to be, not what we are, but what they should be.

It is not how we leave our children, but what we leave them.

Patience and diligence, like faith, remove mountains. Never give out while there is hope: but hope not beyond reason; for that shows more desire than judgment. Do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good.

Seek not to be rich, but happy. The one lies in bags, the other in content; which wealth can never give.

If thou wouldst be happy, bring thy mind to thy condition, and have an indifferency for more than what is sufficient.

Have but little to do, and do it thyself: and do to others as thou wouldst have them do to thee: so, thou canst not fail of temporal felicity.

A man, like a watch, is to be valued for his goings.

He that prefers him upon other accounts, bows to an idol.

We should not be troubled for what we cannot help :

but if it was our fault, let it be so no more.

is repentance, if not reparation.

Virtue is not secure against envy.

what they will not imitate.

Amendment

Men will lessen,

Dislike what deserves it, but never hate for that is of the nature of malice.

Not to be provoked, is best: but if moved, never correct till the fume is spent: for every stroke our fury strikes, is sure to hit ourselves at last.

They that censure, should practice: or else, let them heave the first stone, and the last too.

Nothing needs a trick, but a trick; sincerity loathes

one.

Passion is a sort of fever in the mind, which ever leaves weaker than it found us.

But being intermitting, to be sure it is curable with

care.

Be not provoked by injuries, to commit them.

Tempt no man; lest thou fall for it.

Opportunities should never be lost, because they can hardly be regained.

Affect not to be seen, and men will less see thy weak

ness.

We have a call to do good, as often as we have the power and occasion.

Do what good thou canst unknown; and be not vain of what ought rather to be felt than seen.

SELECTIONS FROM THE ADVICE OF WILLIAM PENN TO HIS CHILDREN.

Fear God; show it in desire, refraining and doing ; keep the inward watch, keep a clear soul and a light heart. Mind an inward sense upon doing any thing. When you read the Scripture, remark the notablest places, as your spirits are most touched and affected, in a common-place book, with that sense or opening which you receive; for they come not by study or in the will of man, no more than the Scripture did; and they may be lost by carelessness and over-growing thoughts, and businesses of .this life; so in perusing any other good or profitable book, yet rather meditate than read much. For the spirit of a man knows the things of a man, and with that spirit, by observation of the tempers and actions of men you see in the world, and looking into your own spirits, and meditating thereupon, you will have a deep and strong judgment of men and things. For from what may be, what should be, and what is most probable or likely to be, you can hardly miss in your judgment of human affairs; and you have a better spirit than your own in reserve for a time of need, to pass the final judgment in important

matters.

it as

In conversation, mark well what others say or do, and hide your own mind, at least till last, and then open sparingly as the matter will let you. A just observance and reflection upon men and things give wisdom; those are the great books of learning seldom read. The laborious bee draws honey from every flower. Be always on your watch, but chiefly in company; then be sure to have your wits about you, and your armor on; speak last and little, but to the point; interrupt none; anticipate none. Read Prov. x. 8, 13. Be quick to hear, slow to speak

(Prov. xvii. 27). It gives time to understand, and ripens an answer. Affect not words, but matter, and chiefly to be pertinent and plain.. Truest eloquence is plainest, and brief speaking (I mean brevity and clearness to make yourselves easily understood by everybody, and in as few words as the matter will admit of) is the best.

Prefer the aged, the virtuous, and the knowing, and choose those that excel for your company and friendship, but despise not others.

Return no answer to anger, unless with much meekness, which often turns it away; but rarely make replies, less rejoinders, for that adds fuel to the fire. . . . Silence to passion, prejudice, and mockery, is the best answer, and often conquers what resistance inflames.

Cast up your incomes and live on half- if you can, one-third reserving the rest for casualties, charities, portions.

Be plain in clothes, furniture, and food, but clean, and then the coarser the better; the rest is folly and a snare. Therefore next to sin, avoid daintiness and choiceness about your persons and houses; for if it be not an evil in itself, it is a temptation to it, and may be accounted a nest for sin to brood in.

Be sure to draw your affairs into as narrow a compass as you can, and in method and proportion, time and other requisites proper for them.

Have very few acquaintances, and fewer intimates, but of the best in their kind.

Keep your own secrets, and do not covet others; but if trusted, never reveal them unless mischievous to somebody; nor then, before warning to the party to desist and repent. Prov. xi. 13, xxv. 9, 10.

Trust no man with the main chance, and avoid to be trusted.

Make few resolutions, but keep them strictly.

Prefer elders and strangers on all occasions; be rather last than first in conveniency and respect, but first in all virtues.

[ocr errors]

Above all, remember your Creator; remember yourselves and your families, when you have them, in the youthful time and forepart of your life; for good methods and habits obtained then will make you easy and happy the rest of your days. Every estate has its snare: Youth and middle age, pleasure and ambition; old age, avarice; remember, I tell you, that man is a slave where either prevails. Beware of the pernicious lusts of the eye, and the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John ii. 15, 16, 17), which are not of the Father, but of the world. Get higher and nobler objects for your immortal part, oh, my dear children! and be not tied to things without you; for then you can never have the true and free enjoyment of yourselves to better things; no more than a slave in Algiers has of his house or family in London. Be free; live at home in yourselves, I mean where lie greater treasures hid than in the Indies. The pomp, honor, and luxury of the world are the cheats, and the unthinking and inconsiderate are taken by them. But the retired man is upon higher ground, he sees and is aware of the trick, contemns the folly, and bemoans the deluded.

Choose God's trades before men's; Adam was a gardener, Cain a ploughman, and Abel a grazier or shepherd. These began with the world, and have least of snare, and most of use. When Cain became a murderer, as a witty man said, he turned a builder of cities, and quitted his husbandry. Mechanics, as handicrafts, are also commendable, but they are but a second brood, and younger brothers..

...

Have but few books, but let them be well chosen and

« ÎnapoiContinuă »