So much as to stir the Blood to do commendable Things, but notso much as to possess the Brain, and turn it round.
There are as many that are blown up by the Wind of Vanity, as are carried away by the Stream of Interest.
Every body hath not Wit enough to Act out of Interest, but every body hath little enough to do it out of Vanity.
Some Mens Heads are as easily blown away as their Hats.
If the commending others well, did not recommend ourselves, there would be few Panegyricks.
Mens Vanity will often dispose them to be commended into very troublesome Employments.
The desiring to be remember’d when we are dead, is to so little purpose, that it is fit Men should, as they generally are, be disappointed in it. Nevertheless, the desire of leavinga good Name behind us is so honourable to ourselves, and so useful to the World, that good Sense must not be heard against it.
Heraldry is one of those foolish Things that may yet be too much despised.
The Contempt of Scutcheons is as much a Disease in this Age, as the over-valuing them was in former Times.
There is a good Use to be made of the most contemptible Things, and an ill one of those that are the most valuable.
OfMoney.
IfMen considered how many Things there are that Riches cannot buy, they would not be so fond of them.
The Things to be bought with Money, are such as least deserve the giving a Price for them.
Wit and Money are so apt to be abused, that Men generally make a shift to be the worse for them.
Money in a Fool’s Hand exposeth him worse than a pyed Coat.
Money hath too great a Preference given to it by States, as well as by particular Men.
Men are more the Sinews of War than Money.
The third part of an Army must be destroyed, before a good one can be made out of it.
They who are of opinion that Money will do every thing, may very well be suspected to do every thing for Money.
FalseLearning.
Alittle Learningmisleadeth, and a great deal oftenstupifieththe Understanding.
Great Reading without applying it, is like Cornheapedthat is notstirred, it groweth musty.
A learned Coxcomb dyeth his Mistakes in so much a deeper Colour: A wrong kind of Learning serveth only to embroider his Errors.
A Man that hath read without judgment, is like a Gun charged with Goose-shot, let loose upon the Company.
He is only well furnished with Materials to expose himself, and to mortify those he liveth with.
The reading of the greatest Scholars, if put into a Limbeck,might be distilled into a small quantity ofEssence.
The Reading of most Men, is like a Wardrobe of old Cloaths that are seldom used.
Weak Men are the worse for the good Sense they read in Books, because it furnisheth them only with more Matter to mistake.
OfCompany.
Menthat cannot entertain themselves want somebody, though they care for nobody.
An impertinent Fellow is never in the right, but in his being weary ofhimself.
By that time Men are fit for Company, they see the Objections to it.
The Company of a Fool is dangerous as well as tedious.
It is flattering some Men to endure them.
Present Punishment attendeth the Fault.
AfollowingWit will be welcome in most Companies; Aleadingone lieth too heavy for Envy to bear.
Out-doing is so near reproaching, that it will generally be thought very ill Company.
Any thing that shineth doth in some measure tarnish every thing that standeth next to it.
Keeping much Company generally endeth in playing the Fool or the Knave with them.
OfFriendship.
Friendshipcometh oftener by Chance than by Choice, which maketh it generally so uncertain.
It is a Mistake to say a Friend can be bought.
A Man may buy a good Turn, but he cannot buy the Heart that doth it.
Friendship cannot live with Ceremony, nor without Civility.
There must be a nice Diet observed to keep Friendship from falling sick; nay, there is more Skill necessary to keep a Friend, than there is to reclaim an Enemy.
Those Friends who are above Interest are seldom above jealousy.
It is a Misfortune for a Man not to have a Friend in the World, butfor that reason he shall have no Enemy.
In the Commerce of the World, Men struggle little less with their Friends, than they do with their Enemies.
Esteemought to be the ground ofKindness, and yet there are no Friends that seldomer meet.
Kindness is apt to be asafraidof Esteem, as that is to beashamedof Kindness.
Our Kindness is greatest to those that will do what we would have them, in which our Esteem cannot always go along.
Miscellaneous ThoughtsANDREFLECTIONS.
Of Advice and Correction.
TheRuleof doing as we would be done by, is never less observed than it is in telling others their Faults. But Men intend more to shew others that they are free from the Fault, than to dissuade them from committing it.
They are so pleased with the prudent Shape of an Adviser, that it raiseth the value they have of themselves, whilst they are about it.
Certainly, to give Advice to a Friend, either asked or unasked, is so far from a Fault, that it is a Duty; but if a Man love to give Advice,it is a sure sign that he himself wanteth it.
A Man whilst he is advising putteth his Understanding upon Tiptoes, and is unwilling to bring it down again.
A weak Man had ratherbe thoughtto know, thanknow, and that maketh him so impatient to be told of a Mistake.
He who will not be the better for other Mens Faults, hath no cure left for his own.
But he that can probe himself to cure his own Faults, will seldom need either the Surgery of his Friends or of his Enemies.
Of Alterations.
In a corrupted Age the putting the World in order would breed Confusion.
A rooted Disease must bestroaked away, rather thankicked away.
As soon as Men have Understanding enough to find a Fault, they have enough to see the danger of mending it.
Desiring to have any thing mended, is venturing to have it spoiled: To know when to let Things alone, is a high pitch of good Sense. But a Fool hath an Eagerness, like a Monkey in a Glass Shop, to break every thing in the handling.
CuringandMendingare generally meer Words of Art not to be relied upon. They are set out in Bills, but theMountebanksonly get by them.
Bashfulness.
Great Bashfulness is oftener an Effect of Pride than of Modesty.
Modesty is oftner mistaken than any other Virtue.
Boldness.
Wise Venturing is the most commendable Part of human Prudence.
It is the upper Story of Prudence, whereas perpetual Caution is a kind of under-ground Wisdom that doth not care to see the Light.
It is best for great Men to shoot over, and for lesser Men to shoot short.
Borrowers of Opinions.
Men who borrow their Opinions can never repay their Debts.
They are Beggars by Nature, and can therefore never get a Stock to grow rich upon.
A Man who hath not a distinguishing Head, is safest by not minding what any body sayeth.
He had better trust to his own Opinion, than spoil another Man’s for want of apprehending it.
Candour.
It is some kind of Scandal not to bear with the Faults of an honest Man.
It is not loving Honesty enough to allow it distinguishing Privileges.
There are some decent Faults which may pretend to be in the lower Rank of Virtues; and surely where Honour or Gratitude are the Motives, Censure must be a good deal silenced.
Of Caution and Suspicion.
Men must be saved in this World by their Want of Faith.
A Man that getteth Care into his Thoughts, cannot properly be said to trade without a Stock.
Care and right Thought will produce Crops all the Year without staying for the Seasons.
A Man is to go about his own Business as if he had not a Friend in the World to help him in it.
He that relieth upon himself will be oppressed by others with Offers of their Service.
All are apt to shrink from those that lean upon them.
If Men would think how often their own Words are thrown at their Heads, they would less often let them go out of their Mouths.
Mens Words are Bullets that their Enemies take up and make use of against them.
A Man watches himself best when others watch him too.
It is as necessary for us to suppress our Reason when it offendeth, as our Mistakes when they expose us.
In an unreasonable Age, a Man’s Reason let loose would undo him.
A wise Man will do with his Reason as a Miser doth with his Money, hoard it, but be very sparing in the Expence of it.
A Man that should call every thing by its right Name, would hardly pass the Streets without being knock’d down as a common Enemy.
A Man cannot be more in the Wrong than to own without Distinction the being in the Right.
When a Man is very kind or very angry, there is no sure Guard but Silence upon that Subject.
A Man’s Understanding is easily shoved out of its Place by warm Thoughts of any kind.
We are not so much Masters of our Heat as to have enough to warm our Thoughts, and not so much as to set them on fire.
A great Enemy is a great Object that inviteth Precaution, which maketh him less dangerous than a mean one.
An old Man concludeth from his knowing Mankind, that they know him too, and that maketh him very wary.
On the other hand, it must be allowed, that a Man’s being deceivedby Knaves hath often this ill Effect, that it maketh him too jealous of honest Men.
The Mind, like the Body, is subject to be hurt by every thing it taketh for a Remedy.
There are some such very great Foreseers, that they grow into the Vanity of pretending to see where nothing is to be seen.
He that will see at too great a distance, will sometimes mistake a Bush for a Horse: The Prospect of a wise Man will be bounded.
A Man may so overdo it in looking too far before him, that he may stumble the more for it.
And, to conclude, He that leaveth nothing to Chance will do few things ill, but he will do very few things.
Suspicion is rather a Virtue than a Fault, as long as it doth like a Dog thatwatcheth, and dothnot bite.
A wise Man, in trusting another, must not rely upon hisPromiseagainst hisNature.
Early Suspicion is often an Injury, and late Suspicion is always a Folly.
A wise Man will keep his Suspicions muzzled, but he will keep them awake.
There can no Rules be given to Suspicion, no more than to Love.
Suspicion taketh Root, and beareth Fruit, from the moment it is planted.
Suspicion seldom wanteth Food to keep it up in Health and Vigour. It feedeth upon every thing it seeth, and is not curious in its Diet.
Suspicion doth not grow up to an Injury till it breaketh out.
When our Suspicion of another Man is once discovered by him, there ought to be an end of all further Commerce.
He that is never suspected, is either very much esteemed, or very much despised.
A Man’sInterestis not a sufficient Ground to suspect him, if hisNaturedoth not concur in it.
A weak Man hath less Suspicion than a wise one, but when he hath it, he is less easily cured.
The Remedies as often increase the Disease, as they do allay it; and a Fool valueth himself upon suspecting at a venture.
Cheats.
Many Menswallowthe being cheated, but no Man could ever endure tochewit.
Few Men would be deceived, if their Conceit of themselves did not help the Skill of those that go about it.
Complaint.
Complaining is a Contempt upon ones self:
It is an ill Sign both of a Man’s Head and of his Heart.
A Man throweth himself down whilst he complaineth; and when a Man throweth himself down, no body careth to take him up again.
Content.
Content layeth Pleasure, nay Virtue, in a Slumber, with few and faint Intermissions.
It is to the Mind, like Moss to a Tree, it bindeth it up so as to stop its Growth.
Converts.
The Impudence of a Bawd is Modestly, compared with that of a Convert.
A Convert hath so much to do to gain Credit, that a Man is to think well before he changeth.
Desires.
Men generally state their Wants by their Fancy, and not by their Reason.
The poor young Children are whipt and beaten by the old ones, who are much more inexcusably impertinent.
Not having things, is a more proper Expression for a Man of Sense than his wanting them.
Where Sense is wanting, every thing is wanting.
A Man of Sense can hardly want, but for his Friends and Children that have none.
Most Men let their Wishes run away with them.
They have no mind to stop them in their Career, the Motion is so pleasing.
To desire what belongeth to another Man is Misprision of Robbery.
Men are commanded not to covet, because when they do they are very apt to take.
Difficulty.
A Difficulty raiseth the Spirits of a great Man, he hath a mind to wrestle with it, and give it a Fall.
A Man’s Mind must be very low, if the Difficulty doth not make a part of his Pleasure.
The Pride of Compassing may more than compare with the Pleasure of Enjoying.
Dissembling.
Nothing so ridiculous as a false Philosopher, and nothing so rare as a true one.
Men take more pains to hide than to mend themselves.
Dreams.
Mens Pride, as well as their Weakness, disposeth them to rely upon Dreams, from their thinking themselves of such Importance as to have Warning of what is to befal them.
The Enquiry into a Dream is another Dream.
Drunkenness.
It is a piece of Arrogance to dare to be drunk, because a Man sheweth himself without a Vail.
Experience.
The best way to suppose what may come, is to remember what is past.
The best Qualification of a Prophet is to have a good Memory.
Experience maketh more Prophets than Revelation.
The Knowledge that is got without Pains, is kept without Pleasure.
The Struggling for Knowledge hath a Pleasure in it like that of Wrestling with a fine Woman.
Extremes.
Extremity is always ill, that which is good cannot live a Moment with it.
Any body that is Fool enough will be safe in the World, and any body that can be Knave enough will be rich in it.
The generality of the World falleth into an insufficientMeanthat exposeth them more than anExtremeon either Side.
Faculties of the Mind.
Though Memory and Invention are not upon good Terms, yet when the first is loaded, the other is stifled.
The Memory hath Claws by which it holdeth fast; but it hath no Wings, like the Invention, to enable it to fly.
Some Mens Memory is like a Box, where a Man should mingle his Jewels with his old Shoes.
There ought to be a great Difference between the Memory and the Stomach; the last is to admit every thing, the former should have the Faculty of Rejecting.
It is a nice Mean between letting the Thought languish for want of Exercise, and tiring it by giving it too much.
A Man may dwell so long upon a Thought, that it may take him Prisoner.
The hardest thing in the World is to give the Thoughts due Liberty, and yet retain them in due Discipline.
They are Libertines that are apt to abuse Freedom, and do not well know how to bear Restraint.
A Man that excels in any one thing has a kind of arbitrary Power over all that hear him upon that Subject, and no Man’s Life is too short to know any one thing perfectly.
The modern Wit is rather to set Men out, than to make them of any Use.
Some Men have acted Courage who had it not; but no Man can act Wit, if Nature doth not teach him his Part. True Wit is always revenged upon any false Pretender that meddleth with it.
Wit is the only thing that Men are willing to think they can ever have enough of.
There is a happy Pitch of Ignorance that a Man of Sense might pray for.
A Man that hath true Wit will have Honour too, not only to adorn, but to support it.
Families.
The building up a Family is a Manufacture very little above the building a House of Cards.
Time and Accidents are sure to furnish a Blast to blow it down.
No House wanteth new Tiling so often as a Family wants Repairing.
The Desire of having Children is as much the Effect of Vanity as of Good-nature.
We think our Children a Part of ourselves, though as they grow up they might very well undeceive us.
Men love their Children, not because they are promising Plants, but because they are theirs.
They cannot discredit the Plant, without disparaging the Soil out of which it came.
Pride in this, as in many other things, is often mistaken for Love.
As Children make a Man poor in one Sense, so in another they inforce Care, and that begetteth Riches.
Love is presently out of Breath when it is to go up Hill, from the Children to the Parents.
Fear.
’Tis good to have Men in Awe, but dangerous to have them afraid of us.
The Mean is so nice, that the hitting upon it is oftner the Effect of Chance than of Skill.
A Degree of Fear sharpeneth, the Excess of it stupifieth.
It is as scandalous not to fear at some times, as it can be to be afraid at others.
Flattery.
Folly begets Want, and Want Flattery; so that Flattery, with all its Wit, is the Grandchild of Folly.
Were it not for Bunglers in the manner of doing it, hardly any Man would ever find out he was laughed at.
And yet, generally speaking, a Trowel is a more effectual Instrument than a Pencil for Flattery.
Men generally do so love the Taste of Flattery, their Stomach can never be overcharged with it.
There is a Right Reverend Flattery that hath the Precedence of all other Kinds of it.
This Mitred Flattery is of all others the most exalted. It ever groweth in proportion, and keepeth pace with Power. There is a nobleStroke of it in the Articles sent to PrincessMaryfromHenryVIII. “Such is his Majesty’sGracious and Divine Nature—shewingMercyto such asrepentantly cry and callfor the same.”
Forgetfulness.
Forgetting is oftner an Aggravation than an Excuse.
The Memory will seldom be unmannerly but where it is unkind.
Good-manners.
There needeth little Care topolishthe Understanding; if true Means were used tostrengthenit, it will polish itself.
Good-manners is such a Part of Good-sense, that they cannot be divided; but that which a Fool calleth Good-breeding is the most unmannerly thing in the World.
Right Good-manners require so much Sense, that there is hardly any such thing in the World.
Good-nature.
Good-nature is rather acted than practised in the World.
Good-nature to others is an inseparable Part of Justice.
Good-will.
Good-will, like Grace, floweth where it listeth.
Men mean so very well to themselves, that they forget to mean well to any body else.
Heat.
Good-sense will allow of some intermitting Fevers, but then the Fit must be short.
Honesty.
He that can be quite indifferent when he seeth another Man injured, hath a lukewarm Honesty that a wise Man will not depend upon.
He that is not concerned when he seeth an ill thing done to another, will not be very eager to do a good one himself.
Hypocrisy.
There is so much Wit necessary to make a skilful Hypocrite, that the Faculty is fallen amongst Bunglers, who make it ridiculous.
Injury.
An Injury may more properly be said to be postponed, than to be forgiven.
The Memory of it is never so subdued, but that it hath always Life in it.
The Memory of an Enemy admitteth no decay but Age.
Could we know what Men are most apt to remember, we might know what they are most apt to do.
It is a general Fault that we dislike Men only for the Injuries they do to us, and not for those they do to Mankind. Yet it will be hard to give a good Reason why a Man who hath done a deliberate Injury to one, will not do it to another.
The Memory and the Conscience never did, nor never will agree about forgiving Injuries.
Nature is Second to the Memory, and Religion to the Conscience.
When the Seconds fight, the latter is generally disarmed.
Integrity.
A Man in a corrupted Age must make a Secret of his Integrity, or else he will be looked upon as a common Enemy.
He must engage his Friends not to speak of it; for he setteth himself for a Mark to be ill used.
Justice.
As far as keeping distance is a sign of Respect, Mankind hath a great deal for Justice.
They make up in Ceremony what they want in Good-will to it.
Where the Generality are Offenders, Justice cometh to be Cruelty.
To Love, and be in Love different.
To Love, and to be in Love with any thing, are Things as differing, as good Sense and Impertinence.
When we once go beyond bare liking, we are in danger of parting with Good-Sense; and it is not easy for Good-Sense to get so far as liking.
Lucre.
When by habit a Man cometh to have a bargaining Soul, its Wings are cut, so that it can never soar.
It bindeth Reason an Apprentice to Gain, and instead of a Director, maketh it a Drudge.
Lying.
The being kind to a Lyar, is abetting a Treason against Mankind.
A Man is to inform the first Magistrate, that he may be clap’d up.
Lies are embroidered with Promises and Excuses.
A known Lyar should be outlawed in a well ordered Government.
A Man that renounceth Truth, runneth away from his trial in the World.
The use of Talking is almost lost in the World by the habit of Lying.
A Man that doth not tell all the Truth, ought to be hanged for a Clipper.
Half the Truth is often as arrant a Lye, as can be made.
It is the more dexterous, but not the less criminal kind of Lying.
Names.
Names to Men of Sense are no more than Fig-leaves; to the generality they are thick Coverings that hide the Nature of Things from them.
Fools turn Good-Sense upon its Head, they take Names for Things, and Things only for Names.
Partiality.
It is a general Mistake to think the Men we like are good for everything, and those we do not, good for nothing.
Patience.
A Man who is Master of Patience, is Master of every thing else.
He that can tell how to bear in the right Place, is Master of every body he dealeth with.
Positiveness.
Positive is the Perfection of Coxcomb, he is then come to his full Growth.
Prosperity.
It sheweth Mens Nature, that when they are pampered in any kind, they are very apt to play jadish Tricks.
One of the Tricks of any Creature that is wanton, is to kick what is next them.
Quiet.
Every thing that doth us good is so apt to do us hurt too, that it is a strong Argument for Men to be quiet.
If Men would think more, they would act less.
The greatest Part of the Business of the World, is the Effect of not thinking.
Reason and Passion.
Most Men put their Reason out to Service to their Will.
The Master and the Man are perpetually falling out.
A third Man will hazard a beating, if he goes about to part them.
Nothing hath an uglier Look to us than Reason, when it is not of our side.
We quarrel so often with it, that it maketh us afraid to come near it.
A Man that doth not use his Reason, is a tame Beast; a Man that abuses it, is a wild one.
Reputation.
It is a self-flattering Contradiction, that wise Men despise the Opinion of Fools, and yet are proud of having their Esteem.
Self-love.
Self-love rightly defined, is far from being a Fault.
A Man that loveth himself right, will do every thing else right.
Shame.
A Man who doth not think he is punished when he is blamed, is too much hardened to be ever reformed.
The Court of Shame hath of late lost much of its Jurisdiction. It ought by right both to judge in the first Instance, and to exclude all Appeals from it.
Shame is a Disease of the last Age, this seemeth to be cured of it.
Singularity.
Singularity may be good Sense at home, but it must not go much abroad.
It is a Commendation to be that which a crowd of mistaken Fools call Singular.
There can hardly be a severer thing said to a Man in this Age, than that he is like the rest of the World.
Slander.
Slander would not stick, if it had not always something to lay hold of.
A Man who can allow himself the Liberty to slander, hath the World too much at his Mercy.
But the Man that despiseth Slander deserveth it.
Speakers in Publick.
Speakers in Publick should take more Pains to hold in their Invention than to raise it.
Invention is apt to make such Sallies, that it cannot secure its Retreat.
He that will not make a Blot, will be pretty sure in his time to give a Stroke.
A patient Hearer is a sure Speaker.
Men are angry when others do not hear them, yet they have more Reason to be afraid when they do.
Time the loss of it.
Mispending a Man’s time is a kind ofself-homicide, it is making Life to be of no use.
Truth.
Truth is not only stifled by Ignorance, but concealed out of Caution or Interest; so if it had not a Root of Immortality, it must have been long since extinguished.
Wisdom.
The most useful Part of Wisdom is for a Man to give a good guess, what others think of him.
It is a dangerous thing to guess partially, and a melancholy thing to guess right.
Nothing would more contribute to make a Man wise, than to have always an Enemy in his view.
A wise Man may have more Enemies than a weak one, but he will not so much feel the weight of them. Indeed the being wise doth either make Men our Friends, or discourage them from being our Enemies.
Wisdom is only a comparative Quality, it will not bear a single Definition.
Youth.
A Man hath too little Heat, or Wit, or Courage, if he hath not sometimes more than he should.
Just enough of a good thing is always too little.
Long Life giveth more Marks to shoot at, and therefore old Men are less well thought of, than those who have not been so long upon the Stage.
Other Mens Memories retain the ill, whilst the good Things done by an old Man, easily slip out of them.
Old Men have in some degree their Reprisals upon younger, by making nicer Observations upon them, by virtue of their Experience.
FINIS.
Footnotes:
[1]Upon the Words of his Declaration.
[2]Two Papers in Defence of theRoman CatholickReligion, found in this King’s strong Box, in his own hand, and published by KingJamesII. afterwards.
[3]The Dutchess ofPortsmouth.