At ball or concert, rout or play;
Whilst, far from fashion's idle noise,
Her gilded domes, and trappings gay,
I while the wintry eve away,—
'Twixt book and lute the hours divide
And marvel how I e'er could stray
From thee—my own Fireside!
594
(Spent as soon as got.)
595
Did we not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never hurt us.
596
Boswell: "No quality will get a man more friends than a disposition to admire the qualities of others. I do not mean flattery, but a sincere admiration." Johnson: "Nay, Sir, flattery pleases very generally. In the first place, the flatterer may think what he says to be true; but in the second place, whether he thinks so or not, he certainly thinks those whom he flatters of consequence enough to be flattered."
597
Flowers.—These children of the meadows, born of sunshine and of showers!
598
Flowers.—Pretty daughters of the Earth and Sun.
599
What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile—a feast without a welcome Are not flowers the stars of the earth? and are not the stars we see at night the flowers of heaven?
600
Enjoys the air it breathes.
601
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
602
The gift of one who cared for me;
A little flower—a faded flower,
But it was done reluctantly.
603
Flowers are the pledges of fruit.
604
He who gives advice to a fool, beats the air with a stick.
605
None is a fool always, everyone sometimes.
606
Infallible Test.—A theological student, supposed to be deficient in judgment, was asked by a professor, in the course of a class examination, "Pray, how would you discover a fool?" "By the questions he would ask," was the rather stunning reply.
607
One never needs one's wits so much as when one has to do with a fool.
608
Nothing is so silly as to insist on being the only person who is right.
609
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester.
610
If all fools wore white caps, the majority of us would look like a flock of geese.
611
Young folks tell what they do, old ones what they have done, and the others (fools) what they intend to do.
612
Where force prevails, right perishes.
613
If there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one, it is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn!
614
A FOREST IDYL.
No school of long experience, that the world
Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen
Enough of all its sorrows, crimes and cares
To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood
And view the haunts of Nature. The calm shade
Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze
That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm
To thy sick heart.
615
A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.
616
One of you all that ever from my presence
I have with sadden'd heart unkindly sent,
I here, in meek repentance, of him crave
A brother's hand, in token of forgiveness.
617
Than for the offender to ask it.
618
THE ALTERNATIVES.
A gentleman went to a friend, in great anger at a real injury he had received, which he intended to resent. After relating the particulars, he enquired if it would not be manly to resent it? His friend replied, "Yes; it would doubtless be manly to resent it, but it would be godlike to forgive it."
619
FORGIVENESS.
Forgiveness—'tis the attribute of God—
From human lips that bless'd word, Forgive;
Thrice happy he whose heart has been so schooled
That he can give it utterance; it imparts
Celestial grandeur to the human soul,
And maketh man an angel.
620
We forgive just as long as we love.
621
FORGIVE.
Which time will not repair?
Is hatred still a lurking guest
To intercept thy prayer?
"Forgive, and thou shalt be forgiven"
Is the decree of heaven.
Was asked our gracious Lord,
List to his answer, heed and live,
"Seventy times seven" 's His word.
"Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven;"
Doubt not the word of heaven.
622
He that cannot forgive others, breaks down the bridge over which he must pass himself, for every one has need to be forgiven.
623
The world never forgives; it is only God and our mothers that can do that.
624
Forgiveness that covers only part of the wrong, is like two fingers given in a handshake.
625
SUPPOSE YOU TRY FORGIVENESS.
The story is told of a British soldier who had broken every rule of the army and on whom every form of punishment had been inflicted without avail. He sinned again. His commanding officer was in despair as to what should be done. A fellow officer said, "Suppose you try forgiveness." The guilty soldier was summoned. On being asked what he had to say in palliation of his offense, he hung his head and replied: "Nothing, except I'm very sorry." "Well," said the officer, "We have decided to forgive you." The culprit looked dazed, burst into tears, saluted, and went out to become one of the best soldiers in the army.
626
Individuals sometimes forgive, but bodies and societies never do.
627
Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune.
628
The continuance of good fortune forms no ground of ultimate security.
629
Fortune gives too much to many, but to none enough.
630
Good-fortune comes to some people while they are asleep, i. e., without their seeking it.
631
Good fortune that comes seldom, comes more welcome.
632
How often it is, in the twinkling of an eye one vicissitude of fortune follows another.
633
That which we acquire with most difficulty, we retain the longest; as those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.
634
Fortune knocks once at least at every one's door.
635
If fortune favors you, do not be too elated; if she frowns, do not despond too much.
636
Manners often make fortunes.
637
May strip you bare as beggary itself.
638
The Result of Fortune:—The generality of men sink in virtue as they rise in fortune.
639
Don't live in hope with your arms folded. Fortune smiles on those who roll up their sleeves and put their shoulders to the wheel.
640
But, when she fled, a friend I could not see.
641
GOD IN THE HEART.
Collins, the freethinker, met a plain countryman going to church. He asked him where he was going. "To church sir." "What to do there?" "To worship God." "Pray, whether is your God a great or little God?" "He is both, sir." "How can He be both?" "He is so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, and so little that He can dwell in my heart." Collins declared that this simple answer had an effect upon his mind such as all the volumes which learned men had written against him had not.
642
The bird once out of hand is hard to recover.
643
FREEDOM WEEPS.
Strong minds, stout hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office cannot kill,
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy,
Men who possess opinion and a will,
Men who have honor, men who will not lie,
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And scorn his treacherous flatteries without winking,
Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble with their thumb worn creeds,
Their large professions, and their little deeds
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps!
644
He who attacks an absent friend, or who does not defend him when spoken ill of by another—that man is a dark character; beware of him.
645
Be my friend, and teach me to be thine!
646
TIMON'S SOLILOQUY.
Is with me, like a flattering friend.
But chiefly when the sun in June
Is climbing to its highest noon,
My fond attendant closes near,
As I were growing still more dear;
And then, to show its love complete,
Falls even servile at my feet,
Where, proud of place, it scarcely nods
Before the temple of the Gods.
But when the evening sun descends,
It seems to seek for other friends,
Making a dial of the town,
To tell that Timon's day goes down;
And when the stormy night comes on,
I look, and lo! my shade is—gone.
647
The hand of an old friend!
648
If you want enemies, excel others; if you want friends, let others excel you.
649
A man may have a thousand intimate acquaintances and not a friend among them all. If you have one friend, think yourself happy.
650
Go slowly to the entertainment of your friends, but quickly to their misfortunes.
651
LEAVE A FRIEND.
Leave a friend! So base I am not. I followed him in his prosperity, when the skies were clear and shining, and will not leave him when storms begin to rise; as gold is tried by the furnace, and the baser metal is shown, so the hollow-hearted friend is known by adversity.
652
Do not lose sight of old attachments for the sake of making new friendships.
653
A man who is fond of disputing, will, in time, have few friends to dispute with.
654
AN OLD RHYME.
By both I set great store;
I lent my money to my friend,
He was my friend no more.
As I had once before,
I'd keep my money to myself,
And lose my friend no more.
655
Love him. Yes, and let him know
That you love him, ere life's evening
Tinge his brow with sunset glow;
Why should good words ne'er be said
Of a friend till he is dead?
656
It is more dishonorable to distrust a friend than to be deceived by him.
657
No life is so strong and complete, But it sometimes yearns for the smile of a friend.
658
He was never a friend who ceased to be so—for a slight cause.
659
A friend cannot be known in prosperity; and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity.
660
When a friend asks, there should be no tomorrow.
661
The best mirror is an old friend.
662
I am not of that feather to shake off my friend when he must need me. I do know him, a gentleman that well deserves a help, which he shall have: I'll pay the debt and free him.
663
A cut or slight from a foe or stranger, may be scarred over, but a stab from a friend you love hardly ever heals.
664
He that telleth thee that thou art always wrong, may be deceived; but he that saith that thou art always right, is surely not telling the truth.
665
No man can be happy without a friend, nor be sure of his friend till he is unfortunate.
666
He that ceases to be a friend never was a good one.
667
A FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER.
668
If you wink at your friend's vices you make them your own.
669
Without a friend the world is but a wilderness.
670
Absolute friends are very rare.
671
Friends, but few on earth, and therefore dear.
672
It is to chance we owe our relatives, to choice our friends.
673
Equals make the best friends.
674
False friends are like our shadows, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade.
675
There are plenty acquaintances in the world, but very few real friends.
676
By my skill I have got many acquaintances, my manners very many friends.
677
Friends are lost by calling often, and calling seldom.
678
CHOOSING FRIENDS.
We ought always to make choice of persons of such worth and honor for our friends, that, if they should even cease to be so, they will not abuse our confidence, nor give us cause to fear them as enemies.
679
Let us make the best of our friends while we have them, for how long we shall keep them is uncertain.
680
To find one good, you must a hundred try.
681
Friends are sometimes like titled husbands, easy to get, if you have enough money.
682
Those are silver, these are gold.
683
My treasures are my friends.
684
Without friends, no one would choose to live, even if he had all other good things.
685
Old friends and old ways ought not to be disdained.
686
FRIENDS—PAUCITY OF
Friends, but few on earth, and therefore dear.
687
The poor man's assets are his friends.
688
Purchase not friends by gifts; when thou ceasest to give such will cease to love.
689
RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN.
Baxter said:—"I must confess, as the experience of my own soul, that the expectation of loving my friends in heaven principally kindles my love to them while on earth. If I thought I should never know, and consequently never love them after this life, I should number them with temporal things, and love them as such; but I now delightfully converse with my pious friends, in a firm persuasion that I shall converse with them forever; and I take comfort in those that are dead or absent, believing that I shall shortly meet them in heaven, and love them with a heavenly love."
690
A gift kept back where it was hoped, often separateth chief friends.
691
Strange to say,—I am the only one of my friends I can rely upon.
692
There is no living without friends.
693
True friends anticipate each other's wants.
694
Friends are sometimes like mushrooms, they spring up in out-of-the-way places.
695
At the gate of abundance there are many brothers and friends; at the gate of misfortune there is neither brother nor friend.
696
It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell a man of his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see the stain of sin upon him, and to go to him alone and speak painful truths in touching, tender words,—that is friendship, and a friendship as rare as it is precious.
697
Henceforth there shall be no other contention betwixt you and me, than which shall outdo the other in point of friendship.
698
Cultivate your neighbor's friendship; he needs you and you need him.
699
But love, in friendship
—Never.
700
Renewed friendships require more care than those that have never been broken.
701
Need for making Acquaintance.—If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man should keep his friendship in constant repair.
702
Suspicion kills friendship.
703
Is judg'd a partner in the trade.
704
The sense of friendship, or of love!
705
There is truly nothing purer and warmer than our first friendship, our first love.
706
The permanency of most friendships depends upon the continuity of good fortune.
707
Quickly made friendships, are often eagerly and quickly ended.
708
FRIENDSHIP—RARITY OF.
Rare is true love: true friendship is still rarer.
709
Real friendship is like a sheltering tree.
710
He is my friend that helps me, and not he that pities me.
711
To soothe affliction in her darkest hour.
712
Whose flattering leaves, that shadow'd us in
Our prosperity, with the least gust drop off
In th' autumn of adversity!
713
THE HIGHER FRIENDSHIP.
Love Him, and keep Him for thy Friend, who, when all go away, will not forsake thee, nor suffer thee to perish at the last.
714
True friendship is one of the greatest blessings upon earth; it makes the cares and anxieties of life sit easy; provides us with a partner in every affliction to alleviate the burthen, and is a sure resort against every accident and difficulty that can happen.
715
True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.
716
Those who speak always and those who never speak, are equally unfit for friendship.
717
He who never gives advice, and he who never takes it are alike unworthy of friendship.
718
He who is worthy of friendship at all will remember in his prosperity those who were his friends in his adversity.
719
Value the friendship of him who stands by you in a storm; swarms of insects will surround you in the sunshine.
720
No matter how poor and mean a man is, his friendship is worth more than his hate.
721
Good fruit never comes from a bad tree.
722
There is nothing like fun, is there? I haven't any myself, but I do like it in others.
723
Groping for the Door.—O door, so close, yet so far off!
724
If you would have your name chime melodiously in the ears of future days, cultivate faith, and not doubt, giving unto every man credit for the good he does, and never attribute base motives to beautiful acts.
725
Future:—The future does not come from before to meet us, but comes streaming up from behind over our heads.
726
Future—to be met without Fear:—Look not mournfully into the past,—it comes not back again; wisely improve the present,—it is thine; go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear, and with a manly heart.
G
727
One thing obtained with difficulty is far better than a hundred things procured with ease.
728
Gain, has oft, with treacherous hopes led men to ruin.