,,desultory ,,thoughts ,,and ,,reflections4 ,vivere cogitare est4 ,life is measured but by thoughts and affections4 ,they are the sun that shadows the dial4 ,,new-,,york3 ,printed by ,j4 ,p4 ,,wright1 #ah ,new ,street4 ,,desultory ,,thoughts ,,and ,,reflections4 ,,by ,,the ,,countess ,,of ,,blessington4 ,,new-,,york3 ,,published ,,by ,,wiley ,,and ,,putnam1 ,no4 #afa ,broadway4 #ahci4 ,,desultory ,,thoughts ,,and ,,reflections4 ,,knowledge ,,of ,,life4 ,a profound knowledge of life is the least enviable of all species of knowledge1 because it can only be acquired by trials that make us regret the loss of our ignorance4 ,,being ,,understood4 ,when we find that we are not liked1 we assert that we are not understood2 when probably the dislike we have excited proceeds from our being too fully comprehended4 ,,sacrifices4 ,some persons are capable of making great sacrifices1 but few are capable of concealing how much the effort has cost them2 and it is this concealment that constitutes their value4 ,,music4 ,music often awakens long sleeping echoes in the soul2 and1 though never heard before1 seems familiar to the ear1 as some voice1 loved in childhood1 remembered in a dream4 ,,minds4 ,some minds may be said to resemble musical instruments3 they possess powers1 and if judiciously touched1 give forth sweet sounds4 ,,lovers4 ,ninon de ,l',enclos observes1 that 8if a man gives a woman wealth1 it is only a proof of his generosity2 but that if he gives her his time1 it is a proof of his love40 ,this1 however1 cannot be considered as a conclusive proof1 for1 in giving their time1 many men bestow that which is of no value to themselves or others4 ,,love ,,and ,,enthusiasm4 ,love and enthusiasm are always ridiculous1 when not reciprocated by their objects4 ,,path ,,of ,,life4 ,spontaneously1 we render the path of life a weary one1 and plant all the thorns that obstruct it3 while the few stray flowers that cheer us1 arise in some extraneous and contingent agency4 ,,minds4 ,the minds of the young resemble new wine in a state of fermentation and effervescence2 but the minds of the mature resemble old wine1 which has lost its fiery particles1 and retains only its strength and raciness4 ,,knowledge ,,of ,,the ,,world4 ,the knowledge of the world that enables us to escape from errors1 can only be acquired by an experience which costs us many of our most cherished illusions4 ,,character ,,of ,,man4 ,as storm following storm1 and wave succeeding wave1 give additional hardness to the shell that encloses the pearl1 so do the storms and waves of life add force to the character of man4 ,,precocious ,,wisdom4 ,precocious wisdom is not desirable for youth1 lest1 like the rash blossom which ventures forth too early1 it should be nipped ere it has strength to resist adversity4 ,,strength ,,of ,,mind4 ,by relying on our own resources1 we acquire mental strength2 but1 when we lean on others for support1 we are like an invalid1 who1 having accustomed himself to a crutch1 finds it difficult to walk without one4 ,,contemplation4 ,contemplation displays to us the past events of our lives1 which1 during their occurrence1 we saw not2 as a calm clear day shows us the rocks and wrecks of the sea1 which we discovered not while tossed on the turbulent surface of the waters4 ,,philosophy ,,and ,,religion4 ,philosophy was a boon bestowed by ,reason to console mankind for the inevitable misfortunes of life1 but being found insufficient for the task1 she granted the blessing of ,religion1 a younger1 a more gentle1 and infallible consoler4 ,,politeness4 ,a substitute for goodness of heart4 ,,conscience4 ,a starving man1 who committed theft1 was asked by a pious person if his conscience had not cried out to him to forbear4 8,alas60 replied he1 8if it did1 the cries of my stomach were so much louder1 that they prevented me from hearing those of conscience40 ,,presentiments4 ,presentiments are the heart's prophecies2 for the heart is a sibyl deeply skilled in all the mysteries of her own realm4 ,,youth ,,and ,,age4 ,youth resembles a ,claude ,lorraine glass1 which imparts to all objects its own beautiful tints2 but age is like a magnifying lens1 which leaves no defect unseen4 ,,confidences4 ,confidences are more frequently reposed in persons through a want of discretion1 than from excess of friendship1 and are oftener betrayed through incontinency of speech than from motives of treachery4 ,,common ,,mistakes4 ,the common herd of mankind mistake anarchy for liberty1 ostentation for generosity1 passion for love1 and vanity for pride2 yet how widely different are they all6 ,,judgment ,,of ,,women ,,on ,,men4 ,women are prone to judge their lovers' hearts ,but by their own1 which little semblance hath ,with man's rough nature4 ,hence they love them for ,the qualities they give them--not for those ,they have1 which rarely merit to be loved4 ,,love4 ,love in ,france is a comedy2 in ,england a tragedy2 in ,italy an opera seria2 and in ,germany a melodrame4 ,,gratitude4 ,gratitude was fancifully said to be the memory of the heart2 but1 alas6 for poor human nature1 hearts are more than suspected to have wondrous short memories4 ,,men ,,and ,,women4 ,a woman's head is always influenced by her heart2 but a man's heart is generally influenced by his head4 ,,life4 ,life would be as insupportable without the prospect of death1 as it would be without sleep4 ,,maturity4 ,it is in maturity1 when the passions are calmed1 and ,reason exerts her influence1 that the attachments we form possess the most stability4 ,we expect less1 and pardon more4 ,the disappointments we have experienced teach us to value what we have attained1 even while regretting what we have lost4 ,,the ,,poetry ,,of ,,life4 ,the poetry of our lives is1 like our religion1 kept apart from our every-day thoughts2 neither influence us as they ought4 ,we should be wiser and happier1 if1 instead of secluding them in some secret shrine in our hearts1 we suffered their humanising qualities to temper our habitual words and actions4 ,,honour ,,and ,,chastity4 ,honour is the peculiar and essential virtue of men1 and chastity that of women2 both are lost1 if these qualities are impeached4 ,,society4 ,society punishes not the vices of its members1 but their detection2 like the ,spartans1 who punished the discovery of theft1 and not the crime4 ,,ideas4 ,a man with a vast number of ideas1 without strong power of reasoning1 resembles a general incapable of directing his troops4 ,,selfish ,,men4 ,the selfish man believes that by closing his heart against his fellows1 and centering in self every thought and feeling1 he escapes much suffering4 ,but his egotistical calculations are invariably defeated2 for his contracted sympathies being all directed to one focus1 he so aggravates the ills he endures1 that he expends on self alone more painful pity than the most enthusiastic philanthropist devotes to mankind4 ,,illusions4 ,each illusion that dies gives birth to a posthumous one1 which we believe to be less perishable than its predecessor1 until we see it similarly fade and expire4 ,,happiness4 ,happiness1 like youth and health1 is rarely appreciated until it is past4 ,,solitude4 ,in solitude we retain our own faults2 but in society we superadd those of others4 ,,severity ,,to ,,others4 ,some people seem to consider the severity of their censures on the errors of others as an atonement for their own4 ,,youth4 ,when youth has fled the furrowed brow1 ,and we no more can trace it now ,beaming in every outward part2 ,where is its refuge8--in the heart2 ,yes1 there it dwells more glowing--warm1 ,than when it lent exterior charm1 ,keeping alive affection's fire1 ,though it no more can love inspire4 ,,happiness4 ,happiness consists1 not in having much1 but in being content with little4 ,,hatred4 ,we injure ourselves more than our enemies1 by indulging hatred towards them4 ,,memory4 ,from out the grave of every friend we loved ,springs up a flower 7as fabulists relate ,arose from the red stream of ,ajax' wound17 ,memory 'tis named1 and watered by our tears1 ,it lives and grows1 until its fibres strike ,into the heart1 nor leave it until death4 ,,amusing ,,men4 ,we never respect those who amuse us1 however we may smile at their comic powers4 ,a considerable distinction exists between the amusing and the entertaining man3 we laugh with one1 but reflect with the other4 ,,truth4 ,monarchs seldom hear truth until too late to derive profit from its knowledge4 ,,courage4 ,courage defends the honour of man1--modesty guards that of woman4 ,,bores4 ,people who talk of themselves1 when you are thinking only of yourself4 ,,sympathy4 ,each thought of mine an echo found in his3 ,our minds were like two mirrors placed on walls ,fronting each other1 and reflecting back ,the self-same objects1--such is sympathy4 ,,pleasure4 ,pleasure is like a cordial--a little of it is not injurious1 but too much destroys4 ,,friends4 ,friends are the thermometers by which we may judge the temperature of our fortunes4 ,,idea4 ,ideas are the seeds of thought1 but they do not produce flowers unless the soil where they are sown is fertile4 ,,aristocracy4 ,the aristocracy are prone to ridicule the elevation of men of the middle class to high official situations1 not reflecting that it is easier to transmute men of talents into gentlemen than it is to convert mere gentlemen into men of talents4 ,,want ,,of ,,thought4 8,j'crirais assez bien si je savais penser10 was the confession of a ,french writer2 one which might with truth be repeated by the greater part of modern authors1 in whose works we find a superfluity of words1 and a paucity of ideas4 ,it is as though they wrote to avoid thought1 instead of revealing and engendering it4 ,their works resemble certain trees1 on which is found an abundance of leaves1 but little fruit4 ,,wisdom4 ,wisdom is e'er the harbinger of death4 ,it comes not till it long has been invoked1 ,to wean us gently from the world's vain joys ,and show the yawning grave that waits for us4 ,,admiration4 ,those who are formed to win general admiration1 are seldom calculated to bestow individual happiness4 ,,virtue4 ,virtue1 like a dowerless beauty1 has more admirers than followers4 ,,forgiveness4 ,forgiveness of injuries is apt to draw on the forgiver a repetition of wrongs1 as people reason thus3 8,if he has forgiven so much1 he can forgive more40 ,,trials4 ,the spirit in which we receive trials either increases or diminishes their bitterness3 fortitude and resignation disarm them of their sharpest darts2 while anger and vindictiveness only augment their poignancy4 ,,principles4 ,a man without principles is like a ship without a compass4 ,,truth4 ,mendaciloquens respects truth so much1 that he seldom approaches it4 ,nay1 you are wrong1 for he is known to take great liberties with it4 ,,an ,,unpopular ,,man4 ,an unpopular man is he who forms few friendships in life2 but1 en revanche1 cultivates many enmities4 ,,time4 ,time1 fell destroyer of all earthly good1 ,sworn foe to beauty1 innocence1 and joy1 ,thou leav'st us nought but dull and sad experience1 ,whichever comes when we no longer need it1 ,and keeps aloof when we require its aid4 ,,knowledge4 ,knowledge should be acquired gradually1 and by study2 for the superficial knowledge which is the result of the promiscuous and unregulated adoption of the discoveries of others1 affects the mind1 as the sudden removal of a person with weak eyes from a darkened room into a blaze of light1 does the sight1--it overpowers and confuses4 ,,love4 ,love cannot exist in the heart of woman unless modesty is its companion1 nor in that of man unless honour is its associate4 ,,vices4 ,the vices of the rich and great are mistaken for errors2 and those of the poor and lowly1 for crimes4 ,,virtue4 ,virtue should virtuous seem1 nor wear a mask ,of levity1 as giddy maids put on ,at carnivals1 showing unchaste exterior1 ,though innocence doth still reside within4 ,,ingratitude4 ,so inherent is ingratitude in man1 that it is chiefly in affliction that he lifts his soul to his ,creator2 in joy and prosperity1 he is prone to forget ,him4 ,,balm ,,for ,,misfortunes4 ,to sleep by night and dream by day is the balm of misfortune4 ,,society4 ,those can most easily dispense with society who are the most calculated to adorn it2 they only are dependent on it who possess no mental resources2 for though they bring nothing to the general mart1 like beggars1 they are too poor to stay at home4 ,,courage4 ,many people mistake audacity for courage1 yet they are dissimilar4 ,catiline was audacious1 and ,csar courageous4 ,,superstition4 ,as darkness encourages the growth of reptiles1 so1 in an inverse manner1 do the creatures of superstition promote the growth of darkness4 ,,self-,,examination4 ,let us call back our long departed years1 ,and ask if we employed them as we ought4 ,will they not tell a most reproachful tale1 ,of wasted hours1 of blessings never prized ,till lost1 and then ungratefully resigned1 ,with murmurs1 and not thanks1 that they were lent4 ,,society4 ,those who suffer their happiness to depend on the futile pleasures of society1 instead of the resources of their own minds1 resemble birds1 who1 with the power of soaring into the pure regions of the sky1 descend1 and loiter amid the dust of the earth1 at the risk of being snared or destroyed by every vagrant urchin4 ,,imagination4 ,the heart is often made answerable for the follies of the imagination4 ,,flowers4 ,some flowers absorb the rays of the sun so strongly1 that in the evening they yield slight phosphoric flashes4 ,may we not compare the minds of poets to these flowers1 which1 imbibing light1 emit it again in a different form and aspect8 ,,sorrow4 ,sorrow and time can teach what nought else teaches1 ,more than philosopher or priest e'er preaches4 ,,truth ,,and ,,physic4 ,truth and physic1 two unpalatable things1 never well received1 though administered with a good intention4 ,,cunning ,,and ,,vanity4 ,cunning is a substitute for wisdom1 adopted by the weak of intellect1 as vanity is for pride4 ,,precocious ,,wisdom4 ,precocious wisdom is almost as much to be deprecated for youth as the premature maladies of age4 ,neither should arrive before the proper season1 as their presence indicates constitutional debility4 ,,sceptics4 ,sceptics1 like dolphins1 change when dying4 ,,scandal4 ,scandal is the offspring of envy and malice--nursed by society1 and cultivated by disappointment4 ,,the ,,selfish ,,man4 ,the selfish man may be compared to those antediluvian forests in the wilds of ,america which are nourished by their own dead leaves2 in like manner does he feed on those feelings which ought to be devoted to the promotion of the general good4 ,,female ,,education4 ,the whole system of female education tends more to instruct women to allure1 than to repel2 yet how infinitely more essential is the latter art6 ,as rationally might the military disciplinarian limit his tuition to the mode of assault1 leaving his soldiery in entire ignorance of the tactics of defence4 ,,superstition4 ,superstition is but the fear of belief3 religion is the confidence4 ,,society ,,and ,,solitude4 ,in society we learn to know others1 but in solitude we acquire a knowledge of self4 ,,happiness4 ,we are so little formed for happiness1 that1 if the present offers nothing to mar it1 we look back to the past1 or forward to the future1 for some subject of chagrin4 ,,authors4 ,an author should be judged of by his works1 rather than by his conversation2 for the latter takes its colour from those with whom he converses2 whereas his writings1 being the fruit of solitude1 bear the tint only of his own mind4 ,,ambitious ,,people4 ,there are no persons capable of stooping so low as those who desire to rise in the world4 ,,iconoclast4 ,darus was a matter-of-fact man1--a moral iconoclast1 who waged war against every image the fancy presented4 ,,patience4 ,patience is a plant of slow growth1 but it bears precious fruit1 and is the only palliation in affliction4 ,,envy4 ,it is easier to pardon the faults than the virtues of our friends2 because the first excite in us a self-complacency always agreeable2 and the second1 a sense of humiliation1 which makes us dislike the inflictor4 ,,vice ,,and ,,virtue4 ,vice is sometimes more courageous than virtue1 because it has less to lose4 ,,forgiveness ,,of ,,enemies4 ,we more frequently pardon injuries from forgetfulness of them than from generosity2 and many enemies are reconciled more through weakness of memory than goodness of heart4 ,,faith4 ,it is when we most suffer that we most believe the existence of that ,power which can wound or heal4 ,,infirmities ,,of ,,genius4 ,the infirmities of genius are often mistaken for its privileges4 ,,indulgence ,,towards ,,others4 ,if we examined our own faults attentively1 we should have less time to detect1 and more inclination to pardon1 those of others4 ,,affections4 ,the affections of some hearts resemble the sacred ,indian tree1 whose pendant branches make themselves a root and a tie to the earth4 ,,appetite4 ,the rich suffer from want of appetite1 the poor from excess4 ,,pardon4 ,great injuries pardoned preclude the enjoyment of happiness between the pardoner and pardoned2 for the one is vested with a superiority that wounds the self-love of the other1 who1 though he may admire the generosity of him who forgives1 can love him no more4 ,,society4 ,people use in society a set of commonplace subjects and thoughts1 which they exchange1 as they expend the small coin with which they have provided their purses for the day2 reserving deep feeling1 and elevated sentiments1 for home consumption1 as they reserve their wealth for themselves1 rather than for their friends4 ,,fame4 ,high fame's a target1 at which all let fly ,the darts of envy4 ,who can miss a mark ,that seems but rear'd to tempt a practised hand1 ,off'ring the aim that most allures mankind8 ,,fortitude ,,and ,,resignation4 ,fortitude enables us to encounter trials1 and resignation to bear them4 ,the brave man possesses fortitude1 but the ,christian only has resignation4 ,,faults4 ,we are more prone to murmur at the punishment of our faults than to lament them4 ,,forgiveness4 ,forgiveness is a salve for the wounds inflicted by unkindness2 while rancour but serves to keep them unhealed4 ,,polished ,,men4 ,the society of polished men1 like smooth1 even roads1 renders the journey of life more easy and agreeable1 but that of unpolished men1 like rough roads1 makes all its ruts and inequalities painfully felt4 ,,resignation4 ,resignation is sometimes mistaken for happiness1 though never found until its death4 ,,anger4 ,anger banishes reflection1 but its consequences recall it4 ,,society4 8,be prosperous and happy1 never require our services1 and we will remain your friends40 ,this is not what society says1 but it is the principle on which it acts4 ,,life4 ,life is to the unhappy as a prison1 from whose gloom they cannot escape3 while to the happy1 it resembles a vast palace filled with all that can delight4 ,the prison may be rendered endurable by resignation2 but the palace loses some of its bright colouring and gilding every day1 until nought but faded remnants of its pristine beauty remain4 ,,futurity4 ,one of the best gifts of ,providence is the veil that conceals futurity4 ,,dust4 ,no dust affects the eyes so much as gold dust4 ,,false ,,wit4 ,false wit1 like false money1 only passes current with those who have no means of comparison4 ,,politics4 ,such is the tergiversation in politics at present1 that politicians should say with regard to them1 what ,voltaire said of systems3 8,il faut toujours se reserver le droit de rire le lendemain de ses ides de la veille40 ,,fame4 ,fame is like truth--still questioned and denied1 ,the more 'tis obvious1 yet survives its foes4 ,,love ,,and ,,jealousy4 ,love often re-illumes his extinguished flame in the torch of jealousy4 ,,luxuries4 ,our luxuries and pleasures are the chains that civilization throws around us to attach us to earth4 ,the coarse-minded submit to wear them1 forgetting that man was formed for nobler ends1 but the elevated and refined cast them off1 and aspire to a purer existence4 ,,love4 ,humboldt notices that the streams in ,america run languidly in the night1 and await the rising of the sun to quicken their flight4 ,love is to the heart what the sun is to the ,american streams--it moves languidly in its absence4 ,,short ,,memories4 ,there are no memories so short as those of the parvenu1 and the ungrateful man2 the first forgets himself1 and the second his friends4 ,,despotism ,,and ,,democracy4 ,despotism subjects a nation to one tyrant2 democracy1 to many4 ,,demoralisation4 ,one of the most marked characteristics of our day is a reckless neglect of principles1 and a rigid adherence to their semblance4 ,,society4 ,society rarely pardons those who have discovered the emptiness of its pleasures1 and who can live independent of it and them4 ,,associates4 ,we herd with the gay in our days of happiness1 but turn to the sympathising when misfortune overtakes us3 as we seek the festive hall in our hours of mirth1 and fly to the solitude of our chamber in those of sorrow4 ,,respect4 ,we are never so jealous of the respect of others as when we have forfeited our own4 ,,satire4 ,satire often proceeds less from ill-nature than from the desire of displaying wit4 ,,style4 ,to praise the style of an author more than his thoughts1 is like commending a woman for her dress more than for her person4 ,style1 like dress1 should be appropriate1 and not detract attention from what it was meant to adorn4 ,,declaimers ,,against ,,the ,,world4 ,they declaim most against the world who have most sinned against it2 as people generally abuse those whom they have injured4 ,,rough ,,men4 ,rough men have all their seams on the outside2 and they rub against and incommode those who come in contact with them4 ,,faith4 ,we are more prone to persecute others for their faith than to make sacrifices to prove our own4 ,,reason4 ,reason dissipates the illusions of life1 but does not console us for their departure4 ,,sorrow4 ,sorrow is to youth what experience is to maturity4 ,,revolutions4 ,revolutions are like earthquakes3 if they overturn much that is faulty1 they destroy also much that is good4 ,,destiny4 ,destiny is a phantom of our own creation1 like the monsters children first imagine1 and then fear4 ,,philosophy4 ,socrates termed philosophy the preparation for death2 but should it not rather be styled the patient endurance of life8 ,,bon ,,mots4 ,it was said of ----1 that his conversation was a tissue of bon mots3 8,yes10 said ----1 8but remember1 it has nothing but bon mots1 and though a few spangles may ornament a dress1 a garment wholly covered with them is fatiguing to the eye40 ,,virtue4 ,the virtue that repels by its severity1 makes few converts2 but that which attracts by its charity1 incites all to esteem1 if not to follow its precepts4 ,,kings ,,and ,,beauties4 ,kings never hear the voice of truth until they are dethroned2 nor beauties1 until they have abdicated their charms4 ,,flowers4 ,flowers are the bright remembrancers of youth3 ,they waft back with their bland and odorous breath ,the joyous hours that only young life knows1 ,ere we have learned that this fair earth hides graves4 ,they bring the cheek that's mouldering in the dust ,again before us1 tinged with health's own rose2 ,they bring the voices we shall hear no more1 ,whose tones were sweetest music to our ears2 ,they bring the hopes that faded one by one1 ,till nought was left to light our path but faith1 ,that we too1 like the flowers1 should spring to life1 ,but not1 like them again1 e'er fade or die4 ,,age4 ,it is strange that when youth gives us the prospect of a long life1 we seldom think of rationally providing for its enjoyment2 but when the term of it has been abridged by the flight of its best years1 we become anxious to secure the comforts of the brief portion that remains to us4 ,,poets4 ,poets1 it has been said1 form the aristocracy of intelligence2 they are also the chemists of sentiment1 who analyse and purify it4 ,,passion4 ,some minds are formed to mount1 with eagle wing1 ,above the common herd--content to dwell ,without a wish beyond the joys of sense1 ,till love1 resistless love1 assails their hearts1 ,and now no longer soaring o'er the crowd1 ,lark-like1 they build their nests upon the earth4 ',tis thus that passion ever brings us down1 ,making our minds' wings--thoughts--of no avail4 ,,revolutions4 ,sober-minded people prefer enduring the evils of a despotism which they know1 to risking those of a subversion on whose consequences they cannot calculate4 ,despotism pursues her course orderly and systematically1 while ,sedition hurries along1 sweeping away with much that is bad still more that is estimable4 ,,modesty4 ,modesty1 the attendant of virtue1 is frequently mistaken for shame1 which is one of the attributes of vice4 ,,cunning4 ,cunning is the poor substitute for wisdom which weak minds adopt2 but it is like the counterfeit which the forger strives to pass for the pure coin4 ,,politeness4 ,nothing is more dissimilar than natural and acquired politeness4 ,the first consists in a willing abnegation of self2 the second1 in a compelled recollection of others4 ,,great ,,men4 ,mountains appear more lofty1 the nearer they are approached2 but great men1 to retain their altitude1 must only be viewed from a distance4 ,,mourners4 ,it is surprising that a regulation has not been made to exclude persons in the garb of mourning from scenes of gaiety1 lest the sombre hue of their dress give rise to sadness2 but probably the omission has proceeded from a consciousness1 that the spectators are as little moved by the trappings of grief as the wearers by the sentiment4 ,,fortune4 ,the wheel of fortune being guided by a blind goddess1 often runs into deep ruts1 and thus casts up what is impure4 ,,men ,,of ,,genius4 ,men of genius1 who hold out lights to mankind1 are used by them as are the ,moccoli bearers at the ,roman carnival by the populace2 each of whom strives first to illume his torch in theirs1 and then to extinguish it4 ,,generous ,,and ,,selfish ,,minds4 ,a generous mind identifies itself with all around2 but a selfish one identifies all things with self4 ,,friends4 ,our friends always wish us to be something which we are not2 it is only our enemies that wish us to remain as we are4 ,,prejudices4 ,prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart4 ,,appearances4 ,we are judged not by the virtues we possess1 but by the indications of them which we assume4 ,like the style adopted for epistolary usage1 in which we sign ourselves the obedient servants of persons we have no value for1 so the semblance of virtue imposes on many1 and satisfies all4 ,,pleasures4 ,pleasures are like those mountains which charm us when beheld from a distance2 but lose all the beauty of their deceitful hue when approached near4 ,,conceit4 ,it is usually the most conceited people who take offence at the affectation of others4 ,,friends4 ,friends1 like wine1 require to be kept before use4 ,,gratitude4 ,gratitude is a prospective1 rather than a retrospective virtue4 ,,virtue4 ,we seldom attain virtue until we have been purified by affliction--as only martyrs become saints4 ,,judgment ,,of ,,works4 ,the frame of mind in which we read a work1 often influences our judgment of it4 ,the predominant feeling of the moment colours all that we read2 and we are often surprised on a second perusal1 to find no longer either the merits or defects which we supposed it to contain4 ,,ambition4 ,as the pearl1 which is the object of universal admiration1 is produced by the disease of the oyster1 so do many of the most illustrious actions originate in that mental disease1--an overweening ambition4 ,,genius4 ,men of genius may be said to reside in an illuminated and unapproachable palace of crystal1 which1 while it displays their brightness1 reveals also certain small blemishes1 which are rendered disproportionally conspicuous by the contrast of light2 while ordinary mortals dwell in opaque residences1 in which no ray discloses the grave faults of mediocrity4 ,,knowledge ,,of ,,the ,,world4 ,we betray a profound knowledge of the world1 by withdrawing from it when misfortune assails us4 ,,weak ,,men4 ,a weak man will sustain afflictions that destroy a strong one1 as the willow which yields its pliant branches to the blast escapes the destruction of the oak that resists it4 ,,wit4 ,wit is the lightning of the mind1 reason the sunshine1 and reflection the moonlight2 for as the bright orb of the night owes its lustre to the sun1 so does reflection owe its existence to reason4 ,,virtue4 ,it is more difficult to convince the vicious that virtue exists1 than to persuade the good that it is rare4 ,,works4 ,the works of ,vapidus might be said not to be the overflowing of a full mind1 but the dregs of an exhausted one4 ,,public4 ,we have a reading1 a talking1 and a writing public4 ,when shall we have a thinking8 ,,civilization4 ,civilization begets vices1 but the want of it occasions crimes4 ,,affliction4 ,the first heavy affliction rends the veil of illusion1 and lets us behold the dark side of life4 ,,passions4 ,the passions which have stimulated us to crime1 ultimately die of satiety1 leaving us when too late with a sense of our transgressions1 unmitigated by the artful palliations and delusions which originally conduced to them4 ,,genius4 ,genius is like the eagle which doth make abode in solitude1 and1 perched on high1 looks down forgetful of all meaner birds4 ,,mediocrity4 ,mediocrity is only offensive when accompanied by pretension2 because it then wounds our vanity by implying that it thought itself capable of deceiving us4 ,,philosophy4 ,the philosophy which has not been acquired in society will rarely enable us to resist its injustice2 as a person theoretically taught to swim1 will find his knowledge of little avail if he fall into a river4 ,,good ,,talkers4 ,to be listened to with attention1 and to acquire the reputation of a good talker1 never speak of yourself1 but always in implied praise of those you address1 or in pungent satire of their contemporaries4 ,,premature ,,wisdom4 ,the premature wisdom of youth resembles the forced fruit of our hot-houses3 it looks like the natural production1 but has not its flavour or raciness4 ,,men ,,of ,,genius4 ,how must a neglected man of genius1 conscious of his own powers1 pity those who cannot appreciate him1 and who bestow what is his due on mere pretenders4 ,,popularity4 ,those who have been the idols of the populace1 generally end by becoming its victims2 for the multitude resemble children who build castles of cards1 only for the pleasure of destroying them with a breath4 ,,poor4 ,a term of reproach in ,england1 and of pity in most other countries4 ,,metaphysics4 ,metaphysics1 a science1 the study of which proves that to be incomprehensible which was before only suspected of being so4 ,,prosperity4 ,as the fabled cup of the poet was said to be productive of good or evil1 according to the lip that pressed it1 so is prosperity productive of virtue or vice1 according to the nature of him who possesses it4 ,,flattery4 ,strabo asserts that a species of honey was produced at ,pontus1 which1 owing to the bees having fed on aconite and hemlock1 was poisonous4 ,may we not liken flattery to this poison--sweet1 but destructive8 ,,faults4 ,no human being is exempt from faults nor destitute of virtues4 ,the wicked1 who are many1 will quickly detect the first1 and the good1 who are but few1 will alone discern the second4 ,hence men's faults will always be more known than their virtues4 ,,belief ,,in ,,goodness4 ,we give credit to others for just as much goodness as we ourselves possess4 ,,mere ,,mortals4 ,there are some mortals whose bodies are but as the sepulchres of their dead hearts4 ,,poets ,,and ,,astronomers4 ,poets view nature as a book1 in which they read a language unknown to common minds1 as astronomers regard the heavens and therein discover objects that escape the vulgar ken4 ,,grief4 ,grief is our natural state1 and joy but comes ,like gleams of sunshine in a wint'ry day1 ,showing the darkness of the low'ring clouds ,that threaten to obscure its waning lustre4 ,grief shares our pillow1 colours even our dreams1 ,awakens when we wake1 and through the day ,sits by us1 calling ,mem'ry to her aid1 ,that she1 by whisp'ring of the happy past1 ,may make the gloomy present still more dark4 ,,philosophers4 ,men who expect little enjoyment in life1 and who are therefore not disappointed4 ,,money4 ,money is the direct or indirect cause of nearly all crimes3 by the possession of it the rich are enabled to commit them1 and through the want of it the poor are excited into the adoption of a similar course4 ,,virtue4 ,horne ,tooke said of intellectual philosophy1 that he had become better acquainted with it1 as with the country1 though having sometimes lost his way4 ,may not the same be said of virtue8 for never is it so truly known or appreciated as by those who1 having strayed from its path1 have at length regained it4 ,,qualities4 ,those who are poor in good qualities1 assume their appearance2 as persons who are not sufficiently rich to buy jewels1 procure false ones4 ,,peace ,,of ,,mind4 ,though peace of mind does not constitute happiness1 happiness cannot exist without it2 our serenity being the result of our own exertions1 while our happiness is dependent on others3 hence the reason why it is so rare2 for1 on how few can we count8 ,our wisdom1 therefore1 is best shown in cultivating all that leads to the preservation of this negative blessing1 which1 while we possess it1 will prevent us from ever becoming wholly wretched4 ,,arithmetic4 ,a science differently studied by fathers and sons3 the first generally confining themselves to addition1 and the second to subtraction4 ,,sacrifices4 ,more sacrifices originate in ostentation than generosity4 ,,adversity4 ,as bees can breed no poison1 though they suck the deadliest juices1 so the noble mind1 though forced to drain the cup of misery1 can yield but generous thoughts and noble deeds4 ,,grief4 ,desperate is the grief of him whom prosperity having elated and hardened1 feels the first arrow of affliction strike at his heart1 through the life of the object dearest to him on earth4 ,,solitude4 ,hail1 solitude6 the nurse of high-born thought-- ,the strength'ner of our virtues--the best friend ,to shield us from temptations which await ,where thou art not1 and lead us far from peace4 ,,reflection4 ,if we could bring ourselves to consider self but as a subordinate atom in the great mass that forms the world1 we should perhaps bear our troubles with more equanimity3 but such is our vanity1 that each considers himself the centre of a little world of his own4 ,,melancholy4 ,there are certain hearts in which the germ of melancholy is implanted even in their earliest youth1 and maturity only strengthens it4 ,on such persons1 the inevitable ills of life fall with a weight1 that1 if it crush them not wholly1 leaves them eternally bruised in spirit4 ,,age4 ,if age deprives us of our pleasures1 it also deadens our sense of misfortunes1 by subduing the acuteness of our sensibility4 ,,politeness4 ,politeness may prevent the want of wit and talents from being observed2 but wit and talents cannot prevent the discovery of the want of politeness4 ,,age4 ,oh6 reverence grey hairs--they tell a tale ,of heavy trials1 sore afflictions borne3 ,for none e'er wore these harbingers of death ,without being schooled in all life's bitter truths4 ,,fatality4 ,fatality is another name for misconduct4 ,,qualities4 ,there are some qualities in our natures rendered noxious or innoxious by their encounter with others1--just as various medicines lose or receive power by an intermixture4 ,,storms4 ,storms in the heart generally make a wreck of peace4 ,,qualities4 ,there are as many ruined by their good qualities as enriched by their bad4 ,,satire4 ,satire1 like conscience1 reminds us of what we often wish to forget4 ,,faults4 ,our faults are lessons writ for other men1 ,who1 reading them1 are taught at our expense1 ,nor thank us for the knowledge they attain4 ,though bought at heavy cost of woe to us4 ,,wisdom4 ,wisdom is lulled to sleep by pleasure1 but awakens at the touch of sorrow4 ,,wit4 ,those who have no wit are prone to doubt that of others4 ,,self-,,knowledge4 ,it is by self-knowledge that we prevent the seeds of evil from arising in our minds1 and making that a wilderness of weeds which might have become a garden of precious flowers4 ,,friends4 ,it requires sunshine to see our friends1 for they become invisible when our horizon is clouded4 ,,friend ,,and ,,wife4 ,give me a friend1 within whose well-poised mind ,experience holds her seat4 ,but let my bride ,be innocent as flowers that fragrance shed1 ,yet know not they are sweet4 ,,advice4 ,most people seem to imagine that advice1 like physic1 to do good must be disagreeable4 ,,the ,,future4 ,a consolation for those who have no other4 ,,time4 ,time is a stream in which there is no mooring the barks of life1 because there is no casting anchor in it4 ,,writer4 ,when ,inanis writes history1 he draws on his imagination2 and when he gives us poetry1 trusts only to his memory4 ,,false ,,appearances4 ,we cover our actions with a sort of veil1 which1 like the varnish on pictures1 gives them an artificial lustre that serves to soften their defects4 ,,prejudices4 ,few people look on any object as it really is2 but regard it through some fantastic prism presented by their own prejudices1 which invest it with a false colour4 ,,pride4 ,pride has seldom a just medium2 men have either too much or too little of it4 ,an excess1 though most offensive to the spectator1 is the least injurious to its possessor1 for it saves him from the commission of all actions that beget humiliation1 while a deficiency continually entails it upon him4 ,,praise4 ,praise is the only gift for which people are really grateful4 ,,time4 ,time is the true ,lethe1 in which is engulphed the recollection of our sorrows4 ,,guardians4 ,the best guardian for a woman's happiness is her husband's love1 and for her honour her own affection4 ,,passion4 ,passion is a tyrant strong only through the weakness of his slaves4 ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,pleasing4 ,the most certain art of pleasing people with us1 is to make them pleased with themselves4 ,,grief4 ,grief lengthens our nights1 but shortens our days4 ,,plagiarisms4 ,borrowed thoughts1 like borrowed money1 only reveal the poverty that compelled the loan4 ,,happiness4 ,happiness resembles the bird of paradise1 which is said never to be seen but at a distance4 ,,friends ,,and ,,enemies4 ,while we value the praise of our friends1 we should not despise the censures of our enemies2 as1 from the malice of the latter1 we frequently learn our faults1 which the partiality of the former led them to overlook4 ,,sorrow4 ,sorrow sets her seal on the brows of those she has stricken2 and1 like freemasons1 they know each other by a sign1 unintelligible to the uninitiated1 even when pleasure spreads her fascinations around them4 ,,self-,,knowledge4 8,rentrez en vous-mme1 vous y trouverez les ,dieux10 was the advice of an ancient philosopher4 ,how few have ever entered into the depth of their own minds1 which are to them as undiscovered springs in the abysses of the earth6 ,enter into your own mind1 and if you find not the gods there1 you may1 by constant examination and correction1 render it worthy of becoming their residence4 ,,conversation4 ,conversation is the legs on which thought walks2 and writing1 the wings by which it flies4 ,,misfortune4 ,misfortune1 though difficult to be borne1 has some advantages3 it precludes us from fear of the future1 proves the sincerity of friends1 and even reconciles us to the approach of death2 while happiness1 however grateful during its brief tenure1 is too frequently poisoned by the dread of its interruption4 ,,home4 ,the heart turns to home1 even as the tortoise1 wherever it may be placed1 turns its head towards its native element1 and tries to regain it4 ,,politics4 ,politics is a science1 which no one believes those who differ with him to understand4 ,,passion4 ,passion conducts to vice1 and sentiment leads to virtue4 ,,mistakes4 ,hardness of heart is frequently mistaken for firmness of soul2 a want of imagination1 for reason2 and obstinacy1 for strength of character2 yet how utterly unlike are they all6 ,,ostentation4 ,to appear rich1 we become poor4 ,,men ,,and ,,women4 ,men resemble the trees of earth1 sturdy and full of strength2 but women resemble the flowers1 fair and fragile1 and cherished the more because they are delicate4 ,,ostentation4 ,ostentation produces more sacrifices than generosity4 ,,conversation4 ,the conversation of some persons resembles occasional gleams of sunshine1 piercing an opaque cloud2 the light is only sufficient to make the general darkness visible4 ,,opinion4 ,all desire1 but few are willing to pay the price of1 the good opinion of the world4 ,,fear4 ,he who fears not1 is to be feared4 ,,middle ,,age4 ,middle age is an isthmus between youth and death4 ,,moral ,,courage4 ,those only can explore the profoundest depths of suffering who have moral courage sufficient to resist it2 as that physical force which augments the violence of fever1 enables the patient to survive it4 ,the intenseness of maladies1 mental and bodily1 is proportioned to the robustness of those condemned to sustain them2 and the weak escape1 or only slightly experience1 the ills which the strong surmount or sink beneath4 ,,thought4 8,les grandes penses viennent du cur10 was the observation of a reflecting mind3 all that touches the heart1 gives rise to thoughts more elevated than those that originate only in the head4 ,,celebrity ,,and ,,notoriety4 ,celebrity and notoriety are frequently mistaken for each other1 yet nothing can be more distinct3 a great man becomes celebrated2 a bad one1 notorious4 ,,memories4 ,some memories are powerfully retentive of injuries1 but totally oblivious of benefits4 ,,trials4 ,great trials demand1 and are generally met by courage2 for we summon all our energies to support them4 ,but it is the every-day minor cares of life that weary the temper and irritate the health2 because singly1 and in detail1 they do not appear sufficiently important to induce us to rally our force to encounter them4 ,as the sailor1 who1 having ploughed the ocean in its fiercest moods1 returns to perish in the stream that wantons before his cottage home1 so many a mind that has withstood the most severe trials1 has been broken down by a succession of ignoble vexations4 ,,courage4 ,courage is often but the effect of despair1 for we cease to fear when we have ceased to hope4 ,,beauty4 ,beauty without religion is the most dangerous gift that nature can bestow on woman2 and talents without principles1 the most pernicious to man4 ,,thought4 ,thought rarely dwells in the robust of frame1 ,but chooses those whose nerves less stubborn are1 ,and who1 unknowing sensual impulses1 ,abstracted keep--freed from th' ignoble thrall ,of pleasures1 that debase men into brutes4 ,,coquettes4 ,coquettes when old1 like ,penelope with her web1 pass half the night in undoing the labours of the day4 ,,malice4 ,malice is the spur of wit1 good nature the bridle4 ,,mediocrity4 ,if mediocrity precludes men from attaining distinction1 it does not prevent their acquiring popularity1 because the mass of mankind are disposed to like those who can excite neither rivalry nor attention1 and who consequently leave their own pretensions undisputed4 ,,modern ,,refinement4 ,modern refinement consists in a delicacy in words1 and indelicacy of thoughts and actions4 ,,thought4 ,thought sleeps1 until awakened by the senses4 ,,common ,,sense4 ,is the most uncommon of all senses4 ,,talents4 ,talents1 like beauty1 to be pardoned1 must be unostentatious4 ,,feelings4 ,feelings are always made the excuse of temper2 whereas temper much more frequently influences feelings4 ,,nature4 ,every production of the vegetable1 animal1 and moral world1 has its natural enemy4 ,see how certain flowers1 fruits1 and plants1 are injured by certain insects2 certain animals tormented by certain flies2 and certain men1 by corresponding beings of their own species1 who1 discovering in them certain qualities1 prey on them quite as mortally as do the flies and insects on the objects of their voracity4 ,,death4 ,we mourn the dead1 as though we could not die1 ,nor think that ere the grass grows on their graves1 ,nay1 ere our tears are dried1 we may be call'd ,to quit this life1 while counting on long years4 ,,forgiveness4 ,it is difficult not to hate those whom we have injured1 because the consciousness that we have behaved unworthily1 humiliates us too much in our own estimation1 not to impel us to avenge it on them4 ,,necessity4 ,necessity has been called the mother of invention2 but should she not rather be named the step-mother1 for to her are invariably attributed many inexcusable actions8 ,,esprit ,,fort4 ,an esprit fort might frequently1 with more justice1 be styled une tte foible4 ,,experience4 ,experience has taught us little1 if it has not instructed us to pity the errors of others1 and to amend our own4 ,,errors4 ,they who weep over errors1 were not formed for crimes4 ,,friendship4 ,those who would preserve a faith in friendship1 should never require its aid4 ,,duties4 ,those who fulfil their duties1 without feeling them to be irksome1 are happy2 but those who discharge them from a consciousness of their importance1 are praiseworthy4 ,,fashion4 ,people who fall into the stream of fashion1 like those who tumble into the ,mississippi river1 are seldom saved from its vortex4 ,,flattery4 ,flattery1 if judiciously administered1 is always acceptable1 however much we may despise the flatterer4 ,,death4 ,to reconcile us to ,cimmerian death1 ,th' approach of which strikes terror to all hearts1 ,the ,god of mercy takes what most we love2 ,and we no longer dread to follow them4 ,,friends4 ,guard1 if it be possible1 your friends from injuring you1 lest they1 by so doing1 become your bitterest enemies1 never forgiving the wrongs they have themselves inflicted4 ,,passion4 ,the hurricane of passion withers the milder feelings1 even as the blast of the simoom dries up and consumes all that it passes over4 ,,sorrow4 ,the fountain of true poetry is sealed1 ,and sorrow's touch alone can bid it flow3 ,then only are its waters all reveal'd1 ,for inspiration's ever bought with woe4 ,,pride4 ,pride prevents not the commission of unworthy actions1 though it forbids the avowal of them4 ,,happiness4 ,in seeking happiness we overlook content1 which is always attainable1 while happiness1 though sometimes in view1 is never within reach4 ,,genius4 ,genius is the gold in the mine--education the miner who elicits it4 ,,great ,,men4 ,intrepidus was a naturally1 and ,diplomaticus an artificially great man4 ,the first reposing a just confidence in his own powers1 required no extraneous aid2 while the latter solely depended on his implements for success or failure4 ,,society4 ,we must learn to bear with society1 or to live without it4 ,the latter appears the least difficult task to pursue4 ,,boys ,,and ,,men4 ,mark well the boy2 in him you see the man ,of future years3 their instincts1 tastes1 the same4 ,time but developes that which was in him ,even from his cradle2 it but gives more art ,to hide the evil1 counterfeit the good1 ,and cheat the world by seeming what he's not4 ,,hermits4 ,people are seldom tired of the world until the world is tired of them4 ,,blighted ,,hopes4 ,like a bird with wearied pinions flying over the sea1 and painfully sensible of the approach of exhaustion while yet in the midst of his career1 is he who1 tired of life ere half its course is past1 gazes with dismay upon the gloomy waste he has still to traverse4 ,,happiness4 ,such is our pride and weakness1 that we consider happiness as our right1 and misfortune as an injustice4 ,a wise man1 on the contrary1 will consider a happy condition as a prize drawn in a lottery1 which he had no right to expect1 but which his good fortune secured for him4 ,,peculiarities ,,of ,,minds4 ,as some insects are said to derive their colour from the leaf upon which they feed1 so do the minds of men assume their hue from the studies which they select for it4 ,,the ,,heart4 ,the heart1 like the cement of the ancient ,romans1 acquires hardness by time4 ,,consolation4 ,the truest consolation for the ills of life1 is the recollection of its brevity4 ,,experience4 ,experience is a torch lighted in the ashes of our illusions4 ,,difficulties4 ,difficulties vanquish the weak1 but are vanquished by the strong4 ,,characters4 ,we never injure our own characters so much1 as when we attack those of others4 ,,love4 ,when one link in the chain of love is broken1 its strength and security are gone4 ,,death4 ,when we have outlived our youth1 we have little to regret in the death of our old age2 it is but the release of a superannuated friend1 who has outlived every other4 ,,death-,,bed4 ,we value time but on the bed of death1 ,when its brief sands are running to an end2 ,o6 how we then remember with dismay ,our wasted hours1 which1 like reproachful ghosts ,of murder'd friends1 rise up and pass before us6 ,how quickly flee the moments1--precious then ,as moments ne'er were dear to us before1 ,each counted with an agonising pang ,as they recede1 and with them--ebbing life1 ,leaving the shrinking soul in terror dire1 ,to meet1 as best it may1 the conqueror ,death4 ,,contact ,,with ,,superior ,,minds4 ,it is doubtful whether advantage is derived from a constant intercourse with superior minds4 ,if our own be possessed of power1 the collision is likely to excite it into action1 and original thoughts are consequently elicited4 ,but1 if a great inequality exists1 the inferior mind is quelled by the strong1 or loses whatever features of idiosyncracy it might once have possessed1 in an unconscious subserviency to its more vigorous opponent4 ,,confession4 ,how many errors do we confess to our ,creator1 that we dare not reveal to his fallible creatures4 ,,love4 ,some natures1 like trees of the torrid zone1 ,yield fruit but once1 and prematurely die2 ,no second love such hearts are form'd to own1 ,they palpitate but once with passion's sigh4 ,,love-,,matches4 ,love-matches are formed by people who pay for a month of honey with a life of vinegar4 ,,women4 ,women1 with their bright imaginations1 tender hearts1 and pure minds1 create for themselves idols1 on which they lavish their worship1 making their hearts temples1 in which the false god is adored4 ,but1 alas6 the object of their best and fondest feelings generally too soon proves to be of base clay1 instead of pure gold2 and though pity would fain intervene to veil its defects1 or even to cherish it in despite of them1 virtue1 reason1 and justice combine finally to destroy it2 but1 in the deed1 too often injure the fane in which it was enshrined4 ,,life4 ,life resembles a river flowing rapidly to the ocean of eternity1 and in its flight passing by brilliant1 as well as sombre objects1 without the power of doing aught more than for a few brief moments receiving our hue from them4 ,,courage4 ,a higher degree of courage is required to pardon an injury than to avenge it4 ,in the first1 the triumph is over self1 the most difficult of all2 but in the second1 it is over another1 which is always more easily achieved4 ,,light ,,literature4 ,works of light literature often have a vogue that more solid ones fail to acquire2 as paper kites mount in the air1 when a more consistent substance cannot ascend4 ,,deceivers4 ,we are born to deceive1 or to be deceived4 ,in one of these classes we must be numbered2 but our self-respect is dependent upon our selection4 ,the practice of deception generally secures its own punishment2 for callous indeed must be that mind which is insensible to its ignominy6 ,but he who has been duped1 is conscious1 even in the very moment that he detects the imposition1 of his proud superiority to one who can stoop to the adoption of so foul and sorry a course4 ,the really good and high-minded1 therefore1 are seldom provoked by the discovery of deception2 though the cunning and artful resent it1 as a humiliating triumph obtained over them in their own vocations4 ,,concealed ,,grief4 ,concealed griefs are the most consuming1 as secret maladies are the most fatal4 ,,women4 ,women should not paint love1 until they have ceased to inspire it4 ,,eminent ,,men4 ,as high mountains attract clouds and vapours1 so do eminent men attract censure4 ,they act like the conductors placed on lofty buildings to draw the lightning from less elevated objects4 ,,love ,,and ,,friendship4 ,love is a flower1 with which we adorn our youth2 but friendship is a fruit with which we solace our maturity4 ,,pedants4 ,pedants are often mistaken for savants1 yet the difference between them is great2 one affects1 the other possesses science4 ,the pedant is to the savant1 what the apothecary is to the physician3 one understands the means1 the other both the means and the end4 ,,wit4 ,wit lives in the present1 but genius survives in the future4 ,,experience4 ,experience enables us to detect the errors of the past1 but it seldom guards us against those of the future4 ,,envy4 ,the vain and pretending are ever the most prone to envy2 for they covet that which they would fain make people believe they possess4 ,,the ,,past4 ,the past shows us but the tombs of our buried illusions and hopes4 ,,pity4 ,all that we bestow in pity to the unfortunate1 we take away in respect2 hence1 he that would be respected must never allow himself to become an object of pity4 ,,pride ,,and ,,vanity4 ,vanity lives on the commendations of others1 but pride is supported by self-respect4 ,hence the vain pine in solitude1 while the proud retain their self-reverence and are satisfied4 ,,weaknesses4 ,our weaknesses are the indigenous produce of our characters2 but our strength is the forced fruit4 ,,prodigals4 ,persons who never learn the difference between a shilling and a sixpence1 until they want the latter4 ,,existence4 ,existence is only felt to be valuable while it is necessary to some one dear to us4 ,the moment we become aware that our death would leave no aching void in a human heart1 the charm of life is gone4 ,,women4 ,there is a vast difference between a feminine1 and an effeminate woman2 the first has all the gentleness of her sex1--the second1 all the weakness4 ,,pleasure4 ,pleasure is like a cordial2 a little of it is not injurious1 but too much destroys4 ,,poetry4 ,the gleams in the poetry of some writers are like straw fires1 bright1 vivid1 but transitory4 ,,cosmetics4 ,there is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness4 ,,courtiers4 ,the two principal requisites in a courtier are1 a flexible conscience1 and an inflexible politeness4 ,,misfortunes4 ,there are some misfortunes1 the recollection of which floats ever uppermost in our minds1 like oil thrown on water4 ,,women4 ,young women ought1 like angels1 to pardon the faults they cannot comprehend2 and old women1 like saints1 should compassionate1 because they have endured temptations1 and experienced the difficulty of resisting them4 ,,mediocrity4 ,in the society of persons of mediocrity1 he who has the most wit will please the least1 for each person will either misunderstand1 or be jealous of him4 ,,cosmetics4 ,cosmetics are to the face1 what affectation is to the manners2 they impose on none1 and disgust many4 ,,men4 ,a vicious man is governed by his appetites1 a weak man by his affections1 but a wise man is governed by his principles4 ,,moralists4 ,to amend mankind1 moralists should show them man1 not as he is1 but as he ought to be4 ,,women4 ,those women who are most loved by their own sex1 are precisely such as are least sought by the other4 ,,conscience4 ,he who takes conscience for his guide1 will not easily lose his way4 ,,minds4 ,a sensible mind applies patience to misfortunes2 a frivolous one1 forgetfulness4 ,,conscience4 ,conscience oft slumbers1 but has fearful dreams1 ,and wakes as painfully as mourners do ,from the first sleep that follows the dread shock ,of losing one that dearer was than life4 ,,misfortunes4 ,they only can thoroughly compassionate misfortune who have drunk from its bitter cup2 for1 how can the prosperous freely sympathize in that which they have never experienced1 and consequently cannot understand8 ,,youth ,,and ,,maturity4 ,youth is pliant and elastic2 if it receives impressions easily1 they are as easily effaced3 but maturity is rigid1 and1 admitting them slowly1 retains them with a proportionate tenacity4 ,,conscience4 ,the rewarder of virtue1 and avenger of crime4 ,,catherine ,,of ,,russia4 ,catherine ,i4 of ,russia was called the mother of her people2 but ,catherine ,,ii4 might1 with nearly equal justice1 be named the wife4 ,,mourners4 ,they only truly mourn the dead1 who endeavour so to live as to ensure a re-union with them in heaven4 ,,memories4 ,some persons are so tenacious of memory1 that they forget nothing but the services they have received1 and the errors they have committed4 ,,courage ,,and ,,virtue4 ,a man should never boast of his courage1 nor a woman of her virtue1 lest their doing so should be the cause of calling their possession of them into question4 ,,custom4 ,custom is a tyrant that holds us in chains1 which we do not break1 because so many others support them patiently4 ,,life4 ,life1 like the diamond in a mine1 is sometimes valueless to its owner until it becomes estimated by another4 ,,youthful ,,lovers4 ,youthful lovers1 like the painter ,arellius1 always paint the objects of their affection as goddesses4 ,,spring ,,and ,,autumn4 ,spring is the season of hope1 and autumn is that of memory4 ,,true ,,and ,,false ,,friends4 ,false friends will seek you in a happy home1 ,but true friends only to a prison come4 ,,virtue4 ,the virtues of others often render us sensible of the want of them in ourselves1 as the riches of our acquaintance make us more conscious of our poverty4 ,,marriage4 ,how many in the married state we find ,wedded in person1 but divorced in mind6 ,unnatural union6 fraught with as much dread ,as when the living chain'd were to the dead ,by stern ,mezentius2 yet less cruel he1-- ,as many slaves of ,hymen will agree1-- ,for but one victim suffer'd from the chain1 ,while wedlock gives the two an equal pain4 ,f,,tes4 ,a fte is one of the many palliatives for that common malady ennui1 and1 like most palliatives1 gives but a temporary relief1 generally followed by a return of the disease4 ,,levellers4 ,men who cannot rise1 are ever prone to pull down those who do1 hoping to mount by their ruin4 ,,experience4 ,those are fortunate who borrow experience1 instead of buying it4 ,,adversity4 ,adversity1 't is thine to prove ,the truth of friendship or of love2 ,thy frown can drive the false away1 ,but makes the faithful nearer stay2 ,thy chilling breath illusion rends1 ,and is too cold for summer friends4 ,,misfortunes4 ,misfortunes which have not been caused by our own misconduct1 and which we may lay open to sympathy1 are but as superficial wounds1 which are easily healed2 but those which guilt has produced1 and shame conceals1 like the stolen fox of the ,spartan boy1 prey on the vitals1 and the pangs must be concealed1 while hiding their inflictor in the breast he feeds on4 ,,liberty4 ,o liberty6 the purest gift from heaven ,that ever was to erring mortals given2 ,the heart that ,heaven has form'd to worship thee1 ,must be from every grovelling passion free2 ,the patriot would thy noble precepts use1 ,while demagogues but know thee to abuse4 ,,age4 ,when age is seen moving through scenes of gaiety and pleasure1 its wrinkles concealed beneath a mask of paint1 and its wig wreathed with flowers1 it reminds one of the death's heads which the ancients introduced at their festivals1 to recall to their memories the brevity of life1 and make them enjoy the present with more zest4 ,,content4 ,we miss content in our search for happiness4 ,,friendship4 ,i lost my spirits and my health4 ,but kept my friends1 so did not wince ,until one day ,i lost my wealth1 ,and never heard of friendship since4 ,,trials4 ,it is when we most suffer1 that we least doubt the existence of that ,power which can afflict or heal4 ,,life4 ,we pass our lives in regretting the past1 complaining of the present1 and indulging false hopes of the future4 ,,love ,,and ,,vanity4 ,half the errors attributed to love have their source in vanity2 and many a person has made sacrifices to this unworthy passion1 who would have successfully resisted the pleadings of affection4 ,,on ,,seeing ,,prince ,,talleyrand ,,suffering ,,under ,a ,,severe ,,cold4 ,why looks prince ,talleyrand so cold-- ,why trembles he in every part8 ,it is as doctors long foretold1 ,his body's caught cold from his heart4 ,,friends4 ,we are often ashamed of our friends1 when it is they who have cause to be ashamed of us4 ,,pride ,,and ,,poverty4 ,pride and poverty are the most ill-assorted companions that can meet4 ,they live in a state of continual warfare1 and the sacrifices they exact from each other1 like those claimed by enemies to establish a hollow peace1 only serve to increase their discord4 ,,liberty4 ,liberty1 according to the acceptation of the term among its modern votaries1 consists in the right of doing every thing agreeable to themselves1 and of precluding others from enjoying the same privilege4 ,,manners4 ,in aping the manners of foreign countries1 we lose what is best in our own1 and only expose ourselves to the ridicule of those we imitate4 ,,the ,,end4 ,,new,,york3 ,printed by ,j4 ,p4 ,,wright1 #ah ,new ,street4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,page ,changed from ,changed to #fg ,politics1 a science1 which no ,politics is a science1 which no one believes one believes ,typos fixed2 non-standard spelling and dialect retained4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4