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- Herausgeber: BertaBooks
- Kategorie: Ratgeber
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
Book of Wise Sayings: Selected Largely from Eastern Sources by W. A. Clouston.Author of “Popular Tales and Fictions,” “Literary Coincidences, and other Papers,” “Flowers from a Persian Garden,” etc.“Concise sentences, like darts, fly abroad and make impressions, while long discourses are tedious and not regarded.”—Bacon.“Many are the sayings of the wise, In ancient and in modern books enrolled.”—Milton.In the following small selection of aphorisms, a considerable proportion are drawn from Eastern literature. Includes passages from the Indian epics.In more modern times, with the sole exception of William Hazlitt, our country has produced no very successful writer of aphorisms. Colton’s Lacon; or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think, went through several editions soon after its first publication in 1820.
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BOOK OF WISE SAYINGS
w. a . clouston
Copyright © 2017 W. A. Clouston
Amazing Classics
All rights reserved.
BOOK OFWISE SAYINGS
SELECTED LARGELY FROM EASTERN SOURCES
BY
W. A. CLOUSTON
Author of “Popular Tales and Fictions,” “Literary Coincidences, and other Papers,” “Flowers from a PersianGarden,” etc.
“Concise sentences, like darts, fly abroad and make impressions, while long discourses are tedious and not regarded.”—Bacon.
“Many are the sayings of the wise,
In ancient and in modern books enrolled.”—Milton.
TOFRANCIS THORNTON BARRETT,CHIEF LIBRARIAN,MITCHELL LIBRARY, GLASGOW,This Little Book,WITH FRIENDLY GREETINGS,IS INSCRIBED.
PREFACE.
Cynics may ask, how many have profited by the innumerable proverbs and maxims of prudence which have been current in the world time out of mind? They will say that their only use is to repeat them after some unhappy wight has “gone wrong.” When, for instance, a man has played “ducks and drakes” with his money, the fact at once calls up the proverb which declares that “wilful waste leads to woful want”; but did not the “waster” know this well-worn saying from his early years downwards? What good, then, did it do him? Again, how many have been benefited by the saying of the ancient Greek poet, that “evil communications corrupt good manners”?—albeit they had it frequently before them in their school “copy-books.” Are the maxims of morality useless, then, because they are so much disregarded?
When a man has reached middle-age he generally feels with tenfold force the truth of those “sayings of the wise” which he learned in his early years, and has cause to regret, as well as wonder, that he had not all along followed their wholesome teaching. For it is to the young, who are about to cross the threshold of active life, that such terse convincing sentences are more especially addressed, and, spite of the proverbial heedlessness of youth, there will be found many who are not deaf to this kind of instruction, if their moral environment be favourable. But, even after the spring-time of youth is past, there are occasions when the mind is peculiarly susceptible to the force of a pithy maxim, which may tend to the reforming of one’s way of life. There is commonly more practical wisdom in a striking aphorism than in a round dozen of “goody” books—that is to say, books which are not good in the highest sense, because their themes are overlaid with commonplace and wearisome reflections.
May we not find the “whole duty of man” condensed into a few brief sentences, which have been expressed by thoughtful men in all ages and in countries far apart?—such as: “Love thy neighbour as thyself,” “Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you.” The chief themes of all teachers of morality are: benevolence and beneficence; tolerance of the opinions of others; self-control; the acquisition of knowledge—that jewel beyond price; the true uses of wealth; the advantages of resolute, manly exertion; the dignity of labour; the futility of worldly pleasures; the fugacity of time; man’s individual insignificance. They are never weary of inculcating taciturnity in preference to loquacity, and the virtues of patience and resignation. They iterate and reiterate the fact that true happiness is to be found only in contentment; and they administer consolation and infuse hope by reminding us that as dark days are followed by bright days, so times of bitter adversity are followed by seasons of sweet prosperity; and thus, like the immortal Sir Hudibras, when “in doleful dumps”, we may “cheer ourselves with ends of verse, and sayings of philosophers.”
In the following small selection of aphorisms, a considerable proportion are drawn from Eastern literature. Indian wisdom is represented by passages from the great epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyana; the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesa, two Sanskrit versions of the famous collection of apologues known in Europe as the Fables of Bidpaï, or Pilpay; the Dharma-sastra of Manu; Bhāravi, Māgha, Bhartrihari, and other Hindu poets. Specimens of the mild teachings of Buddha and his more notable followers are taken from the Dhammapada (Path of Virtue) and other canonical works; pregnant sayings of the Jewish Fathers, from the Talmud; Moslem moral philosophy is represented by extracts from Arabic and Persian writers (among the great poets of Persia are, Firdausī, Sa’dī, Hāfiz, Nizāmī, Omar Khayyām, Jāmī); while the proverbial wisdom of the Chinese and the didactic writings of the sages of Burmah are also occasionally cited.
The ordinary reader will probably be somewhat surprised to discover in the aphorisms of the ancient Greeks and Hindus several close parallels to the doctrines of the Old and New Testaments, and he will have reasoned justly if he conclude that the so-called “heathens” could have derived their spiritual light only from the same Source as that which inspired the Hebrew prophets and the Christian apostles.
Among English writers of aphorisms Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, is pre-eminent, but none of his pithy sentences find place here, because they are procurable in many inexpensive forms, (e.g., Counsels from my Lord Bacon, 1892), and must be familiar to what is termed “the average general reader.” The Enchiridion of Frances Quarles and the Resolves of Owen Feltham are, however, laid under contribution, as also Robert Chamberlain, an author who is probably unknown to many pluming themselves on their thorough acquaintance with English literature, some of whose aphorisms (published in 1638, under the title of Nocturnal Lucubrations) I have deemed worthy of reproduction.
In more modern times, with the sole exception of William Hazlitt, our country has produced no very successful writer of aphorisms. Colton’s Lacon; or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think, went through several editions soon after its first publication in 1820; it is described by Mr. John Morley—and not unfairly—as being “so vapid, so wordy, so futile as to have a place among those books which dispense with parody”; it is “an awful example to anyone who is tempted to try his hand at an aphorism.” Mr. Morley is hardly less severe in speaking of the “Thoughts” in Theophrastus Such: “the most insufferable of all deadly-lively prosing in our sublunary world.” However this may be, assuredly other works of the author of Adam Bede will be found to furnish many examples of admirable apothegms.
It only remains to add that, bearing in mind that a great collection of gravities commonly proves quite as wearisome reading as a large compilation of gaieties, or facetiæ, I have confined my selection of “sayings of the wise” within the limits of a pocket-volume.
W. A. C.
BOOK OF WISE SAYINGS.
1.
The enemies which rise within the body, hard to be overcome—thy evil passions—should manfully be fought: he who conquers these is equal to the conquerors of worlds.
Bhāravi.
2.
If passion gaineth the mastery over reason, the wise will not count thee amongst men.
Firdausī.
3.
Knowledge is destroyed by associating with the base; with equals equality is gained, and with the distinguished, distinction.
Hitopadesa.
4.
Dost thou desire that thine own heart should not suffer, redeem thou the sufferer from the bonds of misery.
Sa’dī.
5.
To friends and eke to foes true kindness show;
No kindly heart unkindly deeds will do;
Harshness will alienate a bosom friend.
And kindness reconcile a deadly foe.
Omar Khayyām.
6.
There is no greater grief in misery than to turn our thoughts back to happier times.*
Dante.
* Cf. Goldsmith:
O Memory! thou fond deceiver,
Still importunate and vain;
To former joys recurring ever,
And turning all the past to pain.
7.
We in reality only know when we doubt a little. With knowledge comes doubt.
Goethe.
8.
In the hour of adversity be not without hope, for crystal rain falls from black clouds.
Nizāmī.
9.
One common origin unites us all, but every sort of wood does not give the perfume of the lignum aloes.
Arabic.
10.
I asked an experienced elder who had profited by his knowledge of the world, “What course should I pursue to obtain prosperity?” He replied, “Contentment—if you are able, practise contentment.”
Selman.
11.
Every moment that a man may be in want of employment, than such I hold him to be far better who is forced to labour for nothing.
Afghan.
12.
The foolish undertake a trifling act, and soon desist, discouraged; wise men engage in mighty works, and persevere.
Māgha.
13.
Those who wish well towards their friends disdain to please them with words which are not true.
Bhāravi.
14.
Reason is captive in the hands of the passions, as a weak man in the hands of an artful woman.
Sa’dī.
15.
Like an earthen pot, a bad man is easily broken, and cannot readily be restored to his former situation; but a virtuous man, like a vase of gold, is broken with difficulty, and easily repaired.
Hitopadesa.
16.
The son who delights his father by his good actions; the wife who seeks only her husband’s good; the friend who is the same in prosperity and adversity—these three things are the reward of virtue.
Bhartrihari.
17.
Let us not overstrain our abilities, or we shall do nothing with grace. A clown, whatever he may do, will never pass for a gentleman.
La Fontaine.
18.
To abstain from speaking is regarded as very difficult. It is not possible to say much that is valuable and striking.*
Mahābhārata.
* Cf. James, III, 8.
19.
Pagodas are, like mosques, true houses of prayer;
’Tis prayer that church bells waft upon the air;
Kaaba and temple, rosary and cross,
All are but divers tongues of world-wide prayer.
Omar Khayyām.
20.
In no wise ask about the faults of others, for he who reporteth the faults of others will report thine also.
Firdausī.
21.
He that holds fast the golden mean,
And lives contentedly between
The little and the great,
Feels not the wants that pinch the poor,
Nor plagues that haunt the rich man’s door,
Embittering all his state.
Horace.
22.
Nothing is more becoming a man than silence. It is not the preaching but the practice which ought to be considered as the more important. A profusion of words is sure to lead to error.
Talmud.
23.
Consider, and you will find that almost all the transactions of the time of Vespasian differed little from those of the present day. You there find marrying and giving in marriage, educating children, sickness, death, war, joyous holidays, traffic, agriculture, flatterers, insolent pride, suspicions, laying of plots, longing for the death of others, newsmongers, lovers, misers, men canvassing for consulship—yet all these passed away, and are nowhere.
M. Aurelius.
24.
The friendship of the bad is like the shade of some precipitous bank with crumbling sides, which, falling, buries him who is beneath.
Bhāravi.
25.
His action no applause invites
Who simply good with good repays;
He only justly merits praise
Who wrongful deeds with kind requites.*
Panchatantra.
* Matt. V, 43, 44.
26.
Death comes, and makes a man his prey,
A man whose powers are yet unspent;
Like one on gathering flowers intent,
Whose thoughts are turned another way.
Begin betimes to practise good,
Lest fate surprise thee unawares
Amid thy round of schemes and cares;
To-morrow’s task to-day conclude.*
Mahābhārata.
* Eccles. IX, 10; XII, 1.
27.
Let a man’s talents or virtues be what they may, we feel satisfaction in his society only as he is satisfied in himself. We cannot enjoy the good qualities of a friend if he seems to be none the better for them.
Hazlitt.
28.
It was a false maxim of Domitian that he who would gain the people of Rome must promise all things and perform nothing. For when a man is known to be false in his word, instead of a column, which he might be by keeping it, for others to rest upon, he becomes a reed, which no man will vouchsafe to lean upon. Like a floating island, when we come next day to seek it, it is carried from the place we left it in, and, instead of earth to build upon, we find nothing but inconstant and deceiving waves.
Feltham.
29.
He is not dead who departs this life with high fame; dead is he, though living, whose brow is branded with infamy.
Tieck.
30.
In the height of thy prosperity expect adversity, but fear it not. If it come not, thou art the more sweetly possessed of the happiness thou hast, and the more strongly confirmed. If it come, thou art the more gently dispossessed of the happiness thou hadst, and the more firmly prepared.
Quarles.
31.
A prudent man will not discover his poverty, his self-torments, the disorders of his house, his uneasiness, or his disgrace.
Hitopadesa.
32.
Men are of three different capacities: one understands intuitively; another understands so far as it is explained; and a third understands neither of himself nor by explanation. The first is excellent, the second, commendable, and the third, altogether useless.
Machiavelli.
33.
It is difficult to understand men, but still harder to know them thoroughly.
Schiller.
34.
Worldly fame and pleasure are destructive to the virtue of the mind; anxious thoughts and apprehensions are injurious to the health of the body.
Chinese.
35.
Alas, for him who is gone and hath done no good work! The trumpet of march has sounded, and his load was not bound on.
Persian.
36.
Human experience, like the stern-lights of a ship at sea, illumines only the path which we have passed over.
Coleridge.
37.
Man is an actor who plays various parts:
First comes a boy, then out a lover starts;
His garb is changed for, lo! a beggar’s rags;
Then he’s a merchant with full money-bags;
Anon, an aged sire, wrinkled and lean;
At last Death drops the curtain on the scene.*
Bhartrihari.
* Cf. Shakspeare:
“All the world’s a stage,” etc.—As You Like It, Act II, sc. 7.
38.
Through avarice a man loses his understanding, and by his thirst for wealth he gives pain to the inhabitants of both worlds.
Hitopadesa.
39.
Men soon the faults of others learn,
A few their virtues, too, find out;
But is there one—I have a doubt—
Who can his own defects discern?
Sanskrit.
40.
In learning, age and youth go for nothing; the best informed take the precedence.
Chinese.
41.
Mention not a blemish which is thy own in detraction of a neighbour.
Talmud.
42.
Affairs succeed by patience, and he that is hasty falleth headlong.
Sa’dī.
43.
A man who has learnt little grows old like an ox: his flesh grows, but his knowledge does not grow.
Dhammapada.
44.
Unsullied poverty is always happy, while impure wealth brings with it many sorrows.
Chinese.
45.
Both white and black acknowledge women’s sway,
So much the better and the wiser too,
Deeming it most convenient to obey,
Or possibly they might their folly rue.*
Persian.
* Cf. Pope:
Would men but follow what the sex advise,
All things would prosper, all the world grow wise.
46.
We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.
Hazlitt.
47.
No one is more profoundly sad than he who laughs too much.
Richter.
48.
The heaven that rolls around cries aloud to you while it displays its eternal beauties, and yet your eyes are fixed upon the earth alone.
Dante.
49.
This world is a beautiful book, but of little use to him who cannot read it.
Goldoni.
50.
Sorrows are like thunder-clouds: in the distance they look black, over our heads, hardly gray.
Richter.
51.
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
Chinese.
52.
Health is the greatest gift, contentedness the best riches.
Dhammapada.
53.
Great and unexpected successes are often the cause of foolish rushing into acts of extravagance.
Demosthenes.
