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Our God And Souldiers We Alike Adore,evn At The Brink Of Danger; Not Before:after Deliverance, Both Alike Required;our Gods Forgotten, And Our Souldiers Slighted.

-Francis Quarles

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Our God And Souldiers

Francis Quarles

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Our God And Souldiers We Alike Adore,evn At The Brink Of Danger; Not Before:after Deliverance, Both Alike Required;our Gods Forgotten, And Our Souldiers Slighted.

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That Action Is Not Warrantable Which Either Fears To Ask The Divine Blessing On Its Performance, Or Having Succeeded, Does Not Come With Thanksgiving To God For Its Success.

See How The World (whose Chaste And Pregnant Womb Of Late Conceiv'd, And Brought Forth Nothing Ill) Is Now Degenerated, And Become A Base Adult'ress, Whose False Births Do Fill The Earth With Monsters, Monsters That Do Roam And Rage About, And Make A Trade To Kill: Now Glutt'ny Paunches, And Avarice A Pawn; Pale Envy Pines, Pride Swells, And Sloth Begins To Yawn.

He That Gives All, Though But Little, Gives Much; Because God Looks Not To The Quantity Of The Gift, But To The Quality Of The Givers.

Deliberate Long Before Thou Consecrate A Friend, And When Thy Impartial Justice Concludes Him Worthy Of Thy Bosom, Receive Him Joyfully, And Entertain Him Wisely; Impart Thy Secrets Boldly, And Mingle Thy Thoughts With His: He Is Thy Very Self; And Use Him So; If Thou Firmly Think Him Faithful, Thou Makest Him So.

Be Very Circumspect In The Choice Of Thy Company. In The Society Of Thine Equals Thou Shalt Enjoy More Pleasure; In The Society Of Thy Superiors Thou Shalt Find More Profit. To Be The Best In The Company Is The Way To Grow Worse; The Best Means To Grow Better Is To Be The Worst There.

As All Things Eternal And Primordial Reappear, So All Things Mortal Return To The Earth. Honor, Old Age, Probity, Justice, Constance, Virtue, And Gentleness Are All Gathered Into The Cold Tomb.

The Voice Of Humility Is God's Music, And The Silence Of Humility Is God's Rhetoric.

If Thy Words Be Too Luxuriant, Confine Them, Lest They Confine Thee; He That Thinks He Never Can Speak Enough May Easily Speak Too Much. A Full Tongue And An Empty Brain Are Seldom Parted.

When Two Agree In Their Desire, One Sparke Will Set Them Both On Fire.

If Any Speak Ill Of Thee, Flee Home To Thy Own Conscience, And Examine Thy Heart: If Thou Be Guilty, It Is A Just Correction; If Not Guilty, It Is A Fair Instruction: Make Use Of Both; So Shalt Thou Distil Honey Out Of Gall, And Out Of An Open Enemy Create A Secret Friend.

Hath Fortune Dealt Thee Ill Cards? Let Wisdom Make Thee A Good Gamester. In A Fair Gale, Every Fool May Sail, But Wise Behavior In A Storm Commends The Wisdom Of A Pilot; To Bear Adversity With An Equal Mind Is Both The Sign And Glory Of A Brave Spirit.

Hath Any Wronged Thee? Be Bravely Revenged; Slight It, And The Work Is Begun; Forgive It, And It Is Finished; He Is Below Himself That Is Not Above An Injury.

When Ambitious Men Find An Open Passage, They Are Rather Busy Than Dangerous; And If Well Watched In Their Proceedings, They Will Catch Them Selves In Their Own Snare, And Prepare A Way For Their Own Destruction.

No Man Is Born Unto Himself Alone; Who Lives Unto Himself, He Lives To None.

Flatter Not Thyself In Thy Faith In God If Thou Hast Not Charity For Thy Neighbor.

Read Not Books Alone, But Men, And Amongst Them Chiefly Thyself.

If Thou Wouldst Preserve A Sound Body, Use Fasting And Walking; If A Healthful Soul, Fasting And Praying. Walking Exercises The Body; Praying Exercises The Soul; Fasting Cleanses Both.

There Be Three Sorts Of Government--monarchical, Aristocratical, Democratical; And They Are Apt To Fall Three Several Ways Into Ruin--the First, By Tyranny; The Second, By Ambition; The Last, By Tumults. A Commonwealth Grounded Upon Any One Of These Is Not Of Long Continuance; But, Wisely Mingled, Each Guards The Other And Makes That Government Exact.

Let The Ground Of All Thy Religious Actions Be Obedience; Examine Not Why It Is Commanded, But Observe It Because It Is Commanded. True Obedience Neither Procrastinates Nor Questions.

I Here Present Thee With A Hive Of Bees, Laden Some With Wax, And Some With Honey. Fear Not To Approach! There Are No Wasps, There Are No Hornets Here. If Some Wanton Bee Chance To Buzz About Thine Ears, Stand Thy Ground And Hold Thy Hands-there's None Will Sting Thee, If Thou Strike Not First. If Any Do, She Hath Honey In Her Bag Will Cure Thee Too.

No Labor Is Hard, No Time Is Long, Wherein The Glory Of Eternity Is The Mark We Level At.

The Next Way Home's The Farthest Way About.

The Worldly Wisdom Of The Foolish Man Is Like A Sieve, That Does Alone Retain The Grosser Substance Of The Worthless Bran: But Thou, My Soul, Let Thy Brave Thoughts Disdain So Coarse A Purchase: O Be Thou A Fan To Purge The Chaff, And Keep The Winnow'd Grain: Make Clean Thy Thoughts, And Dress Thy Mixt Desires: Thou Art Heav'n's Tasker, And Thy God Requires The Purest Of Thy Flow'r, As Well As Of Thy Fires.

God's Pleasure Is At The End Of Our Prayers.

It Is The Lot Of Man But Once To Die.

Wrinkle Not Thy Face With Too Much Laughter, Lest Thou Become Ridiculous; Neither Wanton Thy Heart With Too Much Mirth, Lest Thou Become Vain: The Suburbs Of Folly Is Vain Mirth, And Profuseness Of Laughter Is The City Of Fools.

With A Bloody Flux Of Oaths Vows Deep Revenge.

If Thou Wouldst Be Justified, Acknowledge Thine Injustice. He That Confesses His Sin, Begins His Journey Toward Salvation. He That Is Sorry For It, Mends His Pace. He That Forsakes It, Is At His Journey's End.

He That Begins To Live, Begins To Die.

God Hath Given To Mankind A Common Library, His Creatures; To Every Man A Proper Book, Himself Being An Abridgment Of All Others. If Thou Read With Understanding, It Will Make Thee A Great Master Of Philosophy, And A True Servant Of The Divine Author: If Thou But Barely Read, It Will Make Thee Thine Own Wise Man And The Author's Fool.

Tis Not, To Cry God Mercy, Or To Sit And Droop, Or To Confess That Thou Hast Fail'd: 'tis To Bewail The Sins Thou Didst Commit: And Not Commit Those Sins Thou Hast Bewail' D. He That Bewails And Not Forsakes Them Too; Confesses Rather What He Means To Do.

As There Is No Worldly Gain Without Some Loss, So There Is No Worldly Loss Without Some Gain; If Thou Hast Lost Thy Wealth, Thou Hast Lost Some Trouble With It; If Thou Art Degraded From Thy Honor, Thou Art Likewise Freed From The Stroke Of Envy; If Sickness Hath Blurred Thy Beauty, It Hath Delivered Thee From Pride. Set The Allowance Against The Loss, And Thou Shalt Find No Loss Great; He Loses Little Or Nothing, That Reserves Himself.

Charity Feeds The Poor, So Does Pride; Charity Builds An Hospital, So Does Pride. In This They Differ: Charity Gives Her Glory To God; Pride Takes Her Glory From Man.

They Who Cannot Be Induced To Fear For Love Will Never Be Enforced To Love For Fear. Love Opens The Heart, Fear Shuts It; That Encourages, This Compels; And Victory Meets Encouragement, But Flees Compulsion.

I'll Ne'er Distrust My God For Cloth And Bread While Lilies Flourish And The Raven 's Fed.

Death Aims With Fouler Spiteat Fairer Marks.

Let The Greatest Part Of The News Thou Hearest Be The Least Part Of What Thou Believest, Lest The Greater Part Of What Thou Believest Be The Least Part Of What Is True.

Too Much Is A Vanity; Enough Is A Feast.

Socrates Called Beauty A Short-lived Tyranny; Plato, A Privilege Of Nature; Theophrastus, A Silent Cheat; Theocritus, A Delightful Prejudice; Carneades, A Solitary Kingdom; Aristotle, That It Was Better Than All The Letters Of Recommendation In The World; Homer, That It Was A Glorious Gift Of Nature; And Ovid, That It Was Favor Bestowed By The Gods.

In Giving Of Thy Alms, Inquire Not So Much Into The Person, As His Necessity. God Looks Not So Much Upon The Merits Of Him That Requires, As Into The Manner Of Him That Relieves; If The Man Deserve Not, Thou Hast Given It To Humanity.

If Thy Faith Have No Doubts, Thou Has Just Cause To Doubt Thy Faith; And If Thy Doubts Have No Hope, Thou Hast Just Reason To Fear Despair; When Therefore Thy Doubts Shall Exercise Thy Faith, Keep Thy Hopes Firm To Qualify Thy Doubts; So Shall Thy Faith Be Secured From Doubts; So Shall Thy Doubts Be Preserved From Despair.

Lust Is A Sharp Spur To Vice, Which Always Putteth The Affections Into A False Gallop.

Physicians, Of All Men, Are Most Happy; Whatever Good Success Soever They Have, The World Proclaimeth; And What Faults They Commit, The Earth Covereth.

Nor Fire, Nor Rocks, Can Stop Our Furious Minds, Nor Waves, Nor Winds.

Humility Enforces Where Neither Virtue Nor Strength Can Prevail, Nor Reason.

Let The Foundation Of Thy Affection Be Virtue, Then Make The Building As Rich As Glorious As Thou Canst; If The Foundation Be Beauty Or Wealth, And The Building Virtue, The Foundation Is Too Weak For The Building, And It Will Fall: Happy Is He, The Palace Of Whose Affection Is Founded Upon Virtue, Walled With Riches Glazed With Beauty, And Roofed With Honor.

Necessity Of Action Takes Away The Fear Of The Act, And Makes Bold Resolution The Favorite Of Fortune.

Thy Pride Is But The Prologue Of Thy Shame; Where Vain-glory Commands, There Folly Counsels; Where Pride Rides, There Shame Lackeys.

Gaze Not On Beauty Too Much, Lest It Blast Thee; Nor Too Long, Lest It Blind Thee; Nor Too Near, Lest It Burn Thee. If Thou Like It, It Deceives Thee; If Thou Love It, It Disturbs Thee; If Thou Hunt After It, It Destroys Thee. If Virtue Accompany It, It Is The Heart's Paradise; If Vice Associate It, It Is The Soul's Purgatory. It Is The Wise Man's Bonfire, And The Fool's Furnace.

Be Neither Too Early In The Fashion, Nor Too Long Out Of It, Nor Too Precisely In It; What Custom Hath Civilized Is Become Decent, Till Then Ridiculous; Where The Eye Is The Jury Thy Apparel Is The Evidence.

Toyish Airs Please Trivial Ears.

Let Grace Conduct Thee To The Paths Of Peace.

I See No Virtue Where I Smell No Sweat.

See, Here's A Shadow Found; The Human Nature Is Made Th' Umbrella To The Deity, To Catch The Sunbeams Of Thy Just Creator; Beneath This Covert Thou May'st Safely Lie.

Take Heed Thou Trust Not The Deceitful Lap Of Wanton Dalilah; The World's A Trap.

Think Not Thy Love To God Merits God's Love To Thee; His Acceptance Of Thy Duty Crowns His Own Gifts In Thee; Man's Love To God Is Nothing But A Faint Reflection Of God's Love To Man.

Afflictions Clarify The Soul.

Whosoever Obeyeth The Devil, Casteth Himself Down: For The Devil May Suggest, Compel He Cannot.

The Grave Is Sooner Cloy'd Than Men's Desire.

To Bear Adversity With An Equal Mind Is Both The Sign And Glory Of A Brave Spirit.

Make Philosophy Thy Journey, Theology Thy Journey's End: Philosophy Is A Pleasant Way, But Dangerous To Him That Either Tires Or Retires; In This Journey It Is Safe Neither To Loiter Nor To Rest, Till Thou Hast Attained Thy Journey's End; He That Sits Down A Philosopher Rises Up An Atheist.

If Thy Desire To Raise Thy Fortunes Encourage Thy Delights To The Casts Of Fortune, Be Wise Betimes, Lest Thou Repent Too Late; What Thou Gettest, Thou Gainest By Abused Providence; What Thou Losest, Thou Losest By Abused Patience; What Thou Winnest Is Prodigally Spent; What Thou Losest Is Prodigally Lost; It Is An Evil Trade That Prodigally Drives; And A Bad Voyage Where The Pilot Is Blind.

If Virtue Accompany It, It Is The Heart's Paradise; If Vice Associate It, It Is The Soul's Purgatory.

Be Wisely Worldly, But Not Worldly Wise.

My Soul, The Seas Are Rough, And Thou A Stranger In These False Coasts; O Keep Aloof; There's Danger; Cast Forth Thy Plummet; See, A Rock Appears; Thy Ships Want Sea-room; Make It With Thy Tears.

What Well-advised Ear Regards What Earth Can Say? Thy Words Are Gold, But Thy Rewards Are Painted Clay.

Pleasures Bring Effeminacy, And Effeminacy Foreruns Ruin; Such Conquests, Without Blood Or Sweat, Sufficiently Do Revenge Themselves Upon Their Intemperate Conquerors.

In Thy Apparel Avoid Singularity, Profuseness, And Gaudiness. Be Not Too Early In The Fashion, Nor Too Late. Decency Is Half Way Between Affectation And Neglect. The Body Is The Shell Of The Soul, Apparel Is The Husk Of That Shell; The Husk Often Tells You What The Kernel Is.

Temper Your Enjoyments With Prudence, Lest There Be Written On Your Heart That Fearful Word 'satiety.'

Money Is Both The Generation And Corruption Of Purchased Honor; Honor Is Both The Child And Slave Of Potent Money: The Credit Which Honor Hath Lost, Money Hath Found. When Honor Grew Mercenary, Money Grew Honorable. The Way To Be Truly Noble Is To Contemn Both.

Rather Do What Is Nothing To The Purpose Than Be Idle; That The Devil May Find Thee Doing. The Bird That Sits Is Easily Shot, When Fliers Scape The Fowler. Idleness Is The Dead Sea That Swallows All The Virtues, And The Self-made Sepulchre Of A Living Man.

Diogenes Found More Rest In His Tub Than Alexander On His Throne.

Obedience To Truth Known, Is The King's Highway To That Which Is Still Beyond Us.

If Thy Daughter Marry Well, Thou Hast Found A Son; If Not, Thou Hast Lost A Daughter.

Nothing Is More Pleasing To God Than An Open Hand, And A Closed Mouth.

Be Not Too Rash In The Breaking Of An Inconvenient Custom; As It Was Gotten, So Leave It By Degrees. Danger Attends Upon Too Sudden Alterations; He That Pulls Down A Bad Building By The Great May Be Ruined By The Fall, But He That Takes It Down Brick By Brick May Live To Build A Better.

Beware Of Him That Is Slow To Anger; For When It Is Long Coming, It Is The Stronger When It Comes, And The Longer Kept. Abused Patience Turns To Fury.

In The Commission Of Evil, Fear No Man So Much As Thyself; Another Is But One Witness Against Thee, Thou Art A Thousand; Another Thou Mayest Avoid, Thyself Thou Canst Not. Wickedness Is Its Own Punishment.

Afflictions Clarify The Soul; And Like Hard Masters, Give More Hard Directions, Tutoring The Non-age Of Uncurbed Affections.

When The Flesh Presents Thee With Delights, Then Present Thyself With Dangers; Where The World Possesses Thee With Vain Hopes, There Possess Thyself With True Fear; When The Devil Brings Thee Oil, Bring Thou Vinegar. The Way To Be Safe Is Never To Be Secure.

If God Send Thee A Cross, Take It Up Willingly And Follow Him. Use It Wisely, Lest It Be Unprofitable. Bear It Patiently, Lest It Be Intolerable. If It Be Light, Slight It Not. If It Be Heavy, Murmur Not. After The Cross Is The Crown.

Heaven Finds An Ear When Sinners Find A Tongue.

That Friendship Will Not Continue To The End Which Is Begun For An End.

Genuine Friends

He That Hath Promised Pardon On Our Repentance Hat Not Promised Life Till We Repent.

If Thou Hast No Inferiors, Have Patience Awhile, And Thou Shalt Have No Superiors. The Grave Requires No Marshal.

Having Patience

If Thou Expect Death As A Friend, Prepare To Entertain It; If Thou Expect Death As An Enemy, Prepare To Overcome It; Death Has No Advantage, But When It Comes A Stranger.

He That Hath No Cross Deserves No Crown.

Some Only Break Their Fast, And So Away: Others Stay To Dinner, And Depart Full Fed: The Deepest Age But Sups, And Goes To Bed: He's Most In Debt That Lingers Out The Day: Who Dies Betime, Has Less, And Less To Pay.

My Mind's My Kingdom.

Wisdom Not Only Gets, But Once Got, Retains.

Every Man's Vanity Ought To Be His Greatest Shame; And Every Man's Folly Ought To Be His Greatest Secret.

My Soul, Sit Thou A Patient Looker-on; Judge Not The Play Before The Play Is Done: Her Plot Hath Many Changes; Every Day Speaks A New Scene; The Last Act Crowns The Play

Be Very Vigilant Over Thy Child In The April Of His Understanding, Lest The Frost Of May Nip His Blossoms. While He Is A Tender Twig, Straighten Him; Whilst He Is A New Vessel, Season Him; Such As Thou Makest Him, Such Commonly Shall Thou Find Him. Let His First Lesson Be Obedience And His Second Shall Be What Thou Wilt.

The World's A Printing-house, Our Words, Our Thoughts, Our Deeds, Are Characters Of Several Sizes. Each Soul Is A Compos'tor, Of Whose Faults The Levites Are Correctors; Heaven Revises. Death Is The Common Press, From Whence Being Driven, We're Gather'd, Sheet By Sheet, And Bound For Heaven.

Make Thy Recreation Servant To Thy Business, Lest Thou Become A Slave To Thy Recreation.

Is Not This Lily Pure? What Fuller Can Procure A White So Perfect, Spotless Clear As In This Flower Doth Appear?

Borrow Neither Money Nor Time From Your Neighbor; Both Are Of Equal Value.

If Thou Be Rich, Strive To Command Thy Money, Lest It Command Thee.

To Fear Death Is The Way To Live Long; To Lie Afraid Of Death Is To Be Long A Dying.

I Wish Thee As Much Pleasure In The Reading, As I Had In The Writing.

Demean Thyself More Warily In Thy Study Than In The Street. If Thy Public Actions Have A Hundred Witnesses, Thy Private Have A Thousand. The Multitude Looks But Upon Thy Actions; Thy Conscience Looks Into Them: The Multitude May Chance To Excuse Thee, If Not Acquit Thee; Thy Conscience Will Accuse Thee, If Not Condemn Thee.

Seest Thou Good Days? Prepare For Evil Times. No Summer But Hath Its Winter. He Never Reaped Comfort In Adversity That Sowed Not In Prosperity.

Heaven Is Never Deaf But When Man's Heart Is Dumb.

Luxury Is An Enticing Pleasure, A Bastard Mirth, Which Hath Honey In Her Mouth, Gall In Her Heart, And A Sting In Her Tail.

Let The Words Of A Virgin, Though In A Good Cause, And To As Good Purpose, Be Neither Violent, Many, Nor First, Nor Last; It Is Less Shame For A Virgin To Be Lost In A Blushing Silence Than To Be Found In A Bold Eloquence.

Sweet Tastes Have Sour Closes; And He Repents On Thorns That Sleeps In Beds Of Roses.

Put Off Thy Cares With Thy Clothes; So Shall Thy Rest Strengthen Thy Labour, And So Shall Thy Labour Sweeten Thy Rest.

No Man's Condition Is So Base As His; None More Accurs'd Than He; For Man Esteems Him Hateful, 'cause He Seems Not What He Is; God Hates Him, 'cause He Is Not What He Seems; What Grief Is Absent, Or What Mischief Can Be Added To The Hate Of God And Man?

Anger May Repast With Thee For An Hour, But Not Repose For A Night; The Continuance Of Anger Is Hatred, The Continuance Of Hatred Turns Malice.

Let All Thy Joys Be As The Month Of May,and All Thy Days Be As A Marriage Day.

Be Not Too Great A Niggard In The Commendations Of Him That Professes Thy Own Quality: If He Deserve Thy Praise, Thou Hast Discovered Thy Judgment; If Not, Thy Modesty: Honor Either Returns Or Reflects To The Giver.

Death's A Fable. Did Not Heaven Inspire Your Equal Elements With Living Fire Blown From The Spring Of Life? Is Not That Breath Immortal? Come; Ye Are As Free From Death As He That Made Ye: Can The Flames Expire Which He Kindled?

The Place Of Charity, Like That Of God, Is Everywhere.

Poor Thieves In Halters We Behold; And Great Thieves In Their Chains Of Gold.

How Is The Anxious Soul Of Man Befool'd In His Desire, That Thinks An Hectic Fever May Be Cool'd In Flames Of Fire?

Charity Is A Naked Child, Giving Honey To A Bee Without Wings.

Yet, Sluggard, Wake, And Gull Thy Soul No More With Earth's False Pleasures, And The World's Delight, Whose Fruit Is Fair And Pleasing To The Sight, But Sour In Taste, False As The Putrid Core: Thy Flaring Glass Is Gems At Her Half Light; She Makes Thee Seeming Rich, But Truly Poor: She Boasts A Kernel, And Bestows A Shell; Performs An Inch Of Her Fair-promis'd Ell: Her Words Protest A Heav'n; Her Works Produce A Hell.

Things Temporal Are Sweeter In The Expectation, Things Eternal Are Sweeter In The Fruition; The First Shames Thy Hope, The Second Crowns It; It Is A Vain Journey, Whose End Affords Less Pleasure Than The Way.

Immortal Life Is Something To Be Earned, By Slow Self-conquest, Comradeship With Pain, And Patient Seeking After Higher Truths.

If Thou Desire The Love Of God And Man, Be Humble, For The Proud Heart, As It Loves None But Itself, Is Beloved Of None But Itself. Humility Enforces Where Neither Virtue, Nor Strength, Nor Reason Can Prevail.

Gold Is Caesar's Treasure, Man Is God's; Thy Gold Hath Caesar's Image, And Thou Hast God's.

Has Fortune Dealt You Some Bad Cards. Then Let Wisdom Make You A Good Gamester.

Though Virtue Give A Ragged Livery, She Gives A Golden Cognizance; If Her Service Make Thee Poor, Blush Not. Thy Poverty May Disadvantage Thee, But Not Dishonor Thee.

He That Discovers Himself, Till He Hath Made Himself Master Of His Desires, Lays Himself Open To His Own Ruin, And Makes Himself Prisoner To His Own Tongue.

Be Not Too Slow In The Breaking Of A Sinful Custom; A Quick, Courageous Resolution Is Better Than A Gradual Deliberation; In Such A Combat He Is The Bravest Soldier That Lays About Him Without Fear Or Wit. Wit Pleads, Fear Disheartens; He That Would Kill Hydra Had Better Strike Off One Neck Than Five Heads: Fell The Tree, And The Branches Are Soon Cut Off.

It Is A Most Just Punishment, That Man Should Lose That Freedom, Which Man Could Not Use, Yet Had Power To Keep, If He Would; And That He Who Had Knowledge To Do What Was Right, And Did Not Should Be Deprived Of The Knowledge Of What Was Right; And That He Who Would Not Do Righteously, When He Had The Power, Should Lose The Power To Do It, When He Had The Will.

Meditation Is The Life Of The Soul: Action, The Soul Of Meditation; And Honor The Reward Of Action.

Shine Son Of Glory, And My Sinnes Are Gonelike Twinkling Starres Before The Rising Sunne.

The Birds Of The Air Die To Sustain Thee; The Beasts Of The Field Die To Nourish Thee; The Fishes Of The Sea Die To Feed Thee. Our Stomachs Are Their Common Sepulchre. Good God! With How Many Deaths Are Our Poor Lives Patched Up! How Full Of Death Is The Life Of Momentary Man!

The Suburbs Of Folly Is Vain Mirth, And Profuseness Of Laughter Is The City Of Fools.

Before Thou Reprehend Another, Take Heed Thou Art Not Culpable In What Thou Goest About To Reprehend. He That Cleanses A Blot With Blotted Fingers Makes A Greater Blur.

Thy Ignorance In Unrevealed Mysteries Is The Mother Of A Saving Faith, And Thy Understanding In Revealed Truths Is The Mother Of A Sacred Knowledge; Understand Not Therefore That Thou Mayest Believe, But Believe That Thou Mayest Understand; Understanding Is The Wages Of A Lively Faith And Faith Is The Reward Of An Humble Ignorance.

The Light Of The Understanding, Humility Kindleth And Pride Covereth.

The Height Of All Philosophy Is To Know Thyself; And The End Of This Knowledge Is To Know God.

It Is No Happiness To Live Long, Nor Unhappiness To Die Soon; Happy Is He That Hath Lived Long Enough To Die Well.

Mark, How The Ready Hands Of Death Prepare: His Bow Is Bent, And He Hath Notch'd His Dart; He Aims, He Levels At Thy Slumb'ring Heart: The Wound Is Posting, O Be Wise, Beware.

If Thou Desire To Be Held Wise, Be So Wise As To Hold Thy Tongue.

We Sack, We Ransack To The Utmost Sands Of Native Kingdoms, And Of Foreign Lands: We Travel Sea And Soil; We Pry, And Prowl, We Progress, And We Prog From Pole To Pole.

Read Not Books Alone, But Men, And Amongst Them Chiefly Thyself. If Thou Find Anything Questionable There, Use The Commentary Of A Severe Friend, Rather Than The Gloss Of A Sweet-lipped Flatterer There Is More Profit In A Distasteful Truth Than In Deceitful Sweetness.

And What's A Life? - A Weary Pilgrimage, Whose Glory In One Day Doth Fill The Stage With Childhood, Manhood, And Decrepit Age.

Heav'n Is Not Always Got By Running.

Alas! Fond Child, How Are Thy Thoughts Beguil'd To Hope For Honey From A Nest Of Wasps? Thou May'st As Well Go Seek For Ease In Hell, Or Sprightly Nectar From The Mouths Of Asps. The World's A Hive, From Whence Thou Canst Derive No Good, But What Thy Soul's Vexation Brings: But Case Thou Meet Some Petty-petty Sweet, Each Drop Is Guarded With A Thousand Stings.

What Money Creates, Money Preserves: If Thy Wealth Decays, Thy Honor Dies; It Is But A Slippery Happiness Which Fortunes Can Give, And Frowns Can Take; And Not Worth The Owning Which A Night's Fire Can Melt, Or A Rough Sea Can Drown.

Reason Can Discover Things Only Near,--sees Nothing That's Above Her.

Virtue Is Nothing But An Act Of Loving That Which Is To Be Beloved, And That Act Is Prudence, From Whence Not To Be Removed By Constraint Is Fortitude; Not To Be Allured By Enticements Is Temperance; Not To Be Diverted By Pride Is Justice.

The Heart Is A Small Thing, But Desireth Great Matters. It Is Not Sufficient For A Kite's Dinner, Yet The Whole World Is Not Sufficient For It.

Before Thy Undertaking Of Any Design, Weigh The Glory Of Thy Action With The Danger Of The Attempt; If The Glory Outweigh The Danger, It Is Cowardice To Neglect It; If The Danger Exceed The Glory, It Is Rashness To Attempt It; If The Balances Stand Poised, Let Thy Own Genius Cast Them.

The Strong Desires Of Man's Insatiate Breast May Stand Possess'd Of All That Earth Can Give; But Earth Can Give No Rest.

Becoming Fearless Isn't The Point. That's Impossible. It's Learning How To Control Your Fear, How To Be Free From It, That's The Point. Necessity Of Action Takes Away The Fear Of The Act, And Makes Bold Resolution The Favorite Of Fortune.

The Average Person's Ear Weighs What You Are, Not What You Were.

Scandal Breeds Hatred; Hatred Begets Division; Division Makes Faction, And Faction Brings Ruin.

A Despairing Heart Is The True Prophet Of Approaching Evil; His Actions May Weave The Webs Of Fortune, But Not Break Them.

If Thou Desire Not To Be Poor, Desire Not To Be Too Rich. He Is Rich, Not That Possesses Much, But He That Covets No More; And He Is Poor, Not That Enjoys Little, But He That Wants Too Much. The Contented Mind Wants Nothing Which It Hath Not; The Covetous Mind Wants, Not Only What It Hath Not, But Likewise What It Hath.

Of All The Difficulties In A State, The Temper Of A True Government Most Felicifies And Perpetuates It; Too Sudden Alterations Distemper It. Had Nero Tuned His Kingdom As He Did His Harp, His Harmony Had Been More Honorable, And His Reign More Prosperous.

Fear Nothing But What Thy Industry May Prevent; Be Confident Of Nothing But What Fortune Cannot Defeat; It Is No Less Folly To Fear What Is Impossible To Be Avoided Than To Be Secure When There Is A Possibility To Be Deprived.

God Is Alpha And Omega In The Great World: Endeavor To Make Him So In The Little World; Make Him Thy Evening Epilogue And Thy Morning Prologue; Practice To Make Him Thy Last Thought At Night When Thou Sleepest, And Thy First Thought In The Morning When Thou Awakest; So Shall Thy Fancy Be Sanctified In The Night, And Thy Understanding Rectified In The Day; So Shall Thy Rest Be Peaceful, Thy Labors Prosperous, Thy Life Pious, And Thy Death Glorious.

Sin Is A Basilisk Whose Eyes Are Full Of Venom. If The Eye Of Thy Soul See Her First, It Reflects Her Own Poison And Kills Her; If She See Thy Soul, Unseen, Or Seen Too Late, With Her Poison, She Kills Thee: Since Therefore Thou Canst Not Escape Thy Sin, Let Not Thy Sin Escape Thy Observation.

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.

The World Is Deceitful; Her End Is Doubtful, Her Conclusion Is Horrible, Her Judge Terrible, And Her Judgment Is Intolerable.

Our God And Souldiers We Alike Adore,evn At The Brink Of Danger; Not Before:after Deliverance, Both Alike Required;our Gods Forgotten, And Our Souldiers Slighted.

The Fountain Of Beauty Is The Heart And Every Generous Thought Illustrates The Walls Of Your Chamber.

If Thou Desire To See Thy Child Virtuous, Let Him Not See His Father's Vices: Thou Canst Not Rebuke That In Them, That They Behold Practised In Thee; Till Reason Be Ripe, Examples Direct More Than Precepts: Such As Thy Behaviour Is Before Thy Children's Faces, Such Commonly Is Theirs Behind Their Parents' Backs.

Wouldst Thou Multiply Thy Riches? Diminish Them Wisely; Or Wouldst Thou Make Thy Estate Entire? Divide It Charitably. Seeds That Are Scattered Increase; But, Hoarded Up, They Perish.

Whose Gold Is Double With A Careful Hand, His Cares Are Double.

If Thou Neglectest Thy Love To Thy Neighbor, In Vain Thou Professest Thy Love To God; For By Thy Love To God, The Love To Thy Neighbor Is Begotten, And By The Love To Thy Neighbor Thy Love To God Is Nourished.

Knowledge Descries; Wisdom Applies.

Prize Not Thyself By What Thou Hast, But By What Thou Art; He That Values A Jewel By Her Golden Frame, Or A Book By Her Silver Clasps, Or A Man By His Vast Estate, Errs; If Thou Art Not Worth More Than The World Can Make Thee, Thy Redeemer Had A Bad Pennyworth, Or Thou An Uncurious Redeemer.

Let The Fear Of A Danger Be A Spur To Prevent It; He That Fears Not Gives Advantage To The Danger; It Is Less Folly Not To Endeavor The Prevention Of The Evil Thou Fearest Than To Fear The Evil Which Thy Endeavor Cannot Prevent.

Use Law And Physic Only For Necessity; They That Use Them Otherwise Abuse Themselves Unto Weak Bodies, And Light Purses; They Are Good Remedies, Bad Businesses, And Worse Recreations.

Sin, When It Is Finished, Bringeth Forth Death.

The Way To Bliss Lies Not On Beds Of Down, And He That Had No Cross Deserves No Crown.

Mercy Turns Her Back To The Unmerciful.

The Way To Subject All Things To Thyself Is To Subject Thyself To Reason; Thou Shalt Govern Many, If Reason Govern Thee. Wouldst Thou Be Crowned The Monarch Of A Little World? Command Thyself.

As There Is No Worldly Gain Without Some Loss, So There Is No Worldly Loss Without Some Gain.... Set The Allowance Against The Loss, And Thou Shalt Find No Loss Great.

If Opinion Hath Lighted The Lamp Of Thy Name, Endeavor To Encourage It With Thy Own Oil, Lest It Go Out And Stink; The Chronical Disease Of Popularity Is Shame; If Thou Be Once Up, Beware; From Fame To Infamy Is A Beaten Road.

Sweet Phosphor, Bring The Daywhose Conquering Raymay Chase These Fogs;sweet Phosphor, Bring The Day!sweet Phosphor, Bring The Day!light Will Repaythe Wrongs Of Night;sweet Phosphor, Bring The Day!

Of All Vices Take Heed Of Drunkenness; Other Vices Are But Fruits Of Disordered Affections--this Disorders, Nay, Banishes Reason; Other Vices But Impair The Soul--this Demolishes Her Two Chief Faculties, The Understanding And The Will; Other Vices Make Their Own Way--this Makes Way For All Vices; He That Is A Drunkard Is Qualified For All Vice.

Let The Fear Of A Danger Be A Spur To Prevent It.

Wickedness Is Its Own Punishment.

O Who Would Trust This World, Or Prize What's In It, That Gives And Takes, And Chops And Changes, Ev'ry Minute?

If You Desire To Be Magnanimous, Undertake Nothing Rashly, And Fear Nothing Thou Undertakest; Fear Nothing But Infamy; Dare Anything But Injury; The Measure Of Magnanimity Is Neither To Be Rash Nor Timorous.

The Slender Debt To Nature's Quickly Paid,discharged, Perchance, With Greater Ease Than Made.

Other Vices Make Their Own Way; This Makes Way For All Vices. He That Is A Drunkard Is Qualified For All Vice.

In All Thy Actions Think God Sees Thee; And In All His Actions Labor To See Him; That Will Make Thee Fear Him; This Will Move Thee To Love Him; The Fear Of God Is The Beginning Of Knowledge, And The Knowledge Of God Is The Perfection Of Love.

Flatter Not Thyself In Thy Faith To God, If Thou Wantest Charity For Thy Neighbor; And Think Not Thou Halt Charity For Thy Neighbor, If Thou Wantest Faith To God; Where They Are Not Both Together, They Are Both Wanting; They Are Both Dead, If Once Divided.

For Trash And Toys, And Grief-engend'ring Joys, What Torment Seems Too Sharp For Flesh And Blood; What Bitter Pills, Compos'd Of Real Ills, Men Swallow Down To Purchase One False Good!

Hath Any Wounded Thee With Injuries? Meet Them With Patience. Hasty Words Rankle The Wound; Soft Language Dresses It.

If Thou Seest Anything In Thyself Which May Make Thee Proud, Look A Little Further And Thou Shalt Find Enough To Humble Thee; If Thou Be Wise, View The Peacock's Feathers With His Feet, And Weigh Thy Best Parts With Thy Imperfections.

O Lust, Thou Infernal Fire, Whose Fuel Is Gluttony; Whose Flame Is Pride, Whose Sparkles Are Wanton Words; Whose Smoke Is Infamy; Whose Ashes Are Uncleanness; Whose End Is Hell.

Even Such Is Man, Whose Glory Lendshis Life A Blaze Or Two, And Ends.

Even As The Needle That Directs The Hour, (touched With The Loadstone) By The Secret Power Of Hidden Nature, Points Upon The Pole; Even So The Wavering Powers Of My Soul, Touch'd By The Virtue Of Thy Spirit, Flee From What Is Earth, And Point Alone To Thee.

Proportion Thy Charity To The Strength Of Thine Estate, Lest God Proportion Thine Estate To The Weakness Of Thy Charity. Let The Lips Of The Poor Be The Trumpet Of Thy Gift, Lest In Seeking Applause, Thou Lose Thy Reward. Nothing Is More Pleasing To God Than An Open Hand And A Closed Mouth.

Neutrality Is Dangerous, Whereby Thou Becomest A Necessary Prey To The Conqueror.

My Soul, What's Lighter Than A Feather? Wind. Than Wind? The Fire. And What Than Fire? The Mind. What's Lighter Than The Mind? A Thought. Than Thought? This Bubble World. What Than This Bubble? Nought.

If Thou Desire To Purchase Honor With Thy Wealth, Consider First How That Wealth Became Thine; If Thy Labor Got It, Let Thy Wisdom Keep It; If Oppression Found It, Let Repentance Restore It; If Thy Parent Left It, Let Thy Virtues Deserve It; So Shall Thy Honor Be Safer, Better And Cheaper.

So Use Prosperity, That Adversity May Not Abuse Thee: If In The One, Security Admits No Fears, In The Other, Despair Will Afford No Hopes; He That In Prosperity Can Foretell A Danger Can In Adversity Foresee Deliverance.

The World's An Inn; And I Her Guest.

Be As Far From Desiring The Popular Love As Fearful To Deserve The Popular Hate; Ruin Dwells In Both: The One Will Hug Thee To Death; The Other Will Crush Thee To Destruction: To Escape The First, Be Not Ambitious; To Avoid The Second, Be Not Seditious.

Wouldst Thou Know The Lawfulness Of The Action Which Thou Desirest To Undertake, Let Thy Devotion Recommend It To Divine Blessing: If It Be Lawful, Thou Shalt Perceive Thy Heart Encouraged By Thy Prayer; If Unlawful, Thou Shalt Find Thy Prayer Discouraged By Thy Heart. That Action Is Not Warrantable Which Either Blushes To Beg A Blessing, Or, Having Succeeded, Dares Not Present A Thanksgiving.

Lust Is An Immoderate Wantonness Of The Flesh, A Sweet Poison, A Cruel Pestilence; A Pernicious Poison, Which Weakeneth The Body Of Man, And Effeminateth The Strength Of The Heroic Mind.

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Augustine Birrell

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