INTRODUCTION. Of the variety of books of this nature that are published, most of them are filled with trivial matter, that affords little instruction or improvement. In this volume it is intended that nothing should find a place that is not fitted to improve the intellect or the heart, or both-nothing that will not tend to make the reader both wiser and better. The proverbs, maxims and ethical sentences contained in this volume are the best thoughts of the best authors. Many of them are real pearls of beauty and of worth, showing how deeply and thoroughly their authors studied the problem of life, and the reader will find many a gem of thought, many a wise saying, spoken by wise men. The reader will also readily perceive that they are free from all sectarian bias; and may be read with pleasure and profit by all classes of men, irrespective of creed or faith. And, as "Proverbial Wisdom teaches more in one hour than a large volume of morality in a season," I cannot but hope that good result will follow. May this volume be judged indulgently, and meet with favorable reception; and may these gleanings be read with delight and profit. A. N. COLEMAN. NEW YORK, March, 1899. PROVERBIAL WISDOM. CHAPTER I. CONTENTMENT AND HAPPINESS. Much will always wanting be To him who much desires. Thrice happy he Cowley. 1. For evil there is a remedy, or there is not; if there is one, I try to find it; and if there is not, I never mind it. Miss Mulock. 2. It is a good thing to laugh, at any rate; and if a straw can tickle a man, it is an instrument of happiness. weep when they suffer, but they cannot laugh. Beasts can Dryden. 3. Those who complain most are most to be complained of. Matthew Henry. 4. The world would be both better and brighter if we would dwell on the duty of happiness, as well as on the happiness of Sir J. Lubbock. duty. 5. Few things are needful to make the wise man happy, but nothing satisfies the fool; and this is the reason why so many of mankind are miserable. La Rochefoucauld. 6. If all men were to bring their miseries together in one place, most would be glad to take each his own home again rather than take a portion out of the common stock. Solon. 7. There is nothing in the world so much. admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage. Seneca. 8. Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast; but of the things thou hast, select the best, and reflect how eagerly they would have been sought, if thou hadst them not. Marcus Aurelius. 9. Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. Franklin. 10. Demand not that events should happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well. Epictetus. |