Chapter 1
Life and Literature.
by J. Purver Richardson.
PREFACE
Good sir, or madam, whosoever thou mayest be, to whom this volume shall come, cast it not aside, but read it. Its quaint, curious, and helpful selections have been gathered through many years of careful research on both sides of the Atlantic. They will make thee wiser and better, and will conduce to the growth of thy mind, and the health of thy body. Let this book be to thee a magazine of literary food, of which thou shalt partake, and which thou shalt a.s.similate and digest to the constant increase of thy well being.
The gathering of this bouquet of literary gems has been a work of pleasure, but the compiler shall say nothing of himself for, "the least that one can say of himself is still too much."
LIFE AND LITERATURE
A
1
_Abilities_--No man's abilities are so remarkably s.h.i.+ning, as not to stand in need of a proper opportunity, a patron, and even the praises of a friend, to recommend them to the notice of the world.
--_Pliny._
2
Absence, with all its pains, Is by this charming moment wip'd away.
3
Abuse is the weapon of the vulgar.
--_Goodrich._
4
It is told of Admiral Collingwood that on his travels he carried a bag of acorns, and dropped one wherever there seemed a likely spot for an oak to grow, that England might never lack s.h.i.+ps.
--_English Newspaper._
5
_Acquaintances_--It is easy to make acquaintances, but sometimes difficult to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are found, after we have once committed ourselves to them.
6
Acquaintance softens prejudices.
7
Many persons I once thought great, dwindle into very small dimensions, on a short acquaintance.
--_Bacon._
8
Speak out in acts, the time for words Has pa.s.sed, and deeds alone suffice.
--_Shakespeare._
9
All may do what has by Man been done.
--_Young._
10
An act, by which we make one friend, and one enemy, is a losing game; because revenge is a much stronger principle than grat.i.tude.
11
All the world practices the art of acting.
--_Petronius Arbiter._
12
Do what you can, when you cannot do what you would.
13
A good action performed in this world receives its recompense in the other, just as water poured at the root of a tree appears again above in fruit and flower.