Submit, and own yourselves our slaves; To sit still only while he steers, * Knew nothing of the card, nor star, W'enjoy as large a pow'r unseen, Hudibras, The Lady's Answer. BUT for thee I had persisted happy: had not thy pride Not to be trusted; longing to be seen, Mankind? This mischief had not then befallen, By parents; or his happier choice too late Which infinite calamity shall cause To human life, and household peace confound. Paradise Lost, Book X. CONTENT. THERE is a jewel which no Indian mine can buy, It makes men rich in greatest poverty, WILBYE. Madrigals. ART thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers? Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplex'd? Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vex'd Honest labour bears a lovely face; Then hey noney, noney, hey noney, noney. Canst drink the waters of the crispèd spring? Swimmest thou in wealth, yet sinkest in thine own tears? Then he that patiently wants burden bears, O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content! Honest labour bears a lovely face; Then hey noney, noney, hey noney, noney. T. DEKKER. Patient Grissell. THE fountain of content * must spring up in the mind; and he who has so little knowledge of human nature, as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he purposes to remove. DR. JOHNSON. CONSIDER not things absent as if they were already present, but out of the present choose such things as are most agreeable, and remember how greatly they would have been missed had they not been present. Take care however that by this contentment, thou are not gradually induced to set thy heart upon those things, so as to be disturbed at any time if they should be wanting. MARCUS ANTONINUS. * When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. ROCHEFOUCAULD. He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances. HUME. To be anxious for nothing but what Nature demands as necessary, if it is not the way to an estate, is the way to what men aim at by getting an estate. Spectator, No. 143. WHEN you have pared away all the vanity, what solid and natural contentment does then remain, which may not be had with five hundred pounds a year ? Anne Bullen. VERILY, I swear, 'tis better to be lowly born, Old Lady. Is our best having. Our content COWLEY. Henry VIII. Act II., s. 3. PEACE, muttering thoughts and do not grudge to keep Who cannot on his own bed sweetly sleep, Can on another's hardly rest. Gad not abroad at every quest and call Of an untrained hope or passion : To court each place or fortune that doth fall, G. HERBERT. TRAVELLING. THE real use of travelling to distant countries, and of studying the annals of past times, is to preserve men from the contraction of mind* which those can hardly escape whose whole communion is with one generation, and in one neighbourhood; who arrive at conclusions by means of an induction not sufficiently copious, and who therefore constantly confound exceptions with rules, and accidents with essential properties. MACAULAY. Essays. BOSWELL. Life of Johnson. Jaques. I PR'YTHEE, pretty youth, let me be better acquainted with thee. Rosalind. They say you are a melancholy fellow. * Valentine. Cease to persuade, my loving Proteus; Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act I., s. 1. Ros. Those that are in extremity of either, are abominable fellows; and betray themselves to every modern censure, worse than drunkards. Jaq. Why, 'tis good to be sad and say nothing. Ros. Why, then, 'tis good to be a post. Jaq. I have neither the scholar's melancholy, which is emulation; nor the musician's, which is fantastical; nor the courtier's, which is proud; nor the soldier's, which is ambitious; nor the lawyer's, which is politic; nor the lady's, which is nice; nor the lover's, which is all these: but it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects; and, indeed, the sundry contemplation of my travels, in which my often rumination wraps me, in a most humorous sadness. Ros. A traveller! By my faith, you have great reason to be sad: I fear you have sold your own lands, to see other men's; then, to have seen much, and to have nothing, is to have rich eyes and poor hands. Jaq. Yes, I have gained my experience. Enter ORLANDO. Ros. And your experience makes you sad; I had rather have a fool to make me merry, than experience to make me sad; and to travel for it too. Orl. Good day, and happiness, dear Rosalind! Jaq. Nay, then, God be wi' you, an you talk in blank verse. [Exit. Ros. Farewell, monsieur traveller. Look, you lisp, and wear strange suits; disable all the benefits of your own country; be out of love with your nativity, and almost chide God for making you that countenance you are, or I will scarce think you have swam in a gondola. As You Like It, Act IV. As the Spanish proverb says, "He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him," so it is in travelling; a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge. DR. JOHNSON. THE bee, though it finds every rose has a thorn, comes back loaded with honey from his rambles, and why should not other tourists do the same. SAM SLICK. |