Great Throughts Treasury

"Of the blessings set before you make your choice, and be content."

"Of riches it is not necessary to write the praise. Let it, however, be remembered that he who has money to spare has it always in his power to benefit others, and of such power a good man must always be desirous."

"Old Times have bequeathed us a precept, to be merry and wise, but who has been able to observe it?"

"Old age is not a disease - it is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kinds of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses."

"Of him that hopes to be forgiven it is required that he forgive. - On this great duty eternity is suspended; and to him that refuses to practice it the throne of mercy is inaccessible, and the Saviour of the world has been born in vain."

"One cause, which is not always observed, of the insufficiency of riches, is that they very seldom make their owner rich."

"One of the amusements of idleness is reading without the fatigue of close attention, and the world, therefore, swarms with writers whose wish is not to be studied but to be read."

"One ought to read just as inclination takes him, for what he reads as a task will do him little good."

"Our aspirations are our possibilities."

"One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts."

"Order is a lovely nymph, the child of beauty and wisdom; her attendants are comfort, neatness, and activity; her abode is the valley of happiness: she is always to be found when sought for, and never appears so lovely as when contrasted with her opponent, disorder."

"Our tastes greatly alter. The lad does not care for the child's rattle, and the old man does not care for the young man's whore."

"Our desires always increase with our possessions. The knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed impairs our enjoyment of the good before us."

"Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats, And ask no questions but the price of votes."

"Our senses, our appetite, and our passions are our lawful and faithful guides in things that relate solely to this life."

"Paradise Lost is a book that, once put down, is very hard to pick up again."

"Painting can illustrate, but cannot inform."

"Particles of science are often very widely scattered, and writers of extensive comprehension have incidental remarks upon topics remote from the principal subject, which are often more valuable than former treatises, and which are not known because not promised in the title. He that collects these is very laudably employed, as he facilitates the progress of others, and by making that easy of attainment which is already written, may give some adventurous mind leisure for new thoughts and original designs."

"Passion, in its first violence, controls interest, as the eddy for a while runs against the stream."

"Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is repaid in flattery."

"Poetry cannot be translated; and, therefore, it is the poets that preserve languages; for we would not be at the trouble to learn a language if we could have all that is written in it just as well in a translation. But as the beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written, we learn the language."

"Peevishness may be considered the canker of life, that destroys its vigor, and checks its improvement; that creeps on with hourly depredations, and taints and vitiates what it cannot consume."

"Piety is the only proper and adequate relief of decaying man. He that grows old without religious hopes, as he declines into imbecility, and feels pains and sorrows crowding upon him, falls into a gulf of bottomless misery, in which every reflection must plunge him deeper and deeper."

"People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed."

"Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations from seeing a creature in distress, without pity; but we have not pity unless we wish to relieve his. When I am on my way to dine with a friend, and, finding it late, bid the coachman make haste, when he whips his horses I may feel unpleasantly that the animals are put to pain, but I do not wish him to desist; no, sir; I wish him to drive on."

"Penal laws - by which every man's danger becomes every man's safety, and by which, though all are restrained, yet all are benefited."

"People in distress never think that you feel enough."

"Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. The flowers which scatter their odours from time to time in the paths of life, grow up without culture from seeds scattered by chance."

"Pleasure is in general, dangerous and pernicious to virtue. - To be able, therefore, to furnish pleasure that is harmless and pure and unalloyed, is as great a power as man can possess."

"Pleasure of itself is not a vice."

"Poetry, indeed, cannot be translated; and, therefore, it is the poets that preserve the languages; for we would not be at the trouble to learn a language if we could have all that is written in it just as well in a translation. But as the beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written, we learn the language."

"Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth."

"Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil."

"Politeness is fictitious benevolence. It supplies the place of it among those who see each other only in public, or but little. The want of it never fails to produce something disagreeable to one or other."

"Prepare for death, if here at night you roam, and sign your will before you sup from home."

"Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument"

"Poverty is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the task of many people to conceal their neediness from others. Consequently they support themselves by temporary means, and every day is lost in contriving for tomorrow."

"Poverty, in large cities, has very different appearances. It is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the care of a great part of mankind to conceal their indigence from the rest. They support themselves by temporary expedients, and every day is lost in contriving for tomorrow."

"Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity. It becomes cheap as it becomes vulgar, and will no longer raise expectation or animate enterprise."

"Power is not sufficient evidence of truth."

"Pride is a vice, which pride itself inclines every man to find in others, and to overlook in himself."

"Present opportunities are neglected, and attainable good is slighted, by minds busied in extensive ranges and intent upon future advantages."

"Pride is seldom delicate, it will please itself with very mean advantages; and envy feels not its own happiness, but when it may be compared with the misery of others."

"Prosperity is too apt to prevent us from examining our conduct; but adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is most beneficial to us."

"Pride is seldom delicate: it will please itself with very mean advantages."

"Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement."

"Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen."

"Prosperity's right hand is industry, and her left hand is frugality."

"Prudence is an attitude that keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy."

"Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy."