work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
7097,"",Reading,2011-09-16 20:19:28 UTC,"It is a main point to take Care that we propose nothing but what is Hopeful, and Honest. For it will be equally troublesome to us, either not to succeed, or to be asham'd of the Success. Wherefore, Let us be sure not to admit any Ill Design into our Heart; that we may lift up pure Hands to Heaven, and ask nothing which another shall be a Loser by. Let us pray for a Good Mind, which is a Wish to no Man's Injury. I will Remember always that I am a Man, and then consider, that if I am Happy, it will not last Always; if Unhappy, I may be other if I please. I will carry my Life in my Hand, and deliver it up readily when it shall be call'd for. I will have a care of being a Slave to my self; for it is a Perpetual, a Shameful, and the heaviest of all Servitudes; and this may be done by moderate Desires. I will say to my self, What is it that I Labour, Sweat, and Sollicit for, when it is but very little that I want, and it will not be long that I shall need any thing?
(Chapter V, pp. 134-5)",,19181,"Actually, first created 2004-09-21, -- realized this was L'Estrange's rewriting (can't find corresponding passage in other translation and moved entry here. First located reading collections of quotations on the internet.
Added Title, Year of Publication, and context - PNH.
Reviewed 2006-10-30","""I will have a care of being a Slave to my self; for it is a Perpetual, a Shameful, and the heaviest of all Servitudes; and this may be done by moderate Desires.""",Fetters,2011-09-16 20:56:30 UTC,Chapter V
7097,"",Reading in Google Books,2011-09-20 14:42:00 UTC,"In all our Undertakings, let us first examine our own Strength; the Enterprise next; and Thirdly, the Persons with whom we have to do. The first Point is most Important; for, we are apt to over-value our selves, and reckon, that we can do more than indeed we can. One Man sets up for a Speaker, and is out, as soon as he opens his Mouth; another over-charges his Estate perhaps, or his Body: A Bashful Man is not fit for Publick Business: some again are too Stiff, and Peremptory for the Court: Many People are apt to fly out in their Anger; nay, and in a Frolick too, if any sharp Thing fall in their way, they'll rather venture a Neck, than lose a Jest. These People had better be quiet in the World, than busie. Let him that is naturally Cholerick, and Impatient, avoid all Provocations, and those Affairs also, that multiply and draw on more; and those also from which there is no Retreat. When we may come off at Pleasure, and fairly hope to bring our Matters to a Period, 'tis well enough. If it so happen, that a Man be ty'd up to Business, which he can neither loosen, nor break off; let him imagine those Shackles upon his Mind to be Irons upon his Legs: They are Troublesome at first, but when there's no Remedy but Patience, Custom makes them easie to us, and Necessity gives us Courage. We are all Slaves to Fortune; some only in loose and Golden Chains, others in streight ones, and Coarser: Nay, and they that bind us, are Slaves too themselves; some to Honour, others to Wealth; some to Offices, others to Contempt; some to their Superiors, others to themselves: Nay, Life it self is a Servitude: Let us make the best on't then, and with our Philosophy mend our Fortune. Difficulties may be softned, and heavy Burthens Dispos'd of to our Ease. Let us Covet nothing out of our Reach, but content our selves with things hopeful, and at hand; and without Envying the Advantages of others: For Greatness stands upon a Craggy Precipice, and 'tis much Safer and Quieter living upon a Level. How many Great Men are forc'd to keep their Station upon mere Necessity; because they find there's no coming down from it but headlong? These Men should do well to fortifie themselves against ill Consequences, by such Virtues and Meditations, as may make them less sollicitous for the future. The surest Expedient in this Case is to bound our Desires, and to leave nothing to Fortune which we may keep in our own Power. Neither will this Course wholly compose us, but it shews us, at worst, the end of our Troubles.
(pp. 132-4)",,19187,"","""If it so happen, that a Man be ty'd up to Business, which he can neither loosen, nor break off; let him imagine those Shackles upon his Mind to be Irons upon his Legs: They are Troublesome at first, but when there's no Remedy but Patience, Custom makes them easie to us, and Necessity gives us Courage.""",Fetters,2011-09-20 14:42:00 UTC,Chapter 5
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:04:02 UTC,"We have been Discoursing all this while, how far a Wicked Man may be Oblig'd, and the Stoicks tell us, at last, that he cannot be Oblig'd at all: For, they make him incapable of any Good, and consequently of any Benefit. But, he has this advantage, that if he cannot be Oblig'd, he cannot be Ungrateful: For, if he cannot receive, he is not bound to return. On the other side, a Good Man, and an Ungrateful, are a Contradiction: So that at this rate there's no such thing as Ingratitude in Nature. They compare a Wicked Man's Mind to a Vitiated Stomach; he corrupts whatever he receives, and the best Nourishment turns to the Disease. But, taking this for granted, a Wicked Man may yet be so far Oblig'd, as to pass for Ungrateful, if he does not Requite what be Receives. For, though it be not a perfect Benefit, yet he receives something like it. There are Goods of the Mind, the Body, and of Fortune. Of the first sort, Fools, and Wicked Men, are wholly incapable; to the rest they may be admitted. But why should I call any Man Ungrateful, you'll say, for not Restoring That which I deny to be a Benefit? I answer, That if the Receiver take it for a Benefit, and fails of a Return, 'tis Ingratitude in him; for, that which goes for an Obligation among Wicked Men, is an Obligation upon them: and, they may pay one another in their own Coin; the Mony is Current, whether it be Gold, or Leather, when it comes once to be Authoriz'd. Nay, Cleanthes carries it farther; He that is wanting, says he, to a kind Office, though it be no Benefit, would have done the fame thing if it had been one; and is as guilty, as a Thief is, that has set his Booty; and is already Arm'd, and Mounted, with a purpose to seize it, though he has not yet drawn Blood. Wickedness is form'd in the Heart; and, the matter of Fact is only the Discovery, and the Execution of it. Now, tho' a wicked Man cannot either Receive, or Bestow a Benefit, because he wants the Will of doing Good, and for that he is no longer Wicked, when Virtue has taken Possession of him; yet we commonly call it one, as we call a Man illiterate that is not Learned, and Naked, that is not well Clad; not but that the one can Read, and the other is Cover'd.
(pp. 59-60)",,19188,"","""They compare a Wicked Man's Mind to a Vitiated Stomach; he corrupts whatever he receives, and the best Nourishment turns to the Disease. But, taking this for granted, a Wicked Man may yet be so far Oblig'd, as to pass for Ungrateful, if he does not Requite what be Receives.""","",2011-09-20 16:04:02 UTC,"Of Benefits, Chapter XIV"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:09:16 UTC,"A Good Conscience is the Testimony of a Good Life, and the Reward of it. This is it that fortifies the Mind against Fortune, when a Man has gotten the Mastery of his Passions; plac'd his Treasure, and his Security within himself; learned to be content with his Condition; and that Death is no Evil in itself but only the End of Man. He that has dedicated his Mind to Virtue, and to the Good of Human Society, whereof he is a Member, has consummated all that is either Profitable or Necessary for him to Know, or Do toward the Establishment of his Peace. Every Man has a Judge, and a Witness within himself, of all the Good, and lll that he Does; which inspires us with great Thoughts, and administers to us wholsome Counsels. We have a Veneration for all the Works pf Nature, the Heads of Rivers, and the Springs of Medicinal Waters: the Horrors of Groves, and of Caves, strike us with an Impression of Religion and Worship. To see a Man Fearless in Dangers, Untainted with Lusts, Happy in Adversity, Compos'd in a Tumult, and Laughing at all those Things which are generally either Coveted or Feared; all Men must acknowledge, that this can be nothing else but a Beam of Divinity that Influences a Mortal Body. And this is it that carries us to the Disquisition of Things Divine, and Human; What the state of the World was before the Distribution of the First Matter into Parts; what Power it was that drew Order out of that Confusion, and gave Laws both to the whole, and to every Particle thereof; what that Space is beyond the World; and whence proceed the several Operations of Nature. Shall any Man see the Glory, and Order of the Universe; so many scatter'd Parts, and Qualities wrought into one Mass; such a Medly of Things, which are yet distinguished; the World enlighten'd, and the Disorders of it so wonderfully Regulated; and, shall he not consider the Author, and Disposer of all this; and, whither we our selves shall go, when our Souls shall bedeliver'd from the Slavery of our Flesh? The whole Creation, we see, conforms to the Dictates of Providence, and follows God both as a Governour, and as a Guide. A Great, a Good, and a Right Mind, is a kind of Divinity lodg'd in Flesh, and may be the Blessing of a Slave, as well as of a Prince; it came from Heaven, and to Heaven it must return; and it is a kind of Heavenly Felicity, which a pure, and virtuous Mind enjoys, in some Degree, even upon Earth: Whereas Temples of Honour are but empty Names, which probably owe their Beginning either to Ambition, or to Violence. I am strangely transported with the Thoughts of Eternity; Nay, with the Belief of it; for I have a profound Veneration for the Opinions of Great Men, especially when they promise Things so much to my Satisfaction: for they do Promise them, though they do not Prove them. In the Question of the Immortality of the the Soul, it goes very far with me, a General Consent to the Opinion of a Future Reward, and Punishment; which Meditation raises me to the Contempt of this Lise, in hopes of a Better. But still, though we know that we have a Soul; yet, What the Soul is, How, and from Whence, we are utterly Ignorant: This only we understand, that all the Good, and lll we do, is under the Dominion of the Mind; that a Clear Conscience states us in an Inviolable Peace: And, that the greatest Blessing in Nature, is that, which every honest Man may bestow upon himself. The Body is but the Clog and Prisoner of the Mind; tossed up and down, and persecuted with Punishments, Violences, and Diseases; but the Mind it self is Sacred, and Eternal, and exempt from the Danger of all Actual Impression.
(pp. 138-40)",,19189,"","""Every Man has a Judge, and a Witness within himself, of all the Good, and lll that he Does; which inspires us with great Thoughts, and administers to us wholsome Counsels.""",Court,2011-09-20 16:09:16 UTC,"Of A Happy Life, Chapter VI"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:10:35 UTC,"A Good Conscience is the Testimony of a Good Life, and the Reward of it. This is it that fortifies the Mind against Fortune, when a Man has gotten the Mastery of his Passions; plac'd his Treasure, and his Security within himself; learned to be content with his Condition; and that Death is no Evil in itself but only the End of Man. He that has dedicated his Mind to Virtue, and to the Good of Human Society, whereof he is a Member, has consummated all that is either Profitable or Necessary for him to Know, or Do toward the Establishment of his Peace. Every Man has a Judge, and a Witness within himself, of all the Good, and lll that he Does; which inspires us with great Thoughts, and administers to us wholsome Counsels. We have a Veneration for all the Works pf Nature, the Heads of Rivers, and the Springs of Medicinal Waters: the Horrors of Groves, and of Caves, strike us with an Impression of Religion and Worship. To see a Man Fearless in Dangers, Untainted with Lusts, Happy in Adversity, Compos'd in a Tumult, and Laughing at all those Things which are generally either Coveted or Feared; all Men must acknowledge, that this can be nothing else but a Beam of Divinity that Influences a Mortal Body. And this is it that carries us to the Disquisition of Things Divine, and Human; What the state of the World was before the Distribution of the First Matter into Parts; what Power it was that drew Order out of that Confusion, and gave Laws both to the whole, and to every Particle thereof; what that Space is beyond the World; and whence proceed the several Operations of Nature. Shall any Man see the Glory, and Order of the Universe; so many scatter'd Parts, and Qualities wrought into one Mass; such a Medly of Things, which are yet distinguished; the World enlighten'd, and the Disorders of it so wonderfully Regulated; and, shall he not consider the Author, and Disposer of all this; and, whither we our selves shall go, when our Souls shall bedeliver'd from the Slavery of our Flesh? The whole Creation, we see, conforms to the Dictates of Providence, and follows God both as a Governour, and as a Guide. A Great, a Good, and a Right Mind, is a kind of Divinity lodg'd in Flesh, and may be the Blessing of a Slave, as well as of a Prince; it came from Heaven, and to Heaven it must return; and it is a kind of Heavenly Felicity, which a pure, and virtuous Mind enjoys, in some Degree, even upon Earth: Whereas Temples of Honour are but empty Names, which probably owe their Beginning either to Ambition, or to Violence. I am strangely transported with the Thoughts of Eternity; Nay, with the Belief of it; for I have a profound Veneration for the Opinions of Great Men, especially when they promise Things so much to my Satisfaction: for they do Promise them, though they do not Prove them. In the Question of the Immortality of the the Soul, it goes very far with me, a General Consent to the Opinion of a Future Reward, and Punishment; which Meditation raises me to the Contempt of this Lise, in hopes of a Better. But still, though we know that we have a Soul; yet, What the Soul is, How, and from Whence, we are utterly Ignorant: This only we understand, that all the Good, and lll we do, is under the Dominion of the Mind; that a Clear Conscience states us in an Inviolable Peace: And, that the greatest Blessing in Nature, is that, which every honest Man may bestow upon himself. The Body is but the Clog and Prisoner of the Mind; tossed up and down, and persecuted with Punishments, Violences, and Diseases; but the Mind it self is Sacred, and Eternal, and exempt from the Danger of all Actual Impression.
(pp. 138-40)",,19190,"","""Shall any Man see the Glory, and Order of the Universe; so many scatter'd Parts, and Qualities wrought into one Mass; such a Medly of Things, which are yet distinguished; the World enlighten'd, and the Disorders of it so wonderfully Regulated; and, shall he not consider the Author, and Disposer of all this; and, whither we our selves shall go, when our Souls shall bedeliver'd from the Slavery of our Flesh?""",Fetters,2011-09-20 16:10:35 UTC,"Of A Happy Life, Chapter VI"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:12:36 UTC,"A Good Conscience is the Testimony of a Good Life, and the Reward of it. This is it that fortifies the Mind against Fortune, when a Man has gotten the Mastery of his Passions; plac'd his Treasure, and his Security within himself; learned to be content with his Condition; and that Death is no Evil in itself but only the End of Man. He that has dedicated his Mind to Virtue, and to the Good of Human Society, whereof he is a Member, has consummated all that is either Profitable or Necessary for him to Know, or Do toward the Establishment of his Peace. Every Man has a Judge, and a Witness within himself, of all the Good, and lll that he Does; which inspires us with great Thoughts, and administers to us wholsome Counsels. We have a Veneration for all the Works pf Nature, the Heads of Rivers, and the Springs of Medicinal Waters: the Horrors of Groves, and of Caves, strike us with an Impression of Religion and Worship. To see a Man Fearless in Dangers, Untainted with Lusts, Happy in Adversity, Compos'd in a Tumult, and Laughing at all those Things which are generally either Coveted or Feared; all Men must acknowledge, that this can be nothing else but a Beam of Divinity that Influences a Mortal Body. And this is it that carries us to the Disquisition of Things Divine, and Human; What the state of the World was before the Distribution of the First Matter into Parts; what Power it was that drew Order out of that Confusion, and gave Laws both to the whole, and to every Particle thereof; what that Space is beyond the World; and whence proceed the several Operations of Nature. Shall any Man see the Glory, and Order of the Universe; so many scatter'd Parts, and Qualities wrought into one Mass; such a Medly of Things, which are yet distinguished; the World enlighten'd, and the Disorders of it so wonderfully Regulated; and, shall he not consider the Author, and Disposer of all this; and, whither we our selves shall go, when our Souls shall bedeliver'd from the Slavery of our Flesh? The whole Creation, we see, conforms to the Dictates of Providence, and follows God both as a Governour, and as a Guide. A Great, a Good, and a Right Mind, is a kind of Divinity lodg'd in Flesh, and may be the Blessing of a Slave, as well as of a Prince; it came from Heaven, and to Heaven it must return; and it is a kind of Heavenly Felicity, which a pure, and virtuous Mind enjoys, in some Degree, even upon Earth: Whereas Temples of Honour are but empty Names, which probably owe their Beginning either to Ambition, or to Violence. I am strangely transported with the Thoughts of Eternity; Nay, with the Belief of it; for I have a profound Veneration for the Opinions of Great Men, especially when they promise Things so much to my Satisfaction: for they do Promise them, though they do not Prove them. In the Question of the Immortality of the the Soul, it goes very far with me, a General Consent to the Opinion of a Future Reward, and Punishment; which Meditation raises me to the Contempt of this Lise, in hopes of a Better. But still, though we know that we have a Soul; yet, What the Soul is, How, and from Whence, we are utterly Ignorant: This only we understand, that all the Good, and lll we do, is under the Dominion of the Mind; that a Clear Conscience states us in an Inviolable Peace: And, that the greatest Blessing in Nature, is that, which every honest Man may bestow upon himself.
The Body is but the Clog and Prisoner of the Mind; tossed up and down, and persecuted with Punishments, Violences, and Diseases; but the Mind it self is Sacred, and Eternal, and exempt from the Danger of all Actual Impression.
(pp. 138-40)",,19191,"","""The Body is but the Clog and Prisoner of the Mind; tossed up and down, and persecuted with Punishments, Violences, and Diseases; but the Mind it self is Sacred, and Eternal, and exempt from the Danger of all Actual Impression.""",Fetters,2011-09-20 16:12:36 UTC,"Of A Happy Life, Chapter VI"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:15:54 UTC,"To begin now with the Pleasures of the Palate; (which deal with us like Ægyptian Thieves, that strangle those they embrace,) What shall we say of the Luxury of Nomentanus and Apicius, that entertained their very Souls in the Kitchin; they have the Choicest Musick for their Ears; the most diverting Spectacles for their Eyes; the Choicest variety of Meats, and Drinks for their Palates. What is all this, I say, but a Merry Madness? 'Tis true they have their Delights, but not without Heavy and Anxious Thoughts, even in their very Enjoyments; beside that they are followed with Repentance, and their Frolicks are little more than the Laughter of so many People out of their Wits. Their Felicities are full of Disquiet, and neither Sincere, nor Well-grounded: But they have need of one Pleasure to support another: and of new Prayers to forgive the Errors of their Former. Their Life must needs be wretched, that get with great Pains, what they keep with greater. One Diversion overtakes another: Hope excites Hope; Ambition begets Ambition; so that they only change the Matter of their Miseries, without seeking any End of them; and shall never be without either prosperous, or unhappy Causes of Disquiet. What if a Body might have all the Pleasures in the World for the Asking? Who would so much Unman himself, as by accepting of them, to desert his Soul, and become a perpetual Slave to his Senses? Those False and Miserable Palates, that Judge of Meats by the Price, and Difficulty, not by the Healthfulness, or Taste: They Vomit, that they may Eat; and they Eat that they may fetch it up again. They cross the Seas for Rarities, and when they have swallowed them, they will not so much as give them time to digest. Wheresoever Nature has plac'd Men, she has provided them Aliment: But we rather chuse to irritate Hunger by Expence, than to allay it at an Easier rate. What is it that we plow the Seas for; or Arm our selves against Men, and Beasts? To what end do we Toyl, and Labour, and pile Bags upon Bags? We may enlarge our Fortunes, but we cannot our Bodies; so that it does but spill, and run over, whatsoever we take more than we can hold. Our Forefathers (by the force of whose Virtues we are now supported in our Vices) liv'd every jot as well as we, when they provided, and dress'd their own Meat with their own Hands; lodg'd upon the Ground, and were not as yet come to the vanity of Gold and Gemms: When they swore by their Earthen Gods, and kept their Oath, though they dy'd for't. Did not our Consuls live more Happily, when they Cook'd their own Meat with those Victorious Hands that had conquer'd so many Enemies, and won so many Laurels? Did they not live more happily, I say, than our (that Corrupter of Youth, and Plague of the Age he liv'd in) who after he had spent a Prodigious Fortune upon his Belly, Poison'd himself for fear of Starving, when he had yet 250000 Crowns in his Coffers: which may serve to shew us, that it is the Mind, and not the Sum, that makes any Man Rich: When Apicius with all this Treasure counted himself in a state of Beggery; and took Poison to avoid that Condition, which another would have pray'd for. But, why do we call it Poison, which was the wholsomest Draught of his Life? His daily Gluttony was Poison rather, both to himself, and others. His Ostentation of it was intolerable and so was the Infinite Pains he took to mis-lead others by his Example, who went even fast enough of themselves without driving.
(pp. 175-7)",,19192,"","""Who would so much Unman himself, as by accepting of them, to desert his Soul, and become a perpetual Slave to his Senses?""","",2011-09-20 16:15:54 UTC,"Of a Happy Life, Chapter XI."
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:18:22 UTC,"[...] Shall any Man think Banishment Grievous, when he may take such Company along with him? Nor is there any Banishment, but yields enough for our Necessities, and no Kingdom is sufficient for Superfluities. It is the Mind that makes us Rich in a Desart; and if the Body be but kept Alive, the Soul Enjoys all Spiritual Felicities in Abundance. What signifies the being Banish'd from one Spot of Ground to Another, to a Man that has his Thoughts Above, and can look Forward, and Backward, and where ever he pleases; and that where ever he is, has the same Matter to work upon? The Body is but the Prison, or the Clog of the Mind; subjected to Punishments, Robberies, Diseases; but the Mind is Sacred, and Spiritual, and Liable to no Violence. Is it that a Man shall want Garments, or Covering in Banishment? The Body is as easily Cloth'd, as Fed; and Nature has made nothing Hard that is Necessary. But if nothing will serve us, but Rich Embroideries, and Scarlet, 'tis none of Fortune's Fault that we are Poor, but our Own. Nay, suppose a Man should have All restor'd him back again that he has Lost; it will come to nothing, for he will want more after That, to satisfie his Desires, than he did before, to supply his Necessities. Insatiable Appetites are not so much a Thirst, as a Disease.
(pp. 274-5)",,19193,"","""The Body is but the Prison, or the Clog of the Mind; subjected to Punishments, Robberies, Diseases; but the Mind is Sacred, and Spiritual, and Liable to no Violence.""",Fetters,2011-09-20 16:18:22 UTC,"Of a Happy Life, Chapter XXIV"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:20:08 UTC,"Chapter IX
[...] If a Horse Kick, or a Dog Bite, shall a Man Kick or Bite again? The one 'tis true is wholly void of Reason, but it is also an equivalent Darkness of Mind, that possesses the other. So long as we are among Men, let us cherish Humanity; and so live, that no Man may be either in Fear, or in Danger of us. Losses, Injuries, Reproaches, Calumnies, they are but short Inconveniences, and we should bear them with Resolution. Beside that, some People are above our Anger, others below it. To contend with our Superiors were a Folly, and with our Inferiors an Indignity.
(pp. 336-7)",,19194,"","""The one 'tis true is wholly void of Reason, but it is also an equivalent Darkness of Mind, that possesses the other.""","",2011-09-20 16:20:08 UTC,"Of Anger, Chapter IX"
7097,"","Searching ""mind"" in Google Books",2011-09-20 16:25:31 UTC,"There is not so Disproportionate a Mixture in any Creature, as that is in Man, of Soul and Body. There is Intemperance, join'd with Divinity; Folly, with Severity; Sloth, with Activity; and Uncleanness, with Purity. But, a Good Sword is never the worse for an ill Scabbard. We are mov'd more by Imaginary Fears, than Truths; for Truth has a Certainty, and Foundation; but, in the other, we are expos'd to the Licence, and Conjecture of a distracted Mind; and our Enemies, are not more Imperious, than our Pleasures. We set our Hearts upon Transitory Things; as if they Themselves were Everlasting; or We, on the other side, to possess them for Ever. Why do we not rather advance our Thoughts to things that are Eternal, and contemplate the Heavenly Original of all Beings? Why do we not, by the Divinity of Reason, triumph over the Weaknesses of Flesh, and Blood? It is by Providence that the World is preserv'd; and not from any Virtue in the Matter of it; for the World is as Mortal as we are; only the Almighty Wisdom carries it safe through all the Motions of Corruption. And so by Prudence, Human Life it self may be prolong'd if we will but stint our selves in those Pleasures, that bring the greater part of us untimely to our End. Our Passions are nothing else but certain Disallowable Motions of the Mind; Sudden, and Eager; which, by Frequency, and Neglect, turn to a Disease; as a Distillation brings us first to a Cough, and then to a Phthisick. We are carry'd Up to the Heavens, and Down again into the Deep, by Turns; so long as we are govern'd by our Affections, and not by Virtue: Passion, and Reason, are a kind of Civil War within us; and as the one, or the other has Dominion, we are either Good, or Bad. So that it should be our Care, that the worst Mixture may not prevail. And they are link'd, like the Chain of Causes, and Effects, one to another. Betwixt violent Passion, and a Fluctuation, or Wambling of the Mind, there is such a Difference, as betwixt the Agitation of a Storm, and the Nauseous Sickness of a Calm. And they have all of them their Symptoms too, as well as our Bodily Distempers: They that are troubled with the Falling-Sickness, know when the Fit is a coming, by the Cold of the Extreme Parts; the Dazling of the Eyes; the Failing of the Memory; the Trembling of the Nerves, and the Giddiness of the Head: So that every Man knows his own Disease, and should provide against it. Anger, Love, Sadness, Fear, may be read in the Countenance; and so may the Virtues too. Fortitude makes the Eye Vigorous; Prudence makes it Intent; Reverence shews it self in Modesty; Joy, in Serenity; and Truth, in Openness, and Simplicity. There are sown the Seeds of Divine Things in Mortal Bodies. If the Mind be well Cultivated, the Fruit answers the Original; and, if not, all runs into Weeds. We are all of us Sick of Curable Diseases; And it costs us more to be Miserable, than would make us perfectly Happy. Consider the Peaceable state of Clemency, and the Turbulence of Anger; the Softness, and Quiet of Modesty, and the Restlessness of Lust. How cheap, and easie to us is the Service of Virtue, and how dear we pay for our Vices! The Sovereign Good of Man, is a Mind that subjects all things to it self; and is it self subject to nothing: His Pleasures are Modest, Severe, and Reserv'd; and rather the Sauce, or the Diversion of Life, than the Entertainment of it. It may be some Question, whether such a Man goes to Heaven, or Heaven comes to Him: For a good Man is Influenc'd, by God himself; and has a kind of Divinity within him. What if one Good Man Lives in Pleasure, and Plenty, and another in Want, and Misery? 'Tis no Virtue, to contemn Superfluities, but Necessities: And they are both of them Equally Good, though under several Circumstances, and in different Stations.
(pp. 474-476)",,19195,Rich Passage: see 5 entries following,"""There is not so Disproportionate a Mixture in any Creature, as that is in Man, of Soul and Body ... But, a Good Sword is never the worse for an ill Scabbard.""","",2011-09-20 16:25:31 UTC,Epistle XXII.