Cognition

XII. At the conceit and apprehension that such and such a one hath sinned, thus reason with thyself; What do I know whether this be a sin indeed,…

XV. It is high time for thee, to understand that there is somewhat in thee, better and more divine than either thy passions, or thy sensual appetites…

XVI. Remember that all is but opinion, and all opinion depends of the mind. Take thine opinion away, and then as a ship that hath stricken in…

XXIV. What doest thou desire? To live long. What? To enjoy the operations of a sensitive soul; or of the appetitive faculty? or wouldst thou grow,…

The text itself has been prepared by a comparison of the editions of 1634 and 1635. It should be borne in mind that Casaubon's is often rather a…

XIV "Cajeta" (17). The passage is certainly corrupt. C. spies a reference to Chryses praying by the sea-shore in the Illiad, and supposes M. Aurelius…

DISSIMULATION is but a faint kind of policy, or wisdom; for it asketh a strong wit, and a strong heart, to know when to tell truth, and to do it.…

But for the third degree, which is simulation, and false profession; that I hold more culpable, and less politic; except it be in great and rare…

THE joys of parents are secret; and so are their griefs and fears. They cannot utter the one; nor they will not utter the other. Children sweeten…

Men of noble birth, are noted to be envious towards new men, when they rise. For the distance is altered, and it is like a deceit of the eye, that…

The same is the case of men, that rise after calamities and misfortunes. For they are as men fallen out with the times; and think other men's harms,…

Persons of noble blood, are less envied in their rising. For it seemeth but right done to their birth. Besides, there seemeth not much added to their…

Those that have joined with their honor great travels, cares, or perils, are less subject to envy. For men think that they earn their honors hardly,…

Also, when discords, and quarrels, and factions are carried openly and audaciously, it is a sign the reverence of government is lost. For the motions…

I have noted, that some witty and sharp speeches, which have fallen from princes, have given fire to seditions. Caesar did himself infinite hurt in…

This is true, that the wisdom of all these latter times, in princes' affairs, is rather fine deliveries, and shiftings of dangers and mischiefs, when…

Another is, that when you have anything to obtain, of present despatch, you entertain and amuse the party, with whom you deal, with some other…

It is a point of cunning, to let fall those words in a man's own name, which he would have another man learn, and use, and thereupon take advantage.…

There is a cunning, which we in England call, the turning of the cat in the pan; which is, when that which a man says to another, he lays it as if…

Wisdom for a man's self is, in many branches thereof, a depraved thing. It is the wisdom of rats, that will be sure to leave a house, somewhat before…

Give good hearing to those, that give the first information in business; and rather direct them in the beginning, than interrupt them in the…

Iterations are commonly loss of time. But there is no such gain of time, as to iterate often the state of the question; for it chaseth away many a…

A principal fruit of friendship, is the ease and discharge of the fulness and swellings of the heart, which passions of all kinds do cause and induce…

The greatness of an estate, in bulk and territory, doth fall under measure; and the greatness of finances and revenue, doth fall under computation.…

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the…

Let us consider for a moment what most of the trouble and anxiety which I have referred to is about, and how much it is necessary that we be troubled…

And when the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him. As I understand it, that…

In this course which our ancestors took there was a show of prudence at least, as if their principle were to satisfy the more pressing wants first.…

Thus I could avoid all trade and barter, so far as my food was concerned, and having a shelter already, it would only remain to get clothing and fuel…

There is a certain class of unbelievers who sometimes ask me such questions as, if I think that I can live on vegetable food alone; and to strike…

The Mexicans also practised a similar purification at the end of every fifty-two years, in the belief that it was time for the world to come to an…

All that I could say, then, with respect to farming on a large scale, (I have always cultivated a garden,) was, that I had had my seeds ready. Many…

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us…

I was also serenaded by a hooting owl. Near at hand you could fancy it the most melancholy sound in Nature, as if she meant by this to stereotype and…

I think that I love society as much as most, and am ready enough to fasten myself like a bloodsucker for the time to any full-blooded man that…

There was a certain positive originality, however slight, to be detected in him, and I occasionally observed that he was thinking for himself and…

One real runaway slave, among the rest, whom I helped to forward toward the northstar. Men of one idea, like a hen with one chicken, and that a…

In warm evenings I frequently sat in the boat playing the flute, and saw the perch, which I seemed to have charmed, hovering around me, and the…

The shower was now over, and a rainbow above the eastern woods promised a fair evening; so I took my departure. When I had got without I asked for…

Before I had reached the pond some fresh impulse had brought out John Field, with altered mind, letting go “bogging” ere this sunset. But he, poor…

For hours, in fall days, I watched the ducks cunningly tack and veer and hold the middle of the pond, far from the sportsman; tricks which they…

It would seem as if the very language of our parlors would lose all its nerve and degenerate into _palaver_ wholly, our lives pass at such remoteness…

Still grows the vivacious lilac a generation after the door and lintel and the sill are gone, unfolding its sweet-scented flowers each spring, to…

But this small village, germ of something more, why did it fail while Concord keeps its ground? Were there no natural advantages,—no water privileges…

Some are dinning in our ears that we Americans, and moderns generally, are intellectual dwarfs compared with the ancients, or even the Elizabethan…

No face which we can give to a matter will stead us so well at last as the truth. This alone wears well. For the most part, we are not where we are,…

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but…

There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dulness. I need only suggest what kind of sermons are still…

How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and enjoy _it?_ Is there any enjoyment in it, if his opinion is that he is aggrieved? If…

One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authority was the only offence never contemplated by government; else, why has it…

I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person and property…

However, the government does not concern me much, and I shall bestow the fewest possible thoughts on it. It is not many moments that I live under a…

They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution,…

But in maintaining armed men there in place of colonies one spends much more, having to consume on the garrison all the income from the state, so…

But it is impossible to hold with such tranquillity states constituted like that of France. Hence arose those frequent rebellions against the…

But when cities or countries are accustomed to live under a prince, and his family is exterminated, they, being on the one hand accustomed to obey…

Nevertheless, if any one should ask of me how comes it that the Church has attained such greatness in temporal power, seeing that from Alexander…

I wish also to recall to memory an instance from the Old Testament applicable to this subject. David offered himself to Saul to fight with Goliath,…

I conclude, therefore, that no principality is secure without having its own forces; on the contrary, it is entirely dependent on good fortune, not…

Philopoemen,[1] Prince of the Achaeans, among other praises which writers have bestowed on him, is commended because in time of peace he never had…