All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions.
Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
The acquisition of any knowledge whatever is always useful to the intellect, because it will be able to banish the useless things and retain those that are good. For nothing can be either loved or hated unless it is first known.
He who offends others does not secure himself.
The sorest misfortune is when your views are in advance of your work.
Obstacle cannot crush me
Every obstacle yields to stern resolve
He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.
Such as harm is when it hurts me not, is good which avails me not.
Some there are who are nothing else than a passage for food and augmenters of excrement and fillers of privies, because through them no other things in the world, nor any good effects are produced, since nothing but full privies results from them.
Necessity is the mistress and guide of nature.
Necessity is the theme and the inventress, the eternal curb and law of nature.
To keep in health, this rule is wise: Eat only when you want and relish food. Chew thoroughly that it may do you good. Have it well cooked, unspiced and undisguised. He who takes medicine is ill advised.
No counsel is more trustworthy than that which is given upon ships that are in peril.
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{a} The common concepts of the mind are the following:
{b} Things which are equal to the same thing are also equal to one another. (First)
{c} If equal things are added to equal things, the wholes are equal. (Second)
{d} If equals are subtracted from equals, the remainders are equal. (Third)
{e} If equals are subtracted from unequals, the remainders are unequal. (Fourth)
{f} And if equals are added to unequals, the wholes are unequal. (Fifth)
{g} If two things are equal to another thing, they will be equal to one another. (Sixth)
{h} If two things are both a half of the same thing, they will also be equal to one another. (Seventh)
{i} If a thing is placed near another, superposing it, and there is no excess between them, they will be equal to one another. (Eighth)
{j} Every whole is greater than the part. (Ninth)
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Words that do not satisfy the ear of the hearer weary him or vex him, and the symptoms of this you will often see in such hearers in their frequent yawns; you therefore, who speak before men whose good will you desire, when you see such an excess of fatigue, abridge your speech, or change your discourse.
And if you would see in what a man takes pleasure, without hearing him speak, change the subject of your discourse and when you presently see him intent, without yawning or wrinkling his brow, you may be certain that the matter of which you are speaking is such as is agreeable to him.
It is as great an error to speak well of a worthless man as to speak ill of a good man.
A priest while going the round of his parish on the Saturday before Easter in order to sprinkle the houses with holy water as was his custom, coming to the studio of a painter, and there beginning to sprinkle the water upon some of his pictures, the painter turning round with some annoyance asked him why he sprinkled his pictures in this manner. The priest replied that it was the custom and that it was his duty to act thus, that he was doing a good deed and that whoever did a good deed might expect a recompense as great or even greater; for so God had promised that for every good deed which we do on the earth we shall be rewarded a hundredfold from on high. Then the painter, having waited until the priest had made his exit, stepped to the window above and threw a large bucket of water down on to his back, calling out to him, “See there is the reward that comes to you a hundredfold from on high as you said it would, on account of the good deed you did me with your holy water with which you have half ruined my pictures.”
The Franciscan friars at certain seasons have periods of fasting, during which no meat is eaten in their monasteries, but if they are on a journey, as they are then living on almsgiving, they are allowed to eat whatever is set before them. Now a couple of these friars traveling under these conditions chanced to alight at an inn at the same time as a certain merchant and sat down at the same table, and on account of the poverty of the inn nothing was served there except one roasted cockerel. At this the merchant, as he saw that it would be scant fare for himself, turned to the friars and said, “On days like these if I remember rightly you are not permitted in your monasteries to eat any kind of meat.” The friars on hearing these words were constrained by their rule to admit without any attempt at argument that this was indeed the case. So the merchant had his desire and devoured the chicken, and the friars fared as best they could.
Now after having dined in this wise all three table companions set out on their journey together, and having gone a certain distance they came to a river of considerable breadth and depth, and as they were all three on foot, the friars by reason of their poverty and the other from niggardliness, it was necessary according to the custom of the country that one of the friars who had no shoes and stockings should carry the merchant on his shoulders; and consequently the friar having given him his clogs to hold took the man on his back. But as it so happened that the friar, when he found himself in the middle of the stream, bethought himself of another of his rules. Coming to a standstill after the manner of St. Christopher, he raised his head towards him who was weighing heavily upon him and said, “Just tell me, have you any money about you?” “Why you know quite well that I have,” replied the other. “How do you suppose a merchant like me could travel about otherwise?” “Alas!” said the friar, “Our rule forbids us to carry any money on our backs,” and he instantly threw him into the water.
A man wishing to prove on the authority of Pythagoras that he had been in the world on a former occasion, and another not allowing him to conclude his argument, the first man said to the second, “And this is a token that I was here on a former occasion, I remember that you were a miller.” The other, who felt provoked by his words, agreed that it was true, for he also remembered as a token that the speaker had been the ass which had carried the flour for him.
A painter was asked why he had made his children so ugly, when his figures, which were dead things, he had made so beautiful. His reply was that he made his pictures by day and his children at night.
The oyster, being thrown out with other fish near to the sea from the house of a fisherman, prayed to a rat to take him to the sea. The rat, who was intending to devour him, bade him open, but then as he bit him the oyster squeezed his head and held it; and the cat came and killed the rat.
While the dog was asleep on the coat of a sheep, one of its fleas, becoming aware of the smell of the greasy wool, decided that this must be a place where the living was better and safer from the teeth and nails of the dog than getting his food on the dog as he did. Without more reflection therefore it left the dog and entering into the thick wool began with great toil to try to pass to the roots of the hairs; which enterprise however after much sweat it found to be impossible, owing to these hairs being so thick as almost to touch each other, and there being no space there where the flea could taste the skin. Consequently after long labor and fatigue it began to wish to go back to its dog which however had already departed, so that after long repentance and bitter tears it was obliged to die of hunger.
The ass having fallen asleep upon the ice of a deep lake, the heat of its body caused the ice to melt, and the ass being under water awoke to his great discomfort, and was speedily drowned.
The ape on finding a nest of small birds approached them with great joy, but as they were already able to fly he could only catch the smallest. Filled with joy he went with it in his hand to his hiding place; and having commenced to look at the tiny bird he began to kiss it; and in his uncontrollable affection he gave it so many kisses and turned it over and squeezed it, until he took away its life. This is said for those who by being too fond of their children bring misfortune upon them.
The hawk, being unable to endure with patience the way in which the duck was hidden from him when she fled before him and dived beneath the water, desired also to follow in pursuit beneath the water. Getting its wings wetted it remained in the water; and the duck raised herself in the air and mocked at the hawk as it drowned.
The idle fluttering moth, not contented with its power to fly wherever it pleased through the air, was enthralled by the seductive flame of the candle and resolved to fly into it. But its joyous movement was the occasion of instant mourning. For in the said flame its delicate wings were consumed, and the wretched moth, having fallen down at the foot of the candlestick all burnt, after much weeping and contrition, wiped the tears from its streaming eyes, and lifting up its face exclaimed, “False light, how many are there like me who have been miserably deceived by you in times past! Alas! If my one desire was to behold the light, ought I not to have distinguished the sun from the false glimmer of filthy tallow?”
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The fig tree, standing near to the elm, and perceiving that her boughs bore no fruit themselves, yet had the hardihood to keep away the sun from her own, unripe figs, rebuked her, saying, “O Elm, are you not ashamed to stand in front of me? Only wait until my children are fully grown and you will see where you will find yourself.” But when her offspring were ripe a regiment of soldiers came to the place, and they tore off the branches of the fig tree in order to take her figs, and left her all stripped and broken.
And as she thus stood maimed in all her limbs the elm questioned her saying, “O Fig tree, how much better was it to be without children than to be brought by them to so wretched a pass.”
The privet, on feeling its tender branches, laden with new fruit, pricked by the sharp claws and beak of the troublesome blackbird, complained to her with pitiful reproaches, beseeching her that even if she plucked off her delicious fruit she would at any rate not deprive her of her leaves that protected her from the scorching rays of the sun, nor with her sharp claws rend away and strip bare her tender bark.
But to this the blackbird replied with insolent rebuke, “Silence! rude bramble! Know you not that Nature has made you to produce these fruits for my sustenance? Cannot you see that you came into the world in order to supply me with this very food? Know you not, vile thing that you are, that next winter you will serve as sustenance and food for the fire?” To which words the tree listened patiently and not without tears.
But a short time afterwards the blackbird was caught in a net, and some boughs were cut to make a cage in order to imprison her, and among the rest were some cut from the tender privet to serve for the rods of the cage. And these, on perceiving that they would be the cause of the blackbird being deprived of liberty, rejoiced and uttered these words. “We are here, O blackbird, not yet consumed by the fire as you said; we shall see you in prison before you see us burnt.”
A nut that found itself carried by a crow to the top of a lofty campanile, having there fallen into a crevice and so escaped its deadly beak, besought the wall by that grace which God had bestowed upon it in causing it to be so exalted and great, and so rich in having bells of such beauty and of such mellow tone, that it would deign to give it succor; that insomuch as it had not been able to drop beneath its old father’s green branches and lie in the fallow earth covered by his fallen leaves the wall would not abandon it, for when it found itself in the fierce crow’s cruel beak it had vowed that if it escaped thence it would end its days in a small hole. At these words the wall, moved with compassion, was content to give it shelter in the spot where it had fallen. And within a short space of time the nut began to burst open and to put its roots in among the crevices of the stones, and push them farther apart and throw up shoots out of its hollow, and these soon rose above the top of the building; and as the twisted roots grew thicker they commenced to tear asunder the walls and force the ancient stones out of their old positions. Then the wall too late and in vain deplored the cause of its destruction, and in a short time it was torn asunder and a great part fell in ruin.
The flint on being struck by the steel marveled greatly and said to it in a stern voice, “What arrogance prompts you to annoy me? Trouble me not, for you have chosen me by mistake; I have never done harm to anyone.” To which the steel made answer, “If you will be patient you will see what a marvelous result will issue forth from you.”
At these words the flint was pacified and patiently endured its martyrdom, and it saw itself give birth to the marvelous element of fire, which by its potency became a factor in innumerable things.
This is said for those who are dismayed at the outset of their studies, and then set out to gain the mastery over themselves and in patience to apply themselves continuously to those studies, from which one sees result things marvelous to relate.
Once upon a time the razor emerging from the handle that served it as a sheath, and placing itself in the sun, saw the sun reflected on its surface, at which thing it took great pride, and turning it over in its thoughts it began to say to itself, “Am I to go back any more to that shop from which I have just now come away? No surely! It cannot be the pleasure of the gods that such radiant beauty should stoop to such vile uses! What madness would that be which should induce me to scrape the lathered chins of rustic peasants and to do such menial service? Is this body made for actions such as these? Certainly not! I will go and hide myself in some retired spot, and there pass my life in tranquil ease.”
And so having hidden itself away for some months, returning one day to the light and coming out of its sheath, it perceived that it had acquired the appearance of a rusty saw, and that its surface no longer reflected the sun’s radiance. In vain with useless repentance it bemoaned its irreparable hurt, saying to itself, “Ah how much better would it have been to have let the barber use that lost edge of mine that had so rare a keenness! Where now is the glittering surface? In truth the foul insidious rust has consumed it away!”
The same thing happens with minds which in lieu of exercise give themselves up to sloth; for these like the razor lose their keen edge, and the rust of ignorance destroys their form.
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Some flames had already lived for a month in a glass furnace when they saw a candle approaching in a beautiful and glittering candlestick. They strove with great longing to reach it; and one of their number left its natural course and wound itself into an unburned brand upon which it fed, and then passed out at the other end by a small cleft to the candle, which was near, and flung itself upon it, and devouring it with the utmost voracity and greed consumed it almost entirely; then desirous of prolonging its own life, it strove in vain to return to the furnace that it had left, but was forced to droop and die together with the candle. So at last in lamentation and regret it was changed to foul smoke, leaving all its sisters in glowing and abiding life and beauty.
Patience serves us against insults precisely as clothes do against the cold. For if you multiply your garment as the cold increases, that cold cannot hurt you; in the same way increase your patience under great offences, and they cannot hurt your feelings.
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{a} Stubborn rigor.
{b} Doomed rigor.
THE PELICAN
This bears a great love to its young; and if it finds them slain in the nest by a serpent it pierces itself to the heart in their presence, and by bathing them with a shower of blood it restores them to life.
OYSTER FOR TREASON
This opens completely when the moon is full: and when the crab sees it, it throws a piece of stone or a twig into it and thus prevents it from closing up, so that it serves the crab for a meal.
So it may be with the mouth when it tells its secret, that it puts itself at the mercy of the indiscreet listener.
CROCODILE FOR HYPOCRISY
This animal seizes a man and instantly kills him; and after he is dead it mourns for him with a piteous voice and many tears, and having ended its lament it cruelly devours him. It is thus with the hypocrite, whose face is bathed with tears over every slight thing, showing himself thus to have the heart of a tiger; he rejoices in his heart over another’s misfortunes with a face bedewed with tears.
TOAD
The toad shuns the light of the sun: if however it be kept in it by force it puffs itself out so much as to hide its head below and deprives itself of its rays. So acts whoever is the enemy of clear and radiant virtue, who cannot maintain itself in its presence save by force, with puffed up courage.
THE CATERPILLAR FOR VIRTUE IN GENERAL
The caterpillar which through the care exercised in weaving round itself its new habitation with admirable design and ingenious workmanship, afterwards emerges from it with beautiful painted wings, rising on these towards heaven.
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CONSTANCY
For constancy the phoenix serves as a type; for understanding by nature its renewal it is steadfast to endure the burning flames that consume it, and then it is reborn anew.
INTEMPERANCE
The unicorn, through its lack of temperance, and because it does not know how to control itself for the delight that it has for young maidens, forgets its ferocity and wildness; and laying aside all fear it goes up to the seated maiden and goes to sleep in her lap, and in this way the hunters take it.
HUMILITY
Of humility one sees the supreme instance in the lamb, which submits itself to every animal. And when they are given as food to lions in captivity they submit themselves to them as to their own mothers, in such a way that it has often been seen that the lions are unwilling to kill them.
PRIDE
The falcon from its haughtiness and pride thinks to overcome and lord it over all the other birds of prey, because it wishes to reign alone. And many times the falcon has been seen to attack the eagle, the queen of birds.
ABSTINENCE
The wild ass, if when going to the spring to drink, it should find the water muddy, has never so great a thirst as to cause it not to abstain from drinking and wait until the water grows clear.
LEWDNESS
The bat, by reason of its unbridled lewdness, does not follow any natural law in pairing, but male goes with male, female with female, as they chance to find themselves together.
ANGER
It is said of the bear that when he goes to the beehives to take the honey from them, the bees commence to sting him, so that he leaves the honey and rushes to avenge himself. And wishing to take vengeance upon all those who are biting him, he fails to take vengeance on any, with the result that his course becomes changed to frenzy, and in his exasperation he throws himself upon the ground, vainly trying to defend himself with his hands and feet.
JUSTICE
We may compare the virtue of justice to the king of the bees, who orders and arranges everything on a system, because some bees are ordered to go among the flowers, others are ordered to work, others to fight with the wasps, others to take away the dirt, others to accompany and attend the king. And when he becomes old and has no wings they carry him, and if any one of them fails in his duty that one is punished without any forgiveness.
TRUTH
Although partridges steal each other’s eggs, nevertheless the children born from these eggs always return to their true mother.
The fox, when he sees a flock of magpies or jackdaws or birds of this kind, instantly throws himself on the ground with mouth open in such a way as to seem dead: the birds think to peck at his tongue and he bites off their heads.
MAGNANIMITY
Of the eagle it is said that it never has so great a hunger that it does not leave of its prey to those birds which are round about; and as these are not able to forage for themselves it is necessary that they pay court to the eagle, since by this means they are fed.
A LIE
The mole has very small eyes and always remains underground; it lives as long as it stays in concealment, and as soon as ever it comes to the light it instantly dies, because it becomes known. So it is with a lie.
FORTITUDE
The lion never feels fear; on the contrary it fights with a stout heart in fierce combat against the crowd of hunters, always seeking to injure the first who has injured him.
FEAR OR COWARDICE
The hare is always timid, and the leaves that fall from the trees in autumn keep it always in fear and often cause it to flee.
Where fortune enters, there envy lays siege and strives against it, and when this departs it leaves anguish and remorse behind.
When fortune comes, seize her with a firm hand. In front, I counsel you, for behind she is bald.
The bee may be likened to deceit, for it has honey in its mouth and poison behind.
The gold-finch is a bird of which it is related that, when it is carried into the presence of a sick person, if the sick man is going to die, the bird turns away its head and never looks at him; but if the sick man is to be saved the bird never loses sight of him but is the cause of curing him of all his sickness.
Like unto this is the love of virtue. It never looks at any vile or base thing, but rather clings always to pure and virtuous things and takes up its abode in a noble heart; as the birds do in green woods on flowery branches. And this Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest.
What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art.
O Time! Consumer of all things; O envious age! thou dost destroy all things and devour all things with the relentless teeth of years, little by little in a slow death. Helen, when she looked in her mirror, seeing the withered wrinkles made in her face by old age, wept and wondered why she had twice been carried away.
He who suffers time to slip away and does not grow in virtue: the more one thinks about him the sadder one becomes.
No man has a capacity for virtue who sacrifices honor for gain. Fortune is powerless to help one who does not exert himself.
If anyone wishes to see how the soul dwells in its body, let him observe how this body uses its daily habitation. That is to say, if this is devoid of order and confused, the body will be kept in disorder and confusion by its soul.
Movement will cease before we are weary of being useful.
Movement will fail sooner than usefulness.
Death sooner than weariness. In serving others I cannot do enough.
No labor is sufficient to tire me.
Hands into which ducats and precious stones fall like snow; they never become tired by serving, but this service is only for its utility and not for our own benefit.
Naturally nature has so disposed me.
I am never weary of being useful.
One’s thoughts turn towards Hope.
Men are in error when they lament the flight of time, accusing it of being too swift, and not perceiving that it is sufficient as it passes; but good memory, with which nature has endowed us, causes things long past to seem present.
The water you touch in a river is the last of that which has passed, and the first of that which is coming. Thus it is with time present.
Life, if well spent, is long.
