Transcriber’s Note:
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.
Vivere cogitare est.
Life is measured but by thoughts and affections. They are the sun that shadows the dial.
DESULTORY THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS.
KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE.
A profound knowledge of life is the least enviable of all species of knowledge, because it can only be acquired by trials that make us regret the loss of our ignorance.
BEING UNDERSTOOD.
When we find that we are not liked, we assert that we are not understood; when probably the dislike we have excited proceeds from our being too fully comprehended.
SACRIFICES.
Some persons are capable of making great sacrifices, but few are capable of concealing how much the effort has cost them; and it is this concealment that constitutes their value.
MUSIC.
Music often awakens long sleeping echoes in the soul; and, though never heard before, seems familiar to the ear, as some voice, loved in childhood, remembered in a dream.
MINDS.
Some minds may be said to resemble musical instruments: they possess powers, and if judiciously touched, give forth sweet sounds.
LOVERS.
Ninon de L’Enclos observes, that “if a man gives a woman wealth, it is only a proof of his generosity; but that if he gives her his time, it is a proof of his love.” This, however, cannot be considered as a conclusive proof, for, in giving their time, many men bestow that which is of no value to themselves or others.
LOVE AND ENTHUSIASM.
Love and enthusiasm are always ridiculous, when not reciprocated by their objects.
PATH OF LIFE.
Spontaneously, we render the path of life a weary one, and plant all the thorns that obstruct it: while the few stray flowers that cheer us, arise in some extraneous and contingent agency.
MINDS.
The minds of the young resemble new wine in a state of fermentation and effervescence; but the minds of the mature resemble old wine, which has lost its fiery particles, and retains only its strength and raciness.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD.
The knowledge of the world that enables us to escape from errors, can only be acquired by an experience which costs us many of our most cherished illusions.
CHARACTER OF MAN.
As storm following storm, and wave succeeding wave, give additional hardness to the shell that encloses the pearl, so do the storms and waves of life add force to the character of man.
PRECOCIOUS WISDOM.
Precocious wisdom is not desirable for youth, lest, like the rash blossom which ventures forth too early, it should be nipped ere it has strength to resist adversity.
