The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-05-17
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1t is the fortune of some writers to re-
ceive credit for the good things they say,
and the fortune of others to have their best
sentences invariably quoted with the credit
mark omitted. OF these is Knebel, who
wrote ''Take your seat contentedly at life's
banquet, and call for nothing that is not in
the BILL" The advice turns up every now
and then in the papers, but nobody thinks
of attaching the Germans name to it. 1t
is good advice for those who have bill
promising all the ''delcacies of the season.
but in life as in the old baronial halls most
of us sit below the salt, and perhaps have an
excuse for damning the waiter who offers
us a sheet with ''not served this day. writ
ten against the ostdesirable viands. Queen
Elizabeth, whose wit is more matter of tra-
dition than of record, said one thing so wise
it has often been repeated, but ''hardly ever'
with the proper credit: "They pass best over
the world who tripover tquickly ;foritis abog
if we stop we sink" Here are some men,
orable sentences that have become common
property: "The last thing that we discover
in writing book is to know what to put at
the beginning" Contradiction is no
proof of falsehood, nor universal assent of
universal truth" ga mans virtue should
not be measured by his occasional exertions,
but by his ordinary doings. Pascal wrote
these. TROUBLES are like babies, and only
grow the bigger by nursing" was said not
long ago by Douglas Jerrold, but the author
ship is already generally ignored. In man
uscript book found among the papers of the
witty and profigate Duke of Buckingham,
are these sentences which, remodelled, fill
up the chinks that editors leave in newspa-
per columns to-day: ''Men's fame is like
their hair, which grows after they are dead,
and with just as little use to them;' "How
few, like Danae, have God and gold ogeth-
er;'' Gone can no more judge the true val
ue of man by the impression he makes on
the public, than we can tell whether the seal
was of gold or brass by which the stamp was
made" ''No things arrange themselves
so easily as facts" was said by Benjamin
Constant. The authorship, by the way is
given by Moore, as is also the origin of the
proverbial expression about the first step.
Nine. du Deffand said in speaking of ST.
Denis, who is tabled tohave carried his head
in his hands considerable way:' La distance
n'y fdit rien; IL n'y que le premier pas qlti
coute." Lord Holland it was who gave to
Charles Fox bit of advice that has perhaps,
been more generally followed than any 9TH
er advice ever given: ''Never do yourself
what you can get any one else to do for
you" A sentiment expressed by many
within the last two weeks when they spoke
of Pocasset, is still ''extant in choice Latin;
"Tdntum reIigio potuit suadere malorlma-
to deeds so dreadful could religion prompt"
Many variations of Pitts definition of an
independent man in politics as a ''a man
who cannot be depended upon," have ap-
peared in the papers. Not seldom the epi-
gram has been amplified into a 'leader''
Of some other phrases the authorship is not
so easily traced. ''Keep true to the dreams
of thy YOUTH is said to be ''from the Ger
man, one would like to know whose Ger
man. One would like to know, too, who
wrote: ga man should often walk in the
picture gallery of his memory, and so live
his past over again" Perhaps some reader
Of the Drawer does know. Here are some
popular sayings, somewhat musty: ''Keep
your mouth shut and your eyes open;" ''We
are all as God made us, and oftentimes
great deal worse;'' ''By the streets of Bye
and-By one arrives at the house of Never;;'
Patience, and shuttle the cards." "Other
mems pains are easily borne;' ''When a
thing is once begun it is almost half done;;'
"The jest that gives pain is no jest;' clay
bridge of silver for flying enemy" ''Pray
devoutly and hammer on stoutly;' "a bad
cloak often covers good drinker;" every
one is the son of his own works" How
many of us remember that these expressions,
now become proverbial, are to be found in
the first English translation of Don Quixote,
and most of them given are examples of the
homely wit of the little pot-bellied governor
of Baratarial