Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-12-07
PIth and Point,
Wise sayisgs sf different Men In
Different Gensrat atiens.


and maxims have been sometimes OBJ
eeted to as low plane Of selfish thrift
aud savoring rather Of political econo.
my than Of the Golden Rule, hut
Franklin was true sage In the old
Greek sense Of the word, and after the
manner of tho seven wise men, who
each Of them Is represented az having
uttered some memorable saying, which
became a provcrb, The most famous
of these sayings was the injunction OF
Thalcs, "Know thysclf," That writeI
whether Of prose or poetry, whose
works most abound In passages which
have become provcrbial and current in
the everyday speech of everybody, has
achieved lasting and genuine fame.
Tho two English writers who have
achieved this sort Of fame beyond any
others are Shakespeare and Pope.
Gray wrote but little, but that little has
become, almost oil Of il, provcrbial.
Eastern wise men, from the days Of
Solomon down, and long before, were
always fond Of expressing their wisdom
scntcntiously. Every reader of "Don
Quixotc" is aware that the Spanish
language is peculiarly rich in proverbs.
Sancho Panza profuscly seasons his
remarks and conversations with his
master of the ructul countcnancc with
provcrbial spice. But most nations of
any account, whether ancient or mod
crn, had and have copious literature
ofprovcrbs, or brief, pregnant sayings,
which 60 directly to the mark, and
compress q great deal oftruth in regard
to men and things into the smallest
possible verbal compass, furnishing
sort of portable philosophy of life, or
small change of wisdom for daily use.
Proverbs are ordinarily as blunt rs
they are pithy. The Latin poet,
Horace, had faculty of uttering him
self in q sententious way, and wrote
many lines which still circulate among
scholars at least, as proverbs. OF
course, the proverbs of the various
nations are racy of their soils. Multi
tudes of them are blunt and homely
with the bluntness and homeliness of
common life. Bacon was not only
collector of proverbs, but the author of
great number of sententious sayings
full of significance. He observes that
"He that goes into foreign country
before he knows its language, goes to
school and not to travel" Wherever
we dip in collection of proverbs we
are sure of finding wit and wisdom
both. Here are four sayings about
success: "Successful guilt is the bane
of society,"" "Success consecrates the
foulest crimes" "Success makes fool
seem wise," "success is never blamed"
Many q lonely, frendless man in
throng has felt that great city is
great. solitude, more depressing with its
social contrasts than even a great forest.
He who has good health is young,
whatever his age may be. He who
serves the public has but scurvy
master. Here is proverb which was
the note of Scotland about it: ga dog
Wilma yowl if ye fell him wi bane."
Impatient social retormers, who cannot
tolerate this world as it is, are taught
patience by the Persian proverb: ''The
Most High God sees and hears; my
neighbor knows nothing, and yet is
always finding fault" One of the
oldest Greek proverbs asserts that those
whom the gods love die young; or as
it has been finely but by an English
poet; "To die young is heavens di-
vinest gift" An older proverb, which
has come down from a far past, is to
the effect that the voice of the people is
the voice of God. A handbook of the
proverbial sayings of all ages and ma
ions may be called the judgement of
;he grand men, humanity on every con-
,eivable subject, delivered in terse,
,pigrammatic sentences. Fools and
weeds grow without watering. The
of all nations are very full on
he subject of fools. Gray comes to
he rescue of fools with one of his lines
which asserts that ''if ignorance is
bliss, It's folly to be wise." The an
,ients had a good deal to say about
ortune, and even made a divinity Of
Ter, for fortune personifed was Of the
eminine gender, as her proverbial
ickleness indicates. She was q dread
ID power among the Romans. She
vas and ia said tn favor the brave, and